Your first Claude Code session: the core loop, CLAUDE.md, /init, and resuming work

How the gather-act-verify loop actually works and how to steer it without starting over. What belongs in your CLAUDE.md project memory and what to keep out, generating a first draft with /init, and resuming yesterday's session instead of re-explaining everything. Plus the pitfall every beginner hits, context going stale, and the habits that fix it. Episode page & show notes Try a walking desk - stay healthy & sharp while you learn & code The first episode of the OCDevel Claude Code arc, the show that climbs from driving one session by hand all the way to a pipeline that ships to production while you're on the beach. This one is the on-ramp: everything you need to be genuinely productive in your first session, with no single primitive over-explained. What we cover: The core agentic loop — gather context, take action, verify, repeat — and the part most people miss: you're inside the loop. How to steer mid-run with the escape key and with typed corrections, how the tiered permission prompts gate shell commands and file edits, and how checkpoints let you rewind a bad edit by tapping escape twice. See How Claude Code works and Configure permissions. CLAUDE.md, your project memory — what it is, where the user / project / local files live, what to put in (specific build and test commands, conventions, "always/never" rules) and what to leave out, why you keep it under ~200 lines, and the newer auto-memory system Claude maintains alongside it. Reference: Memory. /init — generate a starter memory file from your codebase, why it's safe to re-run, the opt-in guided flow, and why the draft is a starting point you refine, not a finished file. Sessions and resume — work is saved continuously; pick up exactly where you left off with claude --continue or the --resume picker, and the difference between resuming, forking, and starting fresh. Reference: Manage sessions. The day-one pitfall — context degradation, in both forms (the never-ending session and the bloated CLAUDE.md), how to recognize it, and the habits that fix it: clear between tasks, compact with focus, keep memory lean. Recency notes for mid-2026: Claude Code is on the 2.1 line with the native installer now recommended over npm, and your default model depends on your plan (Opus 4.8 on Max/API, Sonnet 4.6 on Pro). See Model configuration. Next episode: settings.json, permissions, and plan mode in depth.