.md, Skills, Hooks, Subagents, MCP.
Five words everyone uses and nobody explains:
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CLAUDE.MD, the brief it reads before you type.
✦ Loads every session
✦ Mine says "always plan first"
✦ Run /init and it writes you a starter
It guides, though. It cannot force anything, which is exactly why hooks exist.
SKILLS, the jobs you do on repeat.
✦ Fires when you call it, or when it fits
✦ /code-review instead of a 200-word prompt
✦ Add a SKILL.md in .claude/skills/
It costs you nothing sitting there unused, because the detail only loads when it actually runs.
HOOKS, the rule that fires without you.
✦ Runs always, at the moment you picked
✦ Tidies every file the second it saves
✦ Run /hooks and pick the moment
Now one fires on every prompt I send.
SUBAGENTS, the specialist you hand one job.
✦ Its own head, its own memory
✦ A researcher that reads but can't edit
✦ Add a .md file in .claude/agents/
It can't see your chat, so put the whole brief in writing and it'll never eat into your context.
MCP, the socket to the apps you already pay for.
✦ Runs the moment Claude needs live data
✦ Mine writes straight into my Notion
✦ claude mcp add, then check with /mcp
Whatever you connect, Claude can read, so only wire up the apps you already trust.
The difference is WHEN each one runs.
CLAUDE.md guides. A hook forces.
That's the bit that took me longest to get.
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P.S. Which of the five did you set up last?