Posts in the Claude Code Automation Guide series
Claude Code has five permission modes: default (confirm each step), acceptEdits (auto-accept edits), plan (read-only planning), auto (background AI classifier review), and bypassPermissions (YOLO, skip everything). Switch with Shift+Tab or configure via settings.json. Auto mode is the sweet spot — no step-by-step confirmations, but with safety guardrails.
Hooks are Claude Code's event system. They trigger shell commands, HTTP requests, or LLM evaluations automatically before/after tool execution, when a prompt is submitted, or when a task ends. Use them to block dangerous operations, run automated reviews, inject context, or write audit logs.
A Skill is an SOP written for AI. Define the steps in a Markdown file and Claude follows them. No coding required, no frameworks to learn — just write down what an experienced person would do.
/loop is Claude Code's native cron feature — set schedules in plain English and let Claude monitor, auto-fix PRs, and run recurring tasks in the background. Session-scoped and expires after 7 days; for cross-session scheduling, use Routines or Desktop scheduled tasks.
Routines is Claude Code's cloud automation system (formerly Cloud Scheduled Tasks). Beyond cron scheduling, you can trigger runs via API endpoint or GitHub events — scan issues, review PRs, run checks, open PRs — all while your computer is off.
Hooks are automated safety nets (blocking bad commits), Skills are interactive workflows (running checks + auto-fixing), and instruction files (CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md) are behavioral guidelines. Each layer operates independently, but together they enable an AI agent to automatically run lint, typecheck, and build checks before every commit.
When processing requests, Claude Code randomly displays one of 185 built-in verbs (like Thinking, Brewing, Clauding), then picks one of 8 completion verbs with elapsed time. You can customize these via spinnerVerbs in settings.json, using either replace or append mode. All data in this post is verified directly from cli.js source code.
Using Claude Code's Scheduled Remote Agent, automatically scan GitHub issues every 2 hours, implement features, open PRs, and address review feedback — no human intervention required. Humans only write issues and click merge. Pair it with the custom /publish-tasks skill to push OpenSpec engineering tasks directly to GitHub issues.
Global skills live in ~/.claude/skills/, but they go missing in new sessions or the Desktop App? The problem usually isn't a missing file — it's that the skill descriptions aren't being loaded into context. This post clarifies the CLI vs Desktop App differences, the role of settings.json, and the most reliable fix.