Common Participant Questions

Summary — what this page covers Quick answers to the questions that come up every time. Carry over the existing Day 1 FAQ and add the new steering-era ones. Keep answers to a few sentences.

Should I use Claude Code or GitHub Copilot?

They do different jobs. Claude Code is an agent — it plans, reads whole-codebase context, runs tools and commands, and loops until the task is done. Copilot is primarily autocomplete and chat that helps while you type. They're not mutually exclusive: many developers keep Copilot for in-the-editor completions and reach for Claude Code to execute whole tasks.

Does Claude Code work with VS Code, Rider, and Visual Studio?

Claude Code runs in the terminal and integrates with VS Code and JetBrains (including Rider, the .NET-native IDE) — it complements your editor rather than replacing it. The agent and your .claude/ config are identical across surfaces; only the diff/permission UI differs. There's no dedicated Visual Studio extension today, so with VS run Claude Code in a terminal alongside it (or use VS Code/Rider for the inline-diff experience). On Windows, run the terminal in WSL2.

What happens when my context window fills up?

/compact summarizes the conversation and continues — but some detail is lost, so break big tasks into smaller chunks and /clear between unrelated ones. Your root CLAUDE.md and unscoped rules are re-injected after compaction, so your standing project briefing survives; ad-hoc conversation detail may not.

Is the code Claude generates safe to commit?

Review it like a junior developer's PR — you're still accountable for what you merge. Your PostToolUse build/test hook ensures it at least compiles and passes tests, and a code-review skill catches the common .NET failure modes (see Section 4). Don't blind-merge.

What does running Claude Code all day cost?

It needs a paid plan — it's not on Free. Pro (~$20/mo) is the entry tier and comfortably covers a workshop day; Max is for heavy all-day use. Usage is a shared, rolling 5-hour pool across Claude.ai and Claude Code. An API key is pay-as-you-go instead (the Day 2 path). See Before You Begin.

Can Claude Code access my production database?

Not by default. Claude Code reads your project files and runs approved commands — it reaches a database only through an MCP server you explicitly configure. The permission model plus a PreToolUse guardrail hook keep it from touching anything you didn't authorize. Don't hand it production credentials casually.

(New) Aren't skills just markdown files?

No — a skill is a folder with a SKILL.md plus optional references/ and scripts/. The folder is the unit, not a single file. (This changed from the earlier single-file approach — see Section 2.)

(New) Rule vs CLAUDE.md — when do I use which?

CLAUDE.md holds the facts every session needs — keep it short, a map of the project. Rules hold conventions, and path-scoped rules load only when you're working in the matching files, so they don't cost context everywhere. Rule of thumb: facts → CLAUDE.md; coding conventions → rules.

(New) How do I actually enforce a "never"?

Not with a prompt — a CLAUDE.md "never do X" line is a suggestion the model may follow. Use a deterministic guardrail: a PreToolUse hook (exit 2 to block), permissions, or managed settings for non-overridable, org-wide enforcement.