Inside Claude Code From the Engineers Who Built It

Overview

This episode dives into the creation and evolution of Claude Code, an AI-powered engineering tool developed by Cat Wu and Boris Cherny at Anthropic AI. The discussion explores its origins, unique features, and how it has transformed workflows for engineers and non-technical users alike. The conversation also touches on product design philosophies, the future of AI-driven development, and the broader implications of building tools for both humans and AI.

Notable Quotes

- You build a product in a way that is hackable, that is open-ended enough that people can abuse it for other use cases it wasn't really designed for. Then you build for that because you kind of know there’s demand for it. – Boris Cherny, on latent demand in product development.

- Everything you can do, Claude Code can do. There’s nothing in between. – Cat Wu, on the seamless integration of Claude Code with terminal workflows.

- In compounding engineering, your goal is to make the next feature easier to build from the feature that you just added. – Dan Shipper, on a new paradigm for engineering productivity.

🛠️ The Origins of Claude Code

- Boris Cherny shared how Claude Code evolved from a research project called Clyde, which initially had significant limitations but demonstrated the potential of AI in coding.

- The decision to eliminate traditional IDEs and focus on terminal-based workflows emerged organically through experimentation and internal use.

- A pivotal moment came when the AI began using tools like Bash autonomously, showcasing its adaptability and sparking the idea for a more integrated agent.

🤖 Building for Engineers and AI

- Claude Code is designed as a dual-use tool, serving both engineers and the AI model itself. For example, slash commands like /commit are usable by both humans and the AI, enabling shared logic and efficiency.

- Cat Wu emphasized the importance of extensibility, allowing engineers to customize workflows with hooks, plugins, and slash commands.

- The team prioritizes building features that improve the user experience, even if they may be obsolete with future AI advancements. For instance, plan mode helps align on complex tasks but may eventually be replaced by smarter models.

🧑‍💻 Internal Use and Feedback Loops

- Anthropic heavily ant foods (their term for dogfooding) Claude Code, with 70-80% of technical employees using it daily. Feedback channels provide rapid insights, with posts every five minutes.

- Internal tools like sub-agents are used for tasks like code reviews, migrations, and issue tracking. For example, sub-agents can identify duplicate issues or proactively create pull requests for bug fixes.

- Boris Cherny highlighted the importance of enabling power users to hack the product, which often reveals latent demand and inspires new features.

🌐 Expanding Accessibility and Use Cases

- While initially focused on engineers, Claude Code has found use cases beyond coding, such as market research, email assistance, and even shopping advisors.

- To make the tool more accessible, Anthropic introduced a GUI extension for VS Code and a web-based interface, reducing the intimidation factor of the terminal for non-technical users.

- The rebranding to Claude Agent SDK reflects its broader applicability, with industries like healthcare, finance, and legal adopting it for specialized tasks.

🚀 The Future of AI-Driven Development

- The team is exploring longer periods of AI autonomy, with models now capable of running tasks for up to 30 hours. Future iterations aim for even greater independence and proactivity.

- Boris Cherny predicted the emergence of Claude monitoring Claude, where agents oversee other agents to optimize workflows.

- The conversation also touched on the importance of unshipping features to maintain simplicity and cohesion, a principle inspired by Boris’s time at Instagram.