Autonomous Execution Modes
The Local Agentic Interface
Claude Code (@anthropic-ai/claude-code) is Anthropic's official agentic CLI that lives in your terminal. It executes a continuous ReAct (Reasoning + Action) loop. You give it a task (e.g., "Refactor the authentication flow"), and it autonomously navigates your repository, reads code, edits files, runs tests, and applies fixes until the task is verified.
CLAUDE.md - Project Memory
The CLAUDE.md file in your project root serves as persistent memory across sessions. This markdown file contains project-specific guidelines: coding conventions, build commands, test instructions, architecture patterns, and constraints. Claude reads this file at session start to ensure every modification complies with your standards.
// Example CLAUDE.md # Project Guidelines - Framework: Next.js 15 with App Router - Build Command: npm run build - Testing: vitest run - Coding Style: Strict TypeScript, vanilla CSS
Set up the Claude Code CLI from scratch, launch an interactive session, then run it headless - the exact workflow used in CI pipelines.