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Configuration and Customization

Course 4 of 10 in Claude Partner Badge: Claude Code

Claude Code reads configuration from four places, and when settings conflict, a fixed priority order decides. This course covers the hierarchy, how to write effective CLAUDE.md files, settings file conventions, and how to build custom slash commands for a client's workflow.

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About this course

Configuration is where a Claude Code deployment goes from functional to actually useful for the client's team. This course walks through the settings layer by layer so you know both what's possible and where each setting belongs.

You'll start with the configuration hierarchy: Managed, Local, Project, and User, four scopes with a fixed priority order. On a client engagement, the distinction between what IT enforces (Managed, the highest priority) and what the team shares (Project, committed to git) is where security requirements either hold or fall apart.

From there, you'll get into CLAUDE.md, the memory file that gives Claude persistent context across sessions. There are two levels:

  • Org-wide: instructions no developer can override, managed through the admin layer
  • Repo-specific: team context like architecture decisions, testing conventions, and constraints Claude would otherwise need re-explained at the start of every session

The course also covers:

  • settings.json and settings.local.json conventions, the difference between shared team settings and personal project overrides, and why one is git-committed and one isn't
  • Custom slash commands, built from a Markdown file with YAML frontmatter, the fastest way to package repeatable workflows for a client's team
  • Output styles and formatting controls that make Claude's responses match what the team actually needs

The practice exercise: author a CLAUDE.md and one custom slash command for a sample repo. Both become your course artifact, a CLAUDE.md template and a slash command catalogue entry you can reuse on engagements.

Time In Skilljar (Measured) 1 Hour 8 MinutesPractice & Artifact Building (Estimated Time In Skilljar) 40 Min

Curriculum

  • Configuration hierarchy and precedence
  • CLAUDE.md: company-wide vs. repo-specific memory
  • settings.json vs. settings.local.json conventions
  • Custom slash commands
  • Output styles

About this course

Configuration is where a Claude Code deployment goes from functional to actually useful for the client's team. This course walks through the settings layer by layer so you know both what's possible and where each setting belongs.

You'll start with the configuration hierarchy: Managed, Local, Project, and User, four scopes with a fixed priority order. On a client engagement, the distinction between what IT enforces (Managed, the highest priority) and what the team shares (Project, committed to git) is where security requirements either hold or fall apart.

From there, you'll get into CLAUDE.md, the memory file that gives Claude persistent context across sessions. There are two levels:

  • Org-wide: instructions no developer can override, managed through the admin layer
  • Repo-specific: team context like architecture decisions, testing conventions, and constraints Claude would otherwise need re-explained at the start of every session

The course also covers:

  • settings.json and settings.local.json conventions, the difference between shared team settings and personal project overrides, and why one is git-committed and one isn't
  • Custom slash commands, built from a Markdown file with YAML frontmatter, the fastest way to package repeatable workflows for a client's team
  • Output styles and formatting controls that make Claude's responses match what the team actually needs

The practice exercise: author a CLAUDE.md and one custom slash command for a sample repo. Both become your course artifact, a CLAUDE.md template and a slash command catalogue entry you can reuse on engagements.

Time In Skilljar (Measured) 1 Hour 8 MinutesPractice & Artifact Building (Estimated Time In Skilljar) 40 Min

Curriculum

  • Configuration hierarchy and precedence
  • CLAUDE.md: company-wide vs. repo-specific memory
  • settings.json vs. settings.local.json conventions
  • Custom slash commands
  • Output styles