Claude Code Workflow

The most productive NeuralRepo workflow combines Claude for brainstorming with Claude Code for building. This guide walks through the full pattern.

The Pattern

The workflow has four phases:

1. Brainstorm in Claude — explore ideas conversationally.
2. Save to NeuralRepo — persist the best ideas via MCP.
3. Switch to Claude Code — pull ideas into a project directory.
4. Build with context — Claude Code uses the idea as a spec.

This creates a clean separation: Claude is your thinking partner, NeuralRepo is your memory, and Claude Code is your builder.

Prerequisites

• NeuralRepo MCP server connected to both Claude.ai and Claude Code. See the MCP setup guide.
• The nrepo CLI installed. See CLI installation.
• Pro, if you want the linking step — link_ideas is the one tool in this workflow that Free cannot call. Everything else works on any plan.

Caution

Throughout this guide, let Claude hold the identifier rather than retyping the number you see. Claude’s summaries usually quote the display #number, while every tool and CLI command keys off the database id, and the two differ on any account but the first. “That idea” is safer than “idea 63” — see Idea identifiers.

Phase 1: Brainstorm in Claude

Start a conversation in Claude.ai and think through your idea:

You: I want to build a CLI tool that generates changelogs from git commits. It should group commits by type (feat, fix, chore) and support conventional commits. What do you think?

Claude: That is a solid idea. Here are some considerations…

• Parse conventional commit prefixes (feat:, fix:, chore:, etc.)
• Group by type with headings
• Support a date range filter
• Output as markdown
• Optional: detect breaking changes from BREAKING CHANGE footers

Iterate until the idea is well-formed.

Phase 2: Save to NeuralRepo

Once you have something worth keeping, ask Claude to save it:

You: Save this as an idea in NeuralRepo. Tag it with cli, devtools, and mvp.

Claude: (calls save_idea) Saved as idea #63 (id 163): “CLI changelog generator from git commits” with tags cli, devtools, mvp.

Tip

Ask Claude to search before saving: “Do I already have an idea about changelog generation?” This prevents duplicates and may surface related ideas you forgot about.

If related ideas exist, link them (Pro):

You: Link this to the git workflow tools idea.

Claude: (calls link_ideas) Linked them with relation type “related.”

The duplicate detector will often have made that connection for you already: any pair scoring above your related threshold gets a system-created related relation within seconds of the save.

Phase 3: Switch to Claude Code

Open your terminal, navigate to your project directory, and start Claude Code:

mkdir changelog-cli && cd changelog-cli
claude

Now pull the idea into context:

You: Search my NeuralRepo for the changelog generator idea

Claude Code: [calls search_ideas with query "changelog generator"]
Found idea #63 (id 163): "CLI changelog generator from git commits" (captured)
  Tags: cli, devtools, mvp
  Body: Parse conventional commit prefixes, group by type...

You: Pull that idea into this project

Claude Code: [runs: nrepo pull 163 --to ./]
Created ./idea-163-cli-changelog-generator.md

You: Read that file and set up the project — initialize a Node.js package,
     create the CLI entry point, and implement the core logic.

Phase 4: Build with Context

Claude Code now has the full idea context and can build accordingly. As you work, keep the idea status updated:

You: Move that idea to building

Claude Code: [calls update_idea with id=163, status="building"]
Updated.

When you ship:

You: Mark it shipped and add the npm package URL to the body

Claude Code: [calls update_idea with id=163, status="shipped",
  body="... Published as changelog-gen on npm."]
Done.

Caution

update_idea replaces the whole body. Ask Claude to fetch the current body and append to it, rather than passing a one-line update that silently discards everything you wrote before.

Searching Before New Work

Before starting any new project, make it a habit to search NeuralRepo:

You: Before we start, search my NeuralRepo for anything related to
     "API monitoring" or "endpoint health checks"

Claude Code: [calls search_ideas]
Found 3 related ideas:
  - #14: "API uptime dashboard" (exploring)
  - #31: "Health check endpoint standard" (captured)
  - #45: "Alerting system for API failures" (shelved)

This surfaces prior thinking and prevents you from rebuilding what you have already explored.

Full Conversation Example

Here is a complete session across both tools:

In Claude.ai:

You: I need a GitHub Action that posts PR size labels (S, M, L, XL)
     based on lines changed. Let's think through the design.

Claude: [discusses design, thresholds, label colors, edge cases]

You: Great, save this to NeuralRepo tagged with github, actions, devtools

Claude: [saves idea #71]

In Claude Code:

You: Search NeuralRepo for the PR size labels idea

Claude Code: [finds idea #71, displays details]

You: Pull it and build a GitHub Action based on the spec

Claude Code: [pulls idea, scaffolds the action, implements logic]

You: Looks good. Move that idea to building.

Claude Code: [updates status]

... after testing and publishing ...

You: Mark it shipped

Claude Code: [updates to shipped]

Tips

• Use tags consistently. Tags like mvp, v2, and blocked help you filter ideas in Claude Code searches.
• Link related ideas. When Claude Code finds multiple related ideas, link them so the graph builds naturally.
• Keep the body updated. As you learn things during building, update the idea body. It becomes a project journal.
• Review weekly. Use the weekly digest to stay on top of stale ideas.

Next Steps

Claude Code Integration Detailed setup guide for connecting NeuralRepo to Claude Code.

Idea to Project The full lifecycle workflow from captured idea to shipped project.

MCP Server Reference Every tool this workflow calls, with parameters and response shapes.

Search How the search-before-you-save habit actually resolves matches.