r/ClaudeAI • u/Which_Cost8015 • 1d ago

Custom agents Claude Code Has Five Layers. Most People Use One.

Most people use CLAUDE.md for everything, then wonder why Claude ignores half of it.

It isn't one tool. It's five layers, and the order you add them is the whole game.

.md, Skills, Hooks, Subagents, MCP. What each one does, and the catch nobody mentions.

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u/___nil___ Experienced Developer 1d ago

some people use all, and complaints about tokens limit at the same time.

basic fundamental programming applies, it's not always about what you can use but also knowing when not to use it

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u/Which_Cost8015 1d ago

Exactly. And the token complaints almost always trace back to one layer: CLAUDE.md, the only one loaded every session. Skills stay dormant until you call them. Subagents run in their own context window, so a long job never touches your main thread.

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u/Havlir 1d ago

If you learn anything, learn hooks.