claude-shorthand/.backup/claude-shorthand.md

Claude Shorthand Cheat-Sheet

Core Operators

Pattern	Meaning	Example
→	then (sequential)	ssh pve173 → zpool status
+	and (parallel)	check caddy + check pihole
X ? Y : Z	if X then Y else Z	port open ? connect : debug
!X	don't / skip	!error handling
w/	with	py script w/ argparse
@	at path/location	new config @ /etc/caddy/
re:	regarding	fix re: tank degraded drive
=	set/assign	port=3000, lang=python
~	approximately / like	~50 lines, ~yesterday
>>	output to / save to	results >> /tmp/report.txt
<-	from / source	data <- freshrss API

Spec Block (complex tasks)

feat: <short description>
- lang: <language>
- deps: <dependencies>
- in: <input/source>
- out: <output/target>
- !: <things to skip>

Examples

Verbose → Compressed

Service setup:

# Before (~80 tokens):
"Please create a new Python service in the printer-automation directory
that connects to the FreshRSS API, fetches today's articles, formats
them for the receipt printer, and runs as a systemd service"

# After (~20 tokens):
feat: daily print @ printer-automation/
- freshrss API → format → receipt printer
- systemd service

Infra task:

# Before (~50 tokens):
"SSH into pve173, check if any drives in the tank pool are degraded,
and if so tell me which ones need replacement"

# After (~12 tokens):
pve173 → tank degraded drives? → list replacements

Multi-step:

# Before (~60 tokens):
"First read the Caddyfile, then add a new reverse proxy entry for
wiki.sethpc.xyz pointing to 192.168.0.160 port 3000, and also
add it to the Pi-hole DNS"

# After (~15 tokens):
add wiki.sethpc.xyz → .160:3000 to caddy + pihole

Conditional:

# Before (~45 tokens):
"Check if ollama is running on pve197. If it is, test the qwen model.
If it's not running, start it first then test."

# After (~15 tokens):
pve197: ollama running ? test qwen : start → test

Anchors (use known names)

Say	Not
pve173	"the PowerEdge node at 192.168.0.173"
tank	"the ZFS pool on node-173"
caddy	"the reverse proxy in CT 600"
pihole	"the DNS server at 192.168.0.153"
steel141	"this machine, my gaming PC"
ollama	"the LLM inference service"

Quick Rules

1. Drop articles (a, the, an) — Claude doesn't need them
2. Drop politeness (please, could you, I'd like) — zero effect on output
3. Use aliases from CLAUDE.md — they're shared vocabulary
4. Bullets > paragraphs — less ambiguous, fewer tokens
5. Imply obvious steps — "add X to caddy" implies read/edit/save