The recipe planner has made quite a bit of progress by now: basic structure, search, bug fix, code review, tests, categories. High time this work gets recorded in git as well - the standard version control tool, which Claude Code works with via the Bash tool from chapter 8, just like any other command-line program.

Having progress committed

Instead of typing every git command yourself, you can directly ask Claude Code to save the current state:

> Save the current state as a commit. Check git status and git diff first, and write a fitting commit message that describes what changed.

Claude Code then checks with git status and git diff which files have changed, writes a fitting commit message, and creates the commit - similar to what you'd do yourself, just automated, and with a summary that actually matches the concrete content of the change, instead of a generic message like "Update".

git status
git diff
git add src/recipes.js server.js
git commit -m "Add category filter for recipes"

Branches for larger changes

For a larger change - like the category feature from chapter 18 - a dedicated branch is a good idea, rather than working directly on the main branch. This too can be requested directly:

> Create a new branch "feature/categories", switch to it, and commit the category changes there.

git checkout -b feature/categories
git add .
git commit -m "Add recipe categories and filter"

Creating pull requests

Once the change is finished and tested, you can also turn it into a pull request - a request to merge the changes from the feature branch into the main branch, usually through a platform like GitHub or GitLab:

> Push the feature/categories branch and create a pull request with a short summary of the change and a few bullet points on how to test it.

Claude Code can both run the actual git push and, if a matching command-line tool for the platform in use is installed and set up, create the pull request itself, including title and description.

Staying in control

Important to know: Claude Code generally doesn't create commits or pushes without your prior request or approval - git actions run through the Bash tool and are therefore subject to the same permission rules from chapter 9 as any other command.