Let it commit.
You review.

01Git is your safety net

Claude Code edits many files fast. That is the point, and also the risk. Git is what turns "it changed things" into "I can see exactly what changed and undo it". Used well, Claude does the tedious parts (staging, commit messages, PR descriptions, a first review) and you keep the decisions.

You do not need a special setup. Claude runs the same git commands you do, so it works in any repository. For pull requests it uses the GitHub CLI (gh), which we set up in section 05.

02Before you start: a clean tree

Run git status first. If the tree is clean, every change in the session is Claude's, and git diff shows exactly that. If you had unfinished work, commit it or stash it (git stash) before you begin.

git status                    nothing to commit, working tree clean
git switch -c fix/login-redirect   work on a branch, never main
claude

Why not rely on /rewind? It restores files Claude edited with its own edit tools, and it is a great quick undo. But it does not track changes made by shell commands (rm, mv, cp), or edits from outside the session. Anthropic's own docs say checkpoints are for session-level recovery and are not a replacement for version control. Git is the permanent record.

03Review what changed

Never commit what you have not read. Three ways to look, all useful:

In VS Code, the extension's "Accept this change" and "Reject this change" buttons let you review one hunk at a time. If you edit the proposed text in the diff before accepting, Claude is told, so it does not assume the file matches its own version.

04Let it write the commit

Ask in plain words: commit my changes with a descriptive message. Claude looks at the diff and the recent history, then writes a message that fits. In Manual mode it asks before running the commit, so you see the message first.

> commit my changes with a descriptive message
> split this into two commits: the bug fix, then the rename
> commit only the files in src/auth, leave the rest
> amend the last commit message to mention the redirect

In VS Code, the prompts are identical in the Claude panel. You can also commit with VS Code's own Source Control box and ask Claude for the message: "write a commit message for the staged changes".

05Open a pull request

Pull requests go through the GitHub CLI. Install it once and sign in:

# Windows
winget install --id GitHub.cli
# macOS
brew install gh
# Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)
sudo apt install gh

gh auth login      follow the prompts, then check:
gh auth status

Then just ask: create a pr for my changes. Claude writes a title and a description from the actual diff, pushes the branch and opens the PR. Guide it when you want a particular shape:

> summarize the changes I've made to the auth module
> create a pr
> add the risks and how to test it to the PR description

Claude Code links the session to the PR it creates. Come back later with claude --from-pr 1234 (your own number) to reopen that session with its context. The same works in VS Code: the panel's session history lets you resume it.

06Ask for a review first

Before a human sees your code, have Claude look at it. Run /code-review (its alias is /review) on your current changes, or pass a PR number or branch:

/code-review             review the current diff for bugs
/code-review high        go deeper (low, medium, high, xhigh, max)
/review 1234             review a pull request by number
/security-review         check this branch for security issues

/security-review compares your branch with the default branch on origin and looks for things like injection, auth mistakes and data exposure. Treat every finding as a lead to check, not an order. Claude can be wrong, and a reviewer who has not read the code cannot tell which findings matter. Reading someone else's PR works too: review PR 456 and list anything risky.

07Two jobs at once: worktrees

Two Claude sessions in the same folder edit the same files and trip over each other. A git worktree gives each task its own checkout and branch:

# terminal 1
claude --worktree feature-auth
# terminal 2
claude --worktree bugfix-123

The repository needs at least one commit first. In VS Code you can open several conversations in separate tabs, but give each its own worktree so they do not edit the same files.

08Guardrails for git

You set up permissions on Day 5. Here is the git version, in .claude/settings.json:

{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": [ "Bash(git status *)", "Bash(git diff *)", "Bash(git log *)" ],
    "deny":  [ "Bash(git push --force *)", "Bash(git reset --hard *)" ]
  }
}

09Try this today

Next up: MCP. How to connect Claude Code to the tools and data you already use, from GitHub and your database to your browser.