Designing Claude Code

In this interview, Alex Albert, who leads Claude Relations at Anthropic, speaks with Meaghan Choi, the design lead for Claude Code, about the design and unique form factor of Claude Code. Meaghan discusses the initial decision to use a CLI (command line interface) for its versatility and integration into developer workflows. They explore the history of terminal products, the evolution of user interfaces, and how Claude Code leverages the terminal's text-based nature for LLMs. Meaghan highlights the benefits of direct file edits within the terminal, future iterations of the developer workflow, and the architecture powering Claude Code, including slash commands and sub-agents. She also shares design principles, the team's prototyping process, and her favorite design elements within Claude Code. Lastly, Meaghan discusses how she, as a designer, uses Claude Code to brainstorm, scope designs, and implement design polishes, ultimately improving collaboration with engineers.