{"id":1441,"date":"2026-06-09T12:55:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T10:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pletzenauer.com\/claude-code-the-12-best-features\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T18:43:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T16:43:20","slug":"claude-code-the-12-best-features","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pletzenauer.com\/en\/2026\/06\/09\/claude-code-the-12-best-features\/","title":{"rendered":"Claude Code: The 12 Best Features"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Blog · Claude Code · Hands-on ranking<\/p>

The 12 Best Claude Code Features<\/h1>

Nate Herk has spent 500+ hours inside the Claude ecosystem and ranked every feature from D- to S-tier. I’ve translated his top 12 and added a consultant’s view \u2014 for everyone who uses Claude Code not for programming, but for knowledge work and automation.<\/p>

Source: “I Tested Every Claude Code Feature, These 12 Are the Best” \u2014 Nate Herk | AI Automation · Translated & contextualised by Martin Pletzenauer.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The ranking<\/p>

From #12 to #1<\/h2>

Not ranked by what’s most popular \u2014 but by what actually changes the day-to-day in knowledge work and automation. Spots 1 to 4 are marked in orange.<\/p>

12<\/span>Goal<\/span>\/goal<\/code><\/div>

Give Claude a goal with a clear “definition of done” \u2014 it works, with built-in verification, until the criterion is met. No 24-hour run needed: one precise brief, then let it run while you do something else.<\/p><\/div>

11<\/span>Ultra Plan<\/span><\/div>

Offloads the planning of large, still-fuzzy tasks to the cloud. Multiple planning agents work in parallel; pull the finished plan back into the terminal or continue it on the web \u2014 and keep working locally in the meantime.<\/p><\/div>

10<\/span>Insights<\/span>\/insights<\/code><\/div>

Generates an HTML report on your Claude Code usage over the last 30 days: what’s working, what’s slowing you down, which features and skills to lean on more. An honest mirror of how you actually work.<\/p><\/div>

9<\/span>Auto Memory<\/span><\/div>

Claude improves its own memory between sessions \u2014 without being asked. At set intervals it reviews what happened and gets smarter over time. Switch it on once, then it runs in the background.<\/p><\/div>

8<\/span>Agent Teams<\/span><\/div>

Multiple personas \u2014 e.g. a beginner, a CEO, a skeptic \u2014 debate in rounds until they reach consensus. Great for pressure-testing an idea from several angles. Still experimental; enable it in your settings.<\/p><\/div>

7<\/span>Rewind<\/span>\/rewind<\/code><\/div>

Rolls code and conversation back to an earlier checkpoint. Cleaner than fixing a mistake after the fact \u2014 you pick the exact point in the conversation to continue from.<\/p><\/div>

6<\/span>Sub-Agents<\/span><\/div>

Background agents that work in parallel and report only to the main session (unlike Agent Teams, they don’t talk to each other). Definable as Markdown files \u2014 with their own tools and skills.<\/p><\/div>

5<\/span>Loop<\/span>\/loop<\/code><\/div>

Repeats a prompt at fixed intervals via a local cron, bound to the session. Also triggerable in natural language, and auto-stops after seven days.<\/p><\/div>

4<\/span>Remote Control<\/span><\/div>

Drive your local Claude Code session from your phone or the web \u2014 fully in sync. Perfect for keeping a session going while you’re on the move.<\/p><\/div>

3<\/span>Routines<\/span><\/div>

Schedule a real agent \u2014 local or in the cloud \u2014 not a deterministic script. Scheduled like any normal task you’d give Claude, and easy to manage in the desktop app.<\/p><\/div>

2<\/span>Status Line<\/span><\/div>

Model, effort level and context usage always in view \u2014 one of the most underrated features, and a good reason to switch from the editor to the terminal. Complemented by \/context<\/code> and \/usage<\/code>.<\/p><\/div>

1<\/span>Skills<\/span><\/div>

Reusable Markdown “recipes” for consistent, repeatable workflows. Built yourself or borrowed from others, shareable across your team and chainable together \u2014 by far the biggest lever day to day.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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To go<\/p>

All 12 features on one page.<\/h2>

The full ranking as a compact cheat-sheet \u2014 ideal to print or keep next to your terminal.<\/p>Download the cheat-sheet (PDF) ↓<\/a><\/div>\"Infographic:<\/a><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Context<\/p>

How to get the most out of it as a knowledge worker<\/h2>

Nate uses Claude Code not mainly for programming, but as an “operating system” for his daily work. That’s exactly where the leverage is for consulting, SMEs and the self-employed:<\/p>

01<\/p>

Turn the recurring into Skills<\/h3>

Capture every workflow you need often as a Skill once \u2014 after that it runs consistently instead of being re-prompted each time.<\/p><\/div>

02<\/p>

Automate with Routines & Loops<\/h3>

Scheduled agents and interval prompts handle routine work around Zoho, Google Workspace or your website \u2014 without you sitting next to it.<\/p><\/div>

03<\/p>

Stay in control<\/h3>

Status Line, \/goal with a clear definition of done and \/rewind make sure you always know what’s running \u2014 no flying blind.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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This article summarises the feature ranking from the video “I Tested Every Claude Code Feature, These 12 Are the Best”<\/a> by Nate Herk | AI Automation<\/strong> \u2014 translated into English and contextualised from a consultant’s perspective. Feature names and slash commands are kept in the original; order and rating reflect his personal practice.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Let’s talk<\/p>

30 minutes, no obligation.<\/h2>

Want to bring Claude Code, automation or AI sensibly into your daily work? Tell me briefly what you’re working on \u2014 I’ll tell you honestly whether and how I can help. Without the AI hype.<\/p>

Book a call →<\/a>Contact form<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1472,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-23"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pletzenauer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pletzenauer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pletzenauer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pletzenauer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pletzenauer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1441"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pletzenauer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1442,"href":"https:\/\/pletzenauer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441\/revisions\/1442"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pletzenauer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pletzenauer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pletzenauer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pletzenauer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}