Describe the tool before you build it

Before I ask Claude Code to build anything, I write down what the tool should do in plain sentences, like I'm explaining it to a new hire. What goes in, what comes out, who uses it, what "working" looks like. This one habit saves more time than any clever prompt trick.

Busy owners skip this step because it feels slow, then spend a few sessions arguing with the tool about what they actually wanted. A short plain-English description turns a vague wish into something a coding tool can act on, and it gives you a way to check the result against your own words instead of guessing.

Try this today: pick one small tool you want and write three or four sentences describing exactly what it should do, in the same words you'd use talking to a person, before you open Claude Code.