Ask HN: Claude Code vs. Just Claude

1 mettamage 2 7/20/2025, 12:38:00 PM

I'm just using Claude, copy/pasting code, reading it, making sense of it, thinking about if this is what I want and then proceed. It's a bit slower than the pure vibe coding approach, but I like to stay in the loop and adjust course as quickly as possible.

I haven't used Claude Code yet. So, genuine question, am I missing out? What makes it special versus just using Claude in this copy/paste/reflect way?

Comments (2)

8thcross · 6h ago

This is from their claude-code guide: "Claude Code is intentionally low-level and unopinionated, providing close to raw model access without forcing specific workflows. This design philosophy creates a flexible, customizable, scriptable, and safe power tool. While powerful, this flexibility presents a learning curve for engineers new to agentic coding tools—at least until they develop their own best practices". The agent is what makes the claud-code as good as it is. By not using it, you are using the model that is a hit or miss on several aspects a programmer would need.

skrid · 6h ago

You’re basically missing out on not having to copy/paste. It’s great.