Using Claude Code to Generate Boilerplate
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Using Claude Code to Generate Boilerplate
This is where AI-assisted development earns its place. Once you have a working empty site, you can ask Claude Code to generate components rather than writing them from scratch.
Open Claude Code in your project directory (claude in the terminal). A useful starting prompt:
This is an Astro project. I need a nav component that:
- Shows a site name linking to /
- Has navigation links (Home, About, Blog)
- Highlights the active link based on the current page
- Uses CSS custom properties for colours (--color-text, --color-primary)
- Is responsive, collapsing to a hamburger on mobile
Read src/layouts/BaseLayout.astro first so the component fits the existing pattern.The “read the existing file first” instruction matters. Without it, Claude Code generates plausible-looking components that don’t match your conventions. With it, it works within what you’ve already built.