Claude Cheat Sheet: 22 Tools and When to Use Each

I’ll admit it. Every time Anthropic drops a new Claude feature, I open the app and stare at the left sidebar wondering which button I’m supposed to press. Chat, Code, Design, Projects, Skills, Plugins… the menu keeps getting longer, and most of us just keep typing into the same chat box out of habit.

That’s why this post from an AI professional on LinkedIn stopped me mid-scroll. The author mapped out every major Claude tool to one simple job: ask, think, ship, animate, analyze, remember. It’s one verb per tool, plus a couple of sharp tips on how to use each one well. A few of these features only landed the day before the creator posted, so this is about as fresh as a Claude playbook gets.

I’ve organized the original poster’s list into a few groups so it’s easier to skim. The numbering follows the author’s order.

🧠 Pick the Right Brain for the Job

First up, the expert covers the basics: where to type and which model and effort level to run. This is where most people waste time and tokens.

1. ASK → Chat: Cowork has now merged into Chat, so everything lives in one place. For a quick question, add “No web search & files” so Claude answers straight away instead of going off to research.
2. THINK → Opus 5.5: The author says it won’t burn as many tokens as you’d expect, so use it for all chat and make it your default model.
3. SPEED → Low effort: Good for grammar fixes, reformatting and translations. The key rule here is to lower the effort when you want speed, but never downgrade the model.
4. REASON → High effort: For one-shot, super-ambitious work. The creator recommends making High your default and skipping Extra and Max entirely.

I love this rule. Keep the smartest model all the time and only change how hard it thinks. That’s a much simpler mental model than juggling models for every task.

🚀 Let Claude Do the Work

Once you’ve picked the brain, the next set of tips covers letting Claude actually run with the task instead of asking you for permission every few seconds.

5. DELEGATE → Auto mode: Switch from Manual to Auto. In the post’s words, “Your life will be better,” because Claude stops asking you for permission every second.
6. SHIP → Claude Code: It’s the Code tab inside the Claude desktop app. The author builds sites with GitHub plus Vercel and says they’re “never coming back.”
7. FINISH → /goal command: Tell Claude what “done” means. The template to copy: “/goal [task] until [result], or stop after 100 turns.”

🎨 Make Visual Stuff

This next part surprised me the most. Claude now covers slides, mockups and even motion graphics, and the LinkedIn creator has a clear workflow for each one.

8. SLIDES → Claude Design > Slides: Find it in the left bar under Design, then Slides. Plan the outline in text first, then prompt “Build this exact deck.” You can even hand over your brand kit.
9. MOCKUP → Claude Design: Upload references and keep prompting until you like the result. Send a screenshot instead of describing what you want.
10. ANIMATE → Claude Motion: Type /motion in the chat. Say who’s watching, where it’ll play and how long it should be. Then export to MP4.
11. ANALYZE → Claude Dashboards: Attach a CSV or connect your data warehouse. Ask a question, not for a chart, and click any number to dig deeper.
12. RENDER → HTML Artifacts: Prompt “Make it an HTML page.” It opens on your phone and gets shared as a link.

That tip about asking a question instead of requesting a chart is gold. When you ask “Why did sales drop in March?” you get an answer with the right visual, rather than a pretty chart that explains nothing.

🌐 Reach Beyond the Chat Window

From here, the expert moves into tools that let Claude leave the chat box and actually work on the web and your computer.

13. BROWSE → Claude in Chrome: A browsing agent that reads any page. It can click on things instead of just talking about them.
14. CLICK → Computer Use: It clicks, types and works inside your desktop apps. Use it for native apps, while websites go through Chrome.
15. WRITE → Claude Docs (new): Claude Artifacts have become Claude Docs. You also get Claude Sheets, Data and whiteboards.
16. SEARCH → Web Search: Claude decides when to search by itself and reads the live web before answering.
17. INVESTIGATE → Research: Type /deep-research or toggle it on from the ‘+’ menu. Don’t use it for one source. Save it for when you need 20+ sources.

🧩 Customize and Clean House

The final stretch is about setup. Honestly, this is the section that’ll make the biggest difference for heavy users, because old settings quietly drag your results down.

18. TRIGGER → Skills: Go to Customize, then Skills, and delete the old ones. The author warns they were likely built for older models and can make answers worse.
19. STACK → Plugins: Under Customize, then Plugins, you’ll find bundles for legal, sales and finance. Try commercial-legal, which rates NDAs green, yellow or red.
20. PERSIST → Projects: One Project per client, with account memory turned off inside. Files in Projects are cached, so they count less against your usage.
21. REMEMBER → Memory: Keep it on, since it scored 28% better in Anthropic’s own test. Keep it short, though, and trim it to under 30 lines.
22. REWIND → Edit your prompt: A bad answer poisons the whole chat because Claude rereads it every turn. Don’t argue with it. Click Edit on your message, then Save.

That last tip is the one I’ll be using every day. Arguing with a bad answer just keeps the mistake in context. Editing the prompt wipes it clean and gives Claude a fresh shot.

💡 How I’d Put This to Work

Twenty-two tools is a lot to take in, so here’s how I’d start based on the post’s advice:

• Today: Set Opus 5.5 with High effort as your default and switch to Auto mode.
• This week: Clean out your old Skills and trim your Memory to under 30 lines.
• Next project: Try the /goal command with a clear “done” condition and a turn limit.
• Whenever a reply goes sideways: Edit your prompt instead of correcting Claude in a new message.

What I like most is how the original poster turned a messy feature list into a decision map. You don’t need to memorize every button. You just need to know the verb, whether that’s ask, ship, animate or rewind, and the tool follows.

Check out the full LinkedIn post to see the complete breakdown in the author’s own words, and save it for the next time you’re staring at that Claude sidebar.