Honestly, stop feeding it the whole repo. Claude Code eats tokens like crazy, and if you dont watch your usage, that budget is gonna vanish. I suggest you keep your context window lean by only pointing it at specific files or generated documentation summaries.

• Create a lean schema.md file. When handling complex ORM stuff, feed it that schema file first. It stops the hallucinations about foreign keys because the source of truth is right there.
• Use it for boilerplate patterns. Tell it to write the CRUD layer using your existing architecture, but keep the core logic manual. That saves credits and keeps the code actually clean.
• Be careful with migrations. I wouldnt let it run them blindly against a DB. Let it generate the SQL, verify it, then run it yourself. You might want to consider running your tests on a local instance using Docker Desktop for Mac/Windows to ensure the migrations wont break your production data.
• Split your tasks. If you throw a whole service migration at it, it will struggle. Break it into: model definition, then schema migration, then the handler logic. It is easy to over-rely on it, but for backend logic, I find it way more effective to treat it like a junior dev that needs a strict spec. If you are worried about costs, maybe look into Cursor AI Code Editor Pro for a fixed subscription if you find yourself hitting API limits way too often.

For migrations, stop letting it guess keys. I usually feed it the raw SQL schema and a summary of my JetBrains DataGrip 2024.3 IDE export. It keeps the foreign key relationships accurate without hallucinating. If you want to keep costs down, just define your interfaces clearly first. Honestly, it handles boilerplate way better when I use Postman Professional API Development Suite to pre-generate the request payloads. Saves me a ton of tokens during testing.

Subbing for updates

Late to the party but lsymyndhfg is totally right about the context window. Honestly, I've had issues with the tool hallucinating fields way too often when I let it roam free. It is definitely not as good as expected for complex migrations, unfortunately.

• Write small, isolated unit tests first.
• Use a strict internal style guide file.
• Keep logic modular so the bot stays focused. Speaking of focus, my laptop fan has been going crazy lately, almost like a jet engine taking off in my living room. I ended up opening the back cover yesterday and found so much cat hair inside it was actually embarrassing. I think my kitten somehow managed to push her fuzz through the vents while napping on the keyboard. I had to buy a specialized air duster and spend an hour cleaning it all out. Now the desk is covered in dust and I still haven't finished my own backend tasks. Anyway lol, sorry kinda went off topic there.