Course Summary: Automations

You now have a system, not just a tool here is everything you built and what changes from here forward

What You Learned

What automations are

Two types: prompt automations which are slash commands you run manually but that do complex work automatically, and event automations which are hooks that run on their own in response to events. Both reduce the number of repetitive decisions and instructions you have to provide.

Custom slash commands

Markdown files in ~/.claude/commands/ that become available as /command-name in any Claude Code session. The file contains the full workflow instructions. You type one word and Claude runs the whole process. The $ARGUMENTS pattern lets you pass variable input to any command.

Hooks

Configured in .claude/settings.json these are rules that fire automatically when Claude Code events happen. The Stop hook runs when a session ends. The PostToolUse hook runs after Claude uses a specific tool. The simplest version for most people is adding an end-of-session rule to your CLAUDE.md.

The morning brief

A /morning-brief command that reads your project context, session history, and task list and produces a clear daily brief in under 2 minutes. Replaces 15 to 20 minutes of context recovery every morning.

Content batch automation

A /content-batch command that reads your MARKETING.md and generates a full week of social posts, thread content, subject lines, and a newsletter paragraph from three topics in your backlog. Once a week, one command, content handled.

Project kickoff automation

A /kickoff command with a description that generates a structured CLAUDE.md, a task list, and a progress log for any new project. You start every project organised instead of starting from a blank folder.

The automation stack

The core four covering morning brief, content batch, project kickoff, and end-of-session rule. Plus the extensions covering weekly review, research dump, and proposal writer. A connected system that manages your workflow so you can focus on actual work.

What You Have Now

A commands folder with at least four slash commands. An end-of-session rule in your global CLAUDE.md. A morning brief running every working day. A weekly content batch saving 2 to 3 hours every week. And a project kickoff that starts every new project with structure.

What Is Coming Next

Course 09 is AI Agents.

Slash commands and hooks automate your own workflow. AI agents automate tasks that are too complex for a single prompt covering multi-step reasoning, independent research, and parallelised work across sub-tasks.

The next course covers what agents actually are, how Claude Code's sub-agent system works, and how to build purpose-specific agents that handle entire categories of work on their own.