Stop Treating Claude Code Like a Vending Machine

Most devs treat Claude like a vending machine: type a prompt, cross your fingers, hope it spits out something usable.
I used to do that too.

But here’s the thing—Claude isn’t magic. It’s not even that smart unless you teach it how to work with you. In this episode, I’m breaking down what actually works when using Claude Code as a solo iOS dev, and how I’ve shifted from guessing at prompts to actually collaborating with Claude like a real teammate.

Whether you’re debugging SwiftUI, stuck in prompt purgatory, or just trying to stop Claude from hallucinating weird fixes—you’re gonna get something out of this.

Topics covered:
• The vending machine mindset (and why it kills flow)
• Setting up CLAUDE.md to reduce repetition
• Structuring prompts so Claude doesn’t guess
• When extended thinking helps—and when it just slows you down
• Niche solo dev tricks (like /clear and multi-session workflows)

00:00 - Cold Open: The Prompting Struggle is Real
01:12 - What This Video Is (and Isn’t)
02:05 - Quick Channel Intro: Who I Am
03:00 - Segment One: Stop Treating Claude Like a Vending Machine
07:55 - Segment Two: System Prompts—Avoiding Daily Repetition
12:10 - Segment Three: Structuring Tasks So Claude Doesn’t Hallucinate
16:55 - Segment Four: Safe Fallbacks—Designing for Uncertainty
20:20 - Segment Five: Specificity vs. Flexibility—Finding the Balance
24:05 - Segment Six: When Extended Thinking Is Worth It (And When It’s Not)
28:10 - Bonus Roundup: Niche Tips for the Weird Days
31:55 - Outro: Final Thoughts + Indie Dev Encouragement


This is not a corporate “how to prompt” talk. It’s the real-life version—frustrations, fixes, and small wins from someone building solo, in public.

Hey, I’m Daniel, an indie iOS dev behind Solo Swift Crafter. I share tutorials, devlogs, and experiments with SwiftUI, Claude, and other AI tools for creative solo builders.

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