claudzilla

Claude Code, tamed: terse answers, small diffs, verified work, guarded git.

One command turns a stock ~/.claude into a careful senior dev's setup.

Install

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/HT0710/claudzilla/main/install.sh | bash

Requires: git, curl, tar, perl and Claude Code. Missing node or rtk is installed to ~/.local without sudo; keep ~/.local/bin on your PATH. Native Windows is not supported; use WSL.

Pick parts

On a fresh install it asks Full (recommended) or Custom; re-runs keep your saved choice. Full installs every part; Custom lets you untick parts. Run by Claude (no terminal), it stops and prints the questions for Claude to ask you. A fresh --add hud installs only hud plus primer, the updater and guide (no rules, no core settings).

flag	does
--full	install every part
--custom	pick parts from the menu
--add a,b	add parts to your install
--remove a,b	remove parts from your install
--uninstall	remove claudzilla (asks first)
--yes	skip the --uninstall confirmation

Flags go after bash -s --. For example, only the status line:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/HT0710/claudzilla/main/install.sh | bash -s -- --add hud

part	covers
core	rules, hooks, settings, pr and rule-review skills
hud	statusline, themes, MesloLGS NF font
rtk	token-saving command filter
caveman	terse replies
ponytail	smallest-change coding
folio	response dividers, code cards
margin	side panel
ballot	suggested next steps
herald	update and usage notices
byline	commit credit
ledger	pause an edit to a file another session edited

core is not in the menu; --add and --remove accept it. The updater and primer always ship; primer carries the guide pane, /claudzilla report and /claudzilla compact. Your choice is saved, see How install works.

Safe to re-run. Anything replaced is backed up to ~/.claude/.claudzilla-backup/.

New here? Read GUIDE.md, or type /claudzilla in Claude.

What you get

Answer first, evidence cited, one fix proposed, nothing edited until you say go, and "fixed" only after the test ran.

Every picture is a real capture of one small demo repo, shot with permission prompts off (--dangerously-skip-permissions, hence the red bypass permissions on line); only the account email is blanked out.

Answers you can scan

• Terse replies: TL;DR first, tables over prose, every claim backed by a file:line or a command, or marked unverified.

  

• Plain docs and commits: docs, commits, PRs, issues and memory get full sentences, one idea per bullet; chat replies stay terse.

• Investigate, then ask: root cause and one recommendation before any multi-file edit.

  

• Ballot card: a reply that ends in a decision shows a card above the prompt; press a digit to answer (details).

  

  Real speed. Press 1: the option's id and text go into the prompt box; Enter sends it. Needs the ballot part.

• Dividers and file links: lines frame the TL;DR, Next: and each ---, fitted to the chat width. A file path in a reply is a link: click it to see those lines in the margin. Each code block sits in a card with a Copy button. Two clicks on Run run a shell block, and its output streams into the card (details).

  

  Real speed. Click auth/token.js:3: the File tab shows the lines around it, line 3 marked ▶. Needs the fullscreen layout and the folio and margin parts. Your terminal's own link click, such as ctrl+click, opens the file; Claude Code does not.

Code that stays small

• Lazy by default: the smallest change that fully works (ponytail).

  

• Disciplined workflow: debugging, TDD, plans and reviews via superpowers.

• Fewer tokens: short-form voice (caveman), and every Bash call is filtered through rtk.

Git that can't bite

• Guard hook: asks before a force-push or a command that discards work, listing what it would lose; blocks commits on main.

  

• Verify before push: push and PR wait until verification ran; "done" claims with no check run after the last edit get sent back.

  

• Clean history: Conventional Commits enforced, Claude session links stripped from commits and PRs (details).

• Two sessions, one file: before Claude edits a file another session edited in the last 30 minutes, it pauses once and the other session is told (details).

A better terminal

• Statusline: cwd, branch, masked account email, context / prompt cache / 5h / weekly meters, model, effort, active skill, claudzilla version.

  

  3× speed. One real turn: the context meter climbs and the skill Claude loaded appears. The 5h and wk meters show only on a Claude subscription login, such as Pro, Max or Team. The symbols need the MesloLGS NF font; without it, basic symbols.

• Margin: /margin shows what Claude plans and does, lists this chat's prompts, previews files and shows git; click to jump, reuse or rewind (details).

  

  2× speed. After planning…, Claude's reading of the request (ASK, PLAN) fills in, and each step goes ○ → ● → ✓ until the header reads ✓ done. Docks beside the chat in the fullscreen layout, from 110 columns. Costs: a short tool call per report (the margin's intent option in /config turns it off), and while the Overview tab shows, an Opus request at low effort after each prompt to sort topics.

• Toasts: updates install in the background and say so; a toast also shows when the 5-hour or weekly limit passes 50%, 75% and 90%, and when context is worth compacting, including before the prompt cache goes cold while you are away (details).

• Theme + settings: muted dark truecolor theme, opus[1m], normal permission prompts.

• Local trace: a record of what claudzilla's parts did, kept in ~/.claude/claudzilla-trace/, never uploaded; {"rulesGuard":{"trace":false}} in ~/.claude/claudzilla.json turns it off. See the guide topic bugs (/claudzilla bugs).

More screenshots

Margin Git tab: the branch, changed files and recent commits.

Margin History tab: this chat's prompts, newest first, with rewind and latest.

Primer pane: /claudzilla or alt+q, topics beside a section.

Skills and commands

command	does
/claudzilla [topic]	the guide, one topic at a time
/claudzilla report [what happened]	drafts a problem report from the local trace (nothing uploaded); files an issue only on your yes
/claudzilla compact	drafts a /compact line into the prompt box
/margin	side panel: Claude's plan and steps, this chat's prompts, files, git
/rule-review	how often each rule slipped; weekly summary at startup; on your yes, shares the counts (no text) as a claudzilla issue
pr skill	pre-PR checks + description template, runs before every PR

Customize

file	for
~/.claude/CLAUDE.local.md	instructions for this machine only
~/.claude/settings.overrides.json	settings for this machine only, merged last
~/.claude/claudzilla.json	turn guard checks on or off

Full reference, install internals and keybindings: CONFIGURATION.md.

Update

Each push to main with a feature, fix or refactor ships a release, once the tests pass. At most once a day, a new session or /clear installs the newest release in the background, unless the clone has local changes; then you get a notice. After an update, /claudzilla news lists what changed. To update by hand (latest main, may be ahead of the release):

cd ~/claudzilla && git pull && ./install.sh

Uninstall

~/claudzilla/install.sh --uninstall

Removes claudzilla's links, settings entries, keys, plugins and record from ~/.claude, and undoes what the install recorded (node, fonts, shell lines). It lists what is still there (rtk, copies it did not install, the clone) with the commands to delete them. Claude runs it with --yes after you confirm.

Credits

Built on caveman, ponytail, superpowers and rtk.

License

MIT