tl;dr Install these tools

Here’s the priority order for maximum impact:

  1. ripgrep, fd, gh - These transform search and git workflows
  2. golangci-lint, goimports, gotests - Go development gets SO much smoother
  3. gofumpt, staticcheck - Polish that code to a shine
  4. jq, bat, fzf - Quality of life improvements you didn’t know you needed

Claude will use these if installed. Since most/all are much faster than the built-in tools they replace it’s a clear win.

Caveats

  • Tools installed via package manager or go install are immediately available to all Claude Code sessions. Even ones started before the tools were installed.
  • Claude will automatically discover what’s available as needed including existing Claude Code sessions.
  • Shell aliases in ~/.bashrc only work for new shells, but the tools themselves? Instant.

Details

Claude will use all of the following tools when available. I’ve found they make working with Claude, especially from the command line, much faster and easier.

Search & Navigation

  • ripgrep (rg) - Lightning-fast code search
  • fd - File finding that doesn’t make you wait
  • fzf - Fuzzy finder with interactive search

Git (if you let Claude use git)

  • gh - GitHub CLI. Creates PRs, manages issues, all from the terminal.
  • delta or diff-so-fancy - Improves readability of git diffs.

General Development

  • jq - JSON wrangling made easy
  • yq - Like jq but for YAML (and JSON too!)
  • bat - It’s cat with syntax highlighting and line numbers
  • task - Task runner that works with your Taskfile.yml. Very nice.
  • tldr - Man pages, but better
  • eza (or exa) - ls but prettier and more informative.
  • httpie or curlie - curl for humans. Much more readable.
  • entr - Run commands when files change. Great for watch modes.

Go Development

  • gopls - Go language server (you probably already have this!)
  • golangci-lint - All the Go linters in one. Catches everything. Some configuration required.
  • staticcheck - The gold standard for Go static analysis.
  • gofumpt - Like gofmt but more opinionated. In a good way.
  • goimports - Manages imports automatically. Never manually sort imports again.
  • gomodifytags - Add/remove struct tags in bulk. Awesome for JSON/YAML structs.
  • gotests - Generates test scaffolding. Great starting point for tests.