Claude Code Hero
You know the basics. Chat, CLAUDE.md, maybe a prompt or two. But there are deeper chambers -- commands, hooks, agents, skills, plugins, MCP servers, workflows -- and most who wield Claude Code never find them.
This is the dungeon that teaches you how.
A quest per feature. Each one builds a real artifact on your machine. The artifacts connect -- the spell you forge in Level 3 gets a tripwire in Level 6, and everything binds together into a plugin in Level 9. Past the workshop the chambers get sharper: a hook that decides instead of reacting, a tool that did not exist until you wired it in, and a script that commands several agents at once. You start at the threshold learning to talk to Claude Code. You end writing programs whose workers think.
The medium is the message: you learn about plugins by using one.
Before You Enter
You'll need three things. The install script checks for all of them and offers to fetch what's missing.
git clone https://github.com/kylesnowschwartz/claude-code-hero.git
cd claude-code-hero
bash scripts/install.sh
| Dependency | Purpose | Install source |
|---|---|---|
| Ruby | Runs the game engine | Homebrew / apt |
| jq | Parses JSON in hook scripts | Homebrew / apt |
| Claude Code | The CLI you're here to master | Official installer |
macOS and Linux. Windows users: WSL.
Enter the Dungeon
claude --plugin-dir . --agent dungeon-master
A guide will meet you at the entrance.
The Thirteen Chambers
| Quest | Chamber | What You Learn |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | The Threshold | Basic Claude Code interaction |
| 1 | The Map Room | The .claude/ directory |
| 2 | The Tome of First Instructions | CLAUDE.md |
| 3 | The Goblin Lair of Commands | Slash commands |
| 4 | The Warden's Keys | Settings and permissions |
| 5 | The Enchanted Inscription | Rules |
| 6 | The Tripwire Cavern | Hooks |
| 7 | The Skill Quest of Doom | Skills |
| 8 | The Summoner's Circle | Agents |
| 9 | The Artificer's Workshop | Plugins, and publishing one to a marketplace |
| 10 | The Hall of Watchers | Advanced hooks -- deciding, not just reacting |
| 11 | The Oracle Well | MCP servers |
| 12 | The Warband | Dynamic workflows |
Commands at Your Belt
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/claude-code-hero:verify | Test whether your current quest is complete |
/claude-code-hero:progress | Unroll the quest log |
/claude-code-hero:music | Toggle dungeon music on or off |
/claude-code-hero:solve <N> | Create minimum artifacts to pass levels 0 through N (QA tool) |
/claude-code-hero:restart | Wipe all artifacts and return to the entrance |
Plugin commands carry the plugin's name, so the prefix is not optional -- but you never have to type any of it. Ask the dungeon master instead: "check my work" runs the same verification, and "where am I?" unrolls the same quest log.
How Progress Works
Your journey saves to .claude/claude-code-hero.json. The dungeon master verifies your work programmatically and advances you when you pass.
Already have a CLAUDE.md or existing hooks? Every artifact is named hero-*, so nothing of yours is overwritten and /claude-code-hero:restart removes only what the dungeon created. Most quests write inside .claude/; the later ones reach outside it, since that is where the real thing lives -- Level 9 builds a plugin directory and Level 11 writes .mcp.json at the project root.
Left mid-quest? Walk back in anytime and resume your quest: claude --plugin-dir . --agent dungeon-master