I use Claude Code (CLI) daily for infrastructure work — Docker configs, shell scripts, API development, config management.

What works: I stay in the driver's seat. I own the architecture, make the decisions, validate everything. But I don't need a team to execute — Claude does the implementation. I went from being a solo dev limited by time to running a complex project (multi-agent system, Docker, Synology integration, PHP API) that would normally need 2-3 people.

The key is a good CLAUDE.md file with strict rules, and pushing Claude to think ahead and propose multiple options instead of just doing the first thing that comes to mind. Claude is also surprisingly powerful for audits — security audits, config audits, log analysis.

What doesn't work: it confidently generates plausible-looking code that's subtly wrong. Never trust it on things you can't verify. It also over-engineers everything if you don't rein it in.

The biggest shift: I went from "write code" to "review and direct code." Not sure it's making me a better engineer, but it's making me a more effective one. It extends me.

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