Claude Code 'Interview' Mode in 6 Minutes

Quick Overview

The video demonstrates "Interview Mode" in Claude Code, a spec-driven development workflow where Claude proactively asks the user clarifying questions (like an interview) before writing code, contrasting with traditional prompting where assumptions are buried until code review, ultimately leading to better outcomes by confronting design decisions early when they are cheap to change.

Key Points: The "Interview Mode" workflow utilizes a custom skill called /interview to prompt Claude to ask the user 40+ clarifying questions about a feature or project before writing any code. The core concept shifts from traditional prompt engineering ("You craft perfect instructions") to spec-driven development ("AI helps you discover what you actually want"), emphasizing "Not prompting. Discovering." The interview process covers key areas like App Purpose, Audience, Product Type, and Main Call-to-Action (CTA) through multiple-choice options, leading to a detailed specification (spec). Thariq, who works on Claude Code at Anthropic, shared this workflow, which resonated widely, showing how Claude assumes details like JWT vs. OAuth if not explicitly specified in a basic prompt. The benefit of this approach is making trade-offs and design decisions explicit upfront when they are cheap to change, rather than discovering buried assumptions during code review. The /interview skill triggers the AskUserQuestion tool, which handles the interactive questioning and ultimately writes a detailed spec document upon completion. This contrasts with "Plan Mode" in Claude Code, which is built for implementation planning by exploring an existing codebase and writing a plan file.

Context: This video explains a specific workflow for interacting with Claude Code, an AI coding assistant developed by Anthropic, called "Interview Mode." This method, popularized by a tweet from Thariq, aims to solve the common problem where initial, vague prompts lead to AI-generated code based on hidden assumptions, necessitating costly rework later. The video contrasts this new approach with traditional prompt engineering and Claude's existing "Plan Mode."