How Claude Code works in large codebases | Hacker News

Hacker News users debated how Claude Code should navigate large codebases, weighing direct file traversal against indexed and RAG-style retrieval.

The thread also compared Claude Code with tools like PHPStorm, Codex, and LSP-based workflows for finding context in monorepos.

A key theme was whether AI agents should only suggest actions or be allowed to run deployments through controlled CLI and CI/CD pipelines.

The discussion reflects a larger product question for AI coding tools: how to be useful in complex repos while staying safe in production workflows.