Build Your Own Claude Code

Ever wondered how AI coding agents like Claude Code actually work under the hood?

In this live build, we’ll create a practical coding agent from scratch with no agent framework, and no magic. We’ll build the tool-use loop that lets an LLM work with a local project while keeping you in control.

The agent will be able to read files, write and edit code, run shell commands, and ask permission.

This is not an attempt to recreate every feature of Claude Code. It is a hands-on look at the underlying pattern, and a way to understand how these systems actually work by building one.

We’ll explore:

• Setting up the LLM client and the agent’s basic loop
• Defining tools to read files, write and edit code, and run shell commands
• Executing tool calls and keeping the agent’s state straight
• Building a terminal REPL loop that works through a natural-language task
• Adding permission prompts before the agent takes action
• Handling validation, errors, cleanup, and the final handoff

By the end, you’ll have a working terminal-based agent that can read a small codebase, find and fix a bounded issue, run a check, report what it did, and more.

This is a builder-first session for developers, automation enthusiasts, and anyone who wants to move from using coding agents to understanding how to design them.

If you want more of this type of content, check out what we’re building together inside Agentic AI Forge https://www.skool.com/agentic-ai-forge.

About the Host

Doug Finke is a 16-time Microsoft MVP, author of PowerShell for Developers, and creator of ImportExcel, PSAI, and PSClaudeCode. His work focuses on practical agentic AI: using scripts, shells, CLIs, and AI tools to build repeatable automation.