Skip to content
Plymouth AI Lab
Five Agent Tricks logo: clay number 5 with a robot agentFive Agent Tricks · Newsletter

· Issue #1 · 5 tricks

Issue #1: 5 AI-agent tricks for Claude Code, VS Code and vibe coding

5 new agent tricks worth trying this week. For vibe coders and anyone running AI agents. Five minutes to read, each trick tested against its source.


1. Update Claude Code if you route it through your own gateway

What it does: Claude Code versions before 2.1.299 sent the API key for a custom gateway (set via ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL) along with some of its background requests to Anthropic. Updating closes that.

Who it's for: anyone using Claude Code through OpenRouter, a company proxy or another gateway.

How:

  1. Run claude --version. If it's below 2.1.299, update (the npm stable channel was reported to lag behind, so check the version after updating).
  2. Rotate the gateway key you were using, to be safe.
  3. Skim the changelog for other security notes.

Source: Claude Code changelog https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md · reported by the Daily Frontier Digest https://ai-daily-dispatch.vercel.app/ (15 Oct issue)

2. Sandbox your agent's terminal commands in VS Code with one setting

What it does: VS Code 1.141 can run Copilot agent commands and MCP servers inside a sandbox, so a bad command can't roam your machine.

Who it's for: VS Code + Copilot agent users, and anyone who has nervously clicked "Allow" on a shell command.

How:

  1. Update to VS Code 1.141.
  2. Open Settings (JSON) and add "chat.agent.sandbox.enabled": true.
  3. Re-run your usual agent task and check that it still has the access it needs.

Source: VS Code 1.141 release notes https://code.visualstudio.com/updates/v1_141

3. Stop re-explaining your project every session

What it does: claude-mem records what your agent did, compresses it, and feeds the relevant part into the next session. Works with Claude Code, OpenCode and Codex.

Who it's for: anyone who starts every session by pasting the same project context.

How:

  1. In Claude Code: /plugin marketplace add thedotmack/claude-mem, then /plugin install claude-mem.
  2. The default installer uses a hosted service. To keep memory on your own machine, use the --provider host option described in the README.
  3. Work normally, then open a new session and ask what it remembers.

Source: https://github.com/thedotmack/claude-mem (via Daily Frontier Digest "Try this")

4. End every session with a 2-minute retro

What it does: turns each session's lessons into docs the next session reads, so the same bug doesn't bite twice.

Who it's for: vibe coders on longer projects.

How:

  1. At the end of a session, ask: "What did you learn this session? What went wrong?"
  2. File the answers in the right place: general project rules in CLAUDE.md/AGENTS.md, repeatable procedures as skills, design decisions in a short decision doc.
  3. Keep CLAUDE.md short. Link to details instead of dumping them in.

Source: r/vibecoding, "Claude Code workflow tips after 6 months of daily use" https://www.reddit.com/r/vibecoding/comments/1sv9fta/claude_code_workflow_tips_after_6_months_of_daily/ · XDA on keeping CLAUDE.md focused https://www.xda-developers.com/productivity-tricks-i-learned-after-using-claude-code-since-launch-day/

5. Run parallel agent sessions, one task each

What it does: the redesigned Claude desktop app runs several sessions side by side. Each gets its own folder or worktree, and a sidebar shows which ones are waiting on you.

Who it's for: anyone juggling a feature, tests and docs at once.

How:

  1. Update the Claude desktop app and start a new session with a saved environment (folders, SSH host or cloud).
  2. Give each session exactly one task: feature, tests, docs.
  3. Review and merge yourself. Parallel sessions also use your quota several times faster.

Source: Daily Frontier Digest, "If you do one thing today" (15 Oct) https://ai-daily-dispatch.vercel.app/ · deeper dive on headless parallel workers (DEV Community) https://dev.to/ozgursagiroglu/my-claude-code-workflows-ran-for-days-headless-workers-finished-in-minutes-50a9


⚠️ One thing to watch

Don't ask your agent to "review" files from a repo you don't trust. Noma Labs showed that a large HTML file opened in Claude Code Desktop's preview pane could run scripts and steal SSH keys. Auto-update fixed it in August. Write-up: https://noma.security/noma-labs/sneakpeek-how-the-preview-pane-in-claude-code-desktop-can-exfiltrate-your-data

Related HN discussion on "rogue agent" incidents being basic security failures: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50091788


Sources credited above. All summaries are ours. Got a trick that worked for you? Reply and tell us.

Get next week's five, free · All issues

Latest Daily Frontier Digest: 29 Oct 2026: An unreleased Claude model built working exploit chains for Chrome, Safari and Linux