My first code change to the application my team owns was adding three links to our navigation bar. They pointed to our FAQs, a form directory, and our support Slack channel.
I’d been using Claude Code for workflows and prototypes, but this was my first contribution to the application itself. I chose a small task because I understood what the result should look like.
So, what happened? Claude built a new page containing the three links.
That wasn’t what I wanted. The links needed to appear directly in the navigation, where users could click them.
I discovered this when I ran the application on my laptop. I could see the problem immediately, explained it to Claude, and had it corrected.
Making it easy for someone else to check
When I submitted the change for engineering review, I left out screenshots. A reviewer pointed out that images or a short video would help them see what I’d changed.
I’d checked the interface myself, but hadn’t thought to show that result alongside the code. I also learned to run our automated review before submitting the change.
Once the engineers approved it and the code was merged, I assumed I was done. But the links didn’t appear in the live application straight away. I still needed to confirm the change had been released.
Three links gave me a small, manageable way to learn the whole process. Next time, I’ll check the running application, include screenshots for reviewers, and wait until I can see the change live before calling it finished.