> My issues all stem from that it works, but does the wrong thing

It's an opportunity, not a problem. Because it means there's a gap in your specifications and then your tests.

I use Aider not Claude but I run it with Anthropic models. And what I found is that comprehensively writing up the documentation for a feature spec style before starting eliminates a huge amount of what you're referring to. It serves a triple purpose (a) you get the documentation, (b) you guide the AI and (c) it's surprising how often this helps to refine the feature itself. Sometimes I invoke the AI to help me write the spec as well, asking it to prompt for areas where clarification is needed etc.

If it does the wrong thing you tell it what the right thing is and have it try again.

With the latest models if you're clear enough with your requirements you'll usually find it does the right thing on the first try.

I think it's worth understanding why. Because that's not everyone's experience and there's a chance you could make a change such that you find it extremely useful.

There's a lesser chance that you're working on a code base that Claude Code just isn't capable of helping with.

Correct it then, and next time craft a more explicit plan.