Module 6, Lesson 5: Working the First Issue

How do you work your first real issue with Claude Code? Open the issue in YouTrack, copy its ID, and hand it over with one standing instruction: ask me clarifying questions before writing any code. You answer as the product owner, and sometimes it pushes back on an answer.

Review the plan, let it implement, then test and commit to a feature branch. This back-and-forth is what you repeat for every issue. The Product Path shows the full rhythm.

What is the pattern for working an issue with Claude Code?

The pattern for working an issue with Claude Code is: pick it up from your backlog, hand it over with a standing instruction to ask clarifying questions before writing any code, answer those questions as the product owner, review the plan it proposes, let it implement, then test and commit to a feature branch before pushing.

It is a back and forth rather than a single prompt: Claude Code asks, you answer, and it will sometimes push back on your answer and ask you to reconsider. Running every issue through this same loop is what keeps AI-assisted development controlled instead of chaotic.

Before We Start

From previous lessons:

• Your scaffold is confirmed working end to end, backend and mobile frontend both. Module 6, Lessons 2 through 4
• Your CLAUDE.md is in place, including the rule that a feature isn't done until you've actually watched it work, not just compiled. Module 6, Lesson 1
• Your YouTrack Agile board is populated and segmented by phase, with real user stories sitting in the backlog. Module 3, Lessons 7 and 9

Tools / setup you'll need:

• WebStorm, open to your project, with your backend (API) and mobile frontend modules visible
• Claude Code, with your YouTrack MCP connection active
• Your emulator or device from Module 6, Lesson 4, up and running
• Docker Compose, if you're running a local Postgres instance the way I am

By the end of this lesson, you'll:

• Have picked up your first real issue from the backlog and handed it to Claude Code
• Have practiced answering Claude Code's clarifying questions before it writes a line of code
• Have seen Claude Code push back on one of your answers, and decided how to respond
• Have committed the finished story to a feature branch, ready to confirm before pushing

About This Lesson

Duration: ~9 minutes video
Skill Level: Intermediate
What You'll Build: Your first completed user story, implemented issue by issue with Claude Code, reviewed and committed to a feature branch.

This is the one everything else has been building toward. Sandbox confirmed, scaffold running, now we actually start development. I'm showing you the pattern I use for every single issue from here forward: pick it up, have Claude Code ask me questions before it writes anything, answer honestly, let it implement, then test and commit.

This is also the lesson where I want you to really absorb the working relationship. I'm not typing a prompt and walking away. It's a back and forth, Claude Code asking, me answering, Claude Code sometimes pushing back on what I said.