I’m a solo developer running multiple production systems at the same time:

A large Java backend split across ~14 interlinked repositories (services, workers, internal APIs, shared libs)

A Rails API with a React frontend (already live)

A new MERN project kicking off


Up until now I’ve relied heavily on ChatGPT for most daily work, and that will continue.
The goal of bringing in Claude (starting today) is specifically to get practical help with overall workload — especially large-scale Java codebase reasoning — not to replace ChatGPT.

I work entirely in WSL/Linux, and the Java system is massive and tightly coupled, so I need multi-file and multi-repo reasoning without destroying my token budget.

What I’m looking for is real-world advice on how to properly start with Claude for a setup like this, especially for the Java project:

What I want to get right from day one:

1. How should I onboard 14 Java repos into Claude sanely?

One repo at a time?

Core services first?

Infra first?

Dependency graph first?



2. What’s the best Claude workflow for large backend codebases?

Terminal only?

Editor plugin?

Both?



3. How do you avoid token burn on huge projects?

Repo summaries?

File-level context?

Architectural scratchpads?



4. Does it make sense to start with a Pro plan and only upgrade after I understand its limits?

Anyone here using Claude daily for large enterprise systems?



5. How do YOU use Claude for refactors vs feature work vs debugging across many services?



This isn’t a beginner project — these are already production systems — but the challenge is the scale + being a one-man army.

If you’ve already solved this problem with Claude (or failed at it), I’d really appreciate learning from your setup and mistakes.

Thank you. 

Starting Claude today to manage 14 Java repos + Rails + React + new MERN project — how should I set this up properly?