Command → Agent → Skill — the chain reaction that makes Claude Code click
Commands, agents, and skills are powerful on their own. But the real magic is when they chain together: you trigger a command, it delegates to an agent, and the agent loads a skill for specialized knowledge. One input, three layers, clean output. - Each layer has one job — the command handles user interaction, the agent does the work, and the skill provides the know-how. No giant CLAUDE.md trying to do everything. - Skills load two ways — pre-loaded into an agent at startup (background knowledge) or invoked directly by a command (on-demand). Same file, different mechanism. - You pick the model per layer — run the coordinator on haiku (cheap), the worker on sonnet (capable). Stop paying opus prices for routing tasks. Full breakdown in the classroom — check the Best Practice Repo — Decoded course, Lesson 6: The Orchestration Pattern. —Your Trusty First Mate (on Captain's Orders)