Claude Code's /checkup Command: Seven Automated Fixes for a Bloated Setup

Claude Code has a built-in slash command called /checkup that audits your setup and cleans it up for you. According to the video, it reduces token consumption, speeds up your sessions, and trims the baseline context Claude loads every time you start it in a folder. You run it with one command:

/checkup

The video is a direct-to-camera walkthrough of the seven things /checkup does, delivered as a numbered list with on-screen captions rather than screen recordings.

Cutting Baseline Context: Unused Tools and CLAUDE.md Cleanup

The first three actions target the context Claude Code loads at startup.

First, /checkup reads your Claude Code history to see which skills, MCP servers, and plugins Claude actually uses, then removes the unused ones. Every installed tool costs context whether you use it or not, so pruning dead weight directly lowers token consumption.

Second, it dedupes your CLAUDE.md files against each other across all three levels: user, project, and local. Instructions repeated at multiple levels get loaded multiple times.

Third, if your CLAUDE.md files are too long, it splits a single CLAUDE.md into nested, more specific CLAUDE.md files. The creator says most people's files are too long, and that this restructuring lets Claude progressively disclose information, pulling in details only when it needs them. He claims these first three steps alone produce a surprising drop in baseline context consumption when you start Claude Code in a folder.

Performance and Maintenance: Hooks and Updates

The fourth action tests all of your Claude Code hooks to check whether any are too slow. If a hook drags, /checkup rewrites it to be more efficient. Slow hooks add latency to every operation they attach to, so this is a session-speed fix rather than a token fix.

Fifth, it updates Claude Code itself so you stay on the current version without checking manually.

Workflow Defaults: Auto Mode and Approved Commands

The last two actions change how you interact with Claude Code day to day.

Sixth, /checkup configures auto mode to be on by default, so you no longer have to start Claude Code in auto mode manually each session.

Seventh, using the same history it already read in step one, it identifies read-only commands you approve over and over, then adds them to your approved commands list. That means fewer permission prompts for commands you were always going to allow anyway.

The creator closes by noting that /checkup is one of dozens of built-in slash commands and skills in Claude Code, and points viewers to paid video courses in his school community via the link in his bio.

Key Takeaways

• Run /checkup in Claude Code to audit and clean your setup in one pass.
• The biggest token wins come from removing unused skills, MCPs, and plugins, deduping CLAUDE.md files across user, project, and local levels, and splitting long CLAUDE.md files into nested ones for progressive disclosure.
• It also benchmarks your hooks and optimizes slow ones, which speeds up sessions.
• Two quality-of-life changes ship with it: auto mode on by default and auto-approval of read-only commands you routinely accept.
• The command reuses your Claude Code history both to find unused tools and to learn which commands to pre-approve.

Resources

• Claude Code