Claude Code handles file access differently than the web-based Claude interface, as it operates directly within your terminal environment and has access to your entire project directory structure. Rather than uploading files in the traditional sense, Claude Code automatically reads and analyzes files within your project directory when you navigate to a folder and run the claude command. It can access any file type within your project, including source code files, configuration files, documentation, data files like CSVs and JSON, and even image files for analysis. Claude Code maintains awareness of your entire codebase structure and can read multiple files simultaneously to understand relationships and dependencies between different parts of your project.
When you need Claude Code to work with specific files, you can reference them directly in your prompts using either relative paths or by describing their purpose (such as “read the logging configuration file” or “analyze the user authentication module”). Claude Code can also read files from URLs when you provide web links, making it useful for incorporating external documentation or examples into your development workflow. For data analysis tasks, you can ask Claude Code to read CSV files, Excel spreadsheets, JSON data, or other structured formats, and it will automatically parse and understand the content. The tool can also interpret image files and extract information from screenshots, diagrams, or charts that you reference in your project directory.
The file processing capabilities extend to generating new files based on existing ones, such as creating documentation from code analysis, generating test files based on source code, or transforming data between different formats. Unlike the web interface’s file upload limitations, Claude Code can work with files of any size within reasonable system memory constraints, making it suitable for processing large datasets or extensive codebases. However, keep in mind that larger files consume more tokens and may impact response times and costs. For optimal performance, organize your project files logically and use specific file references in your prompts to help Claude Code focus on the most relevant content for your task.