Claude Code Onboarding Guide

0Before We Start

What Claude Code is: an AI assistant that works directly on the files and folders on your computer. You ask in plain English; it reads, drafts, edits, and organizes real documents.

What VS Code is: the window it all happens in. Think Microsoft Word, but built to open a whole folder of files at once instead of one document. VS Code is the office; Claude Code is the assistant sitting in it.

Cost: Claude Pro, ~$20/mo (~$17/mo billed annually). The free tier does not include Claude Code — subscribe before your session. Time required: ~35–45 minutes. What success looks like: by the end, you'll have Claude Code running in your own terminal and you'll have had it do one real, saved piece of work for you — no copying or pasting.

Prerequisites checklist

1Web vs. Claude Code — Which Do I Use?

Answer one question: do you need to work with files and folders, or just ask a question?

Nine concrete advantages

• Whole folders, not one upload at a time — point it at a folder of 40 contracts or 200 résumés
• Output lands as real, saved files — no copy-paste from a chat window into Word
• Bulk work becomes one instruction — e.g. "extract the termination date from each of these 60 agreements into one table"
• It remembers your project — a CLAUDE.md file holds your house style, tone, or defined terms across every session
• You see exactly what changed — every edit is a before/after "diff" you approve or reject
• Repeatable, saved workflows — turn a recurring task into a reusable process
• Multi-step work in one pass — read, compare, flag, and summarize in one request
• Files stay scoped to what you open — you control exactly what it can see
• Works with your existing folder structure — no parallel filing system

When the web version is actually better: quick one-off questions with no files, working from your phone, brainstorming out loud, image or screenshot analysis, or when you just don't want to open a terminal today.

2Installation

You're installing two free programs (VS Code and Claude Code) and connecting them to your paid Claude Pro account. Every step has a checkpoint so you know you're on track — and this step ends with Claude Code actually running.

2.1 Get Claude Pro

1. Go to claude.ai → create account → Settings → Upgrade to Pro (~$20/mo)

✅ Checkpoint: "Pro" is visible on your account

2.2 Install Visual Studio Code

Windows

1. Download from code.visualstudio.com (official site only)
2. Choose User Installer, 64-bit (no admin rights required)
3. On the checkbox screen: keep "Add to PATH" checked; check "Open with Code" context menu options
4. First launch: dismiss the welcome tour and orient yourself to Explorer (left), Editor (center), Terminal panel (bottom), Status bar (very bottom)

Mac

1. Download from code.visualstudio.com (official site only) — choose the Mac build
2. Open the downloaded file and drag Visual Studio Code into your Applications folder
3. Open it from Applications (or Spotlight — Cmd+Space, then type "Visual Studio Code"). The first time, macOS may ask you to confirm you trust it — click Open
4. First launch: dismiss the welcome tour and orient yourself to Explorer (left), Editor (center), Terminal panel (bottom), Status bar (very bottom) — identical layout to Windows

✅ Checkpoint: VS Code opens cleanly

2.3 Install Claude Code

Windows

1. Open Windows PowerShell (Start menu → type "PowerShell"). No admin rights needed.
2. Run:

irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex

Scrolling text and a download progress bar are normal — that means it's working, not stuck. Close PowerShell and open a brand-new window once it finishes; settings only apply to terminals opened afterward.

Mac

1. Open Terminal (Cmd+Space, type "Terminal"). No admin rights needed.
2. Run:

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

Scrolling text and a download progress bar are normal — that means it's working, not stuck. Close Terminal and open a brand-new window once it finishes; settings only apply to terminals opened afterward.

2.4 First run — say hello

1. In your new terminal window, type claude, press Enter
2. Choose Claude.ai account login (not "API key")
3. A browser opens → log in → approve → return to the terminal
4. Type hello and press Enter

3Terminal Basics

The six commands

4Your First Task

The one concept: the project folder

Claude can only see and touch files in the folder you open — a safety and confidentiality feature. Create a sandbox folder, e.g. Documents\claude-practice on Windows or ~/Documents/claude-practice on Mac, with 3–5 non-confidential sample documents.

Open the folder

1. File → Open Folder → select claude-practice (or right-click the folder → "Open with Code")
2. Approve the "Trust the authors" prompt
3. Tour the Explorer sidebar
4. Open the terminal (Ctrl + `) and type claude again — sessions are scoped to the folder you're in, so this starts a fresh one here

Working with Word, PDF, and Excel files

Works natively and beautifully: plain text, Markdown (.md), .csv, .txt. Works with caveats: PDFs (readable, not directly editable), .docx (readable but formatting is compressed). Recommended workflow: work in Markdown, export to Word/PDF at the end — ask Claude to convert .docx/PDF content to Markdown as step one of a project.

Exercise 1 — ask a question (read-only, zero risk)

What documents are in this folder, and what is each one about?

You type normal sentences, not commands. This is the mental unlock.

Exercise 2 — have Claude create a file

Read all the documents in this folder and create a file called summary.md with a one-paragraph summary of each.

The permission prompt: Claude asks before writing. Options are allow-once, allow-always, or deny. This is the most important safety concept in this guide. Watch the new file appear in the Explorer sidebar.

Add a "Key Risks" section to summary.md with three bullets.

For each document in this folder, pull out the title, date, and main topic, and put them all into one table in index.csv.

5What's Next

CLAUDE.md — teach Claude your standards once

A plain-text file in the folder that Claude reads automatically every session:

• Marketing: brand voice, banned words, approved product naming, reading level
• HR: required disclaimers, tone guidance, template structure, inclusive-language rules
• Legal: defined terms, citation format, jurisdiction, flags for indemnity/liability language
• Industrial Engineering: process terminology (takt time, OEE, changeover), SOP template structure, units of measure
• International Relations: priority topics, accountable-department mapping, protocol and tone conventions

Try writing a five-line CLAUDE.md and watch the next response change.

Essential slash commands

To exit: /exit, or press Ctrl+C twice (same on Windows and Mac).

How to talk to Claude effectively

Name the what and the where — name the file. One job at a time. Say what "done" looks like (format, length, audience). Use @filename to point at a specific document. If the result is wrong, just say so in plain English.

Example prompts by role — the kind of one-line requests that show what "specific" looks like in real work:

• HR: "Read the résumé spreadsheet in this folder and flag any candidate who's been in 'Interview Scheduled' for more than 10 days."
• Legal: "Compare the indemnity clause across all contracts in this folder and flag any that cap liability below $1M."
• Marketing: "Read the campaign performance CSV and tell me which channel had the highest click-through rate."
• Industrial Engineering: "Read the shift-report folder and flag any production line with more than 30 minutes of unplanned downtime this week."
• International Relations: "Read the cables in this folder and flag any that mention trade cooperation, regional security, or cultural exchange."

Usage limits

Claude Pro has rolling ~5-hour session limits plus weekly caps. Claude Code and claude.ai chat draw from the same usage pool. Use /clear between unrelated tasks, avoid pointing at unnecessarily large folders, and check your usage anytime under Settings → Usage on claude.ai.

Safety, confidentiality, and good habits