Teach Claude Code to read and write native Office files, connect to live systems, and chain several steps into one repeatable, automated workflow — daily habits that make it sustainable, plus a packaged, reusable plugin so a recurring job runs the same way every time you invoke it.
By the end, you will
Which Lesson Is For You
Only Lessons 4.3, 4.5, and 4.6 are written around one specific role's example. Every role should still complete 4.1, 4.2, and 4.4 — they're the daily habits, the document skills, and the MCP concept every later lesson depends on, regardless of role.
| Role | Written For You | The Shape Still Fits You In |
|---|---|---|
| International Relations | 4.3 (webpage → follow-up → Word document) | — |
| Marketing | 4.6 (source monitoring → context-aware digest) | 4.3's shape (check → respond → assemble); 4.7's content pipeline was built with Marketing in mind too |
| Legal | — | 4.3's shape, swapping the webpage for a court docket or filing portal; 4.6's shape for tracking a regulator's announcements |
| Industrial Engineering | — | 4.3's shape, swapping the webpage for a supplier compliance portal; 4.6's shape for a recurring nonconformance sweep |
| HR (Recruiting) | — | 4.5's single-skill shape, swapping calendar/email for an applicant-tracking system once an MCP connection exists for it |
Lessons in this module
Session hygiene, a fast diff-review habit, usage awareness, and the four rules for anything that will run unattended.
Add Anthropic's document-processing skills so Claude Code can read and write real Word, PDF, and PowerPoint files.
What a skill and a plugin actually are, then a full worked example — a three-step plugin that checks a webpage, drafts a follow-up, and builds a running Word document.
What an MCP connection is, how to add one as a Connector on claude.ai, and how to add one in Claude Code with claude mcp add.
Connect Claude Code to your email and calendar, then build one skill that reads today's meetings and recent email into a single morning briefing.
Monitor several websites or public feeds, summarize only what's genuinely new, and email yourself a digest — built for Marketing but useful for any role.
Gather articles and news, compile them into one organized digest, and draft a finished, on-brand piece of content — the closing lesson of this course.
Key Concepts
Core terms introduced in this module. The lesson where each term is first defined is listed so you can return to the source explanation.
| Term | Defined In | Plain English Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Skill | Lesson 4.2 | A packaged capability Claude Code can use, such as reading or writing a specific file type, or performing one well-defined task. |
| Plugin | Lesson 4.3 | Several related skills and commands packaged together as one reusable, distributable unit. |
| Marketplace | Lesson 4.2 | A catalog of installable plugins. Anthropic runs a public one; you can also point Claude Code at your own project folder as a private one. |
| SKILL.md | Lesson 4.3 | The one required file inside every skill folder — its instructions, written for Claude, not for a human reader. |
| plugin.json | Lesson 4.3 | The manifest file that names a plugin and lists its version, so Claude Code recognizes it as one unit. |
| WebFetch | Lesson 4.3 | Claude Code's built-in ability to open and read a live webpage — no extra setup required. |
| MCP Server / Connector | Lesson 4.4 | A live connection between Claude and a real system — your email or calendar provider, for example — so Claude can read and act on real data there. |
| Knowledge Log | Lesson 4.3 | A running file a skill checks against before reporting anything, so a second run reports only what's genuinely new. |
| Content Digest | Lesson 4.7 | A compiled, deduplicated summary pulled from several sources, organized by theme and ready to turn into one finished piece of content. |
| Document Skills | Lesson 4.2 | Anthropic's bundle of four skills — docx, pdf, pptx, xlsx — for reading and writing native Office files. |
| /plugin marketplace add | Lesson 4.2 | The command that tells Claude Code about a new catalog of installable plugins. |
| /plugin install | Lesson 4.2 | The command that adds one specific plugin from an already-known marketplace. |
| Local Marketplace | Lesson 4.3 | A marketplace whose catalog is just a folder on your own computer — no GitHub account or team required. |
| Dictation-to-Setup | Lesson 4.3 | Describing a whole workflow out loud (or by typing it as one long message) and letting Claude Code build the folder structure, README, and CLAUDE.md from that description. |
| Chained Skills | Lesson 4.3 | Multiple skills inside one plugin, each handling one stage of a multi-step workflow. |
| ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT} | Lesson 4.3 | A portable path variable a plugin's files use to reference its own scripts and templates, regardless of where it is installed. |
| claude mcp add | Lesson 4.4 | The Claude Code command that adds an MCP connection, with a transport type, a name, and an address or command. |
| --scope user | Lesson 4.4 | The flag that makes an MCP connection available in every Claude Code project on your computer, not just the one you added it from. |
| /mcp | Lesson 4.4 | The command that lists every MCP connection currently active in a session and the tools each one provides. |
| The Four Rules for Anything Unattended | Lesson 4.1 | Plan Mode's diff review doesn't apply once nothing's at the keyboard; a silent failure looks like nothing happened; scheduled runs still cost usage; know how to turn it off before you turn it on. |
Module 3's custom instructions (claude.ai Projects) and this module's CLAUDE.md (Claude Code) both do the same job — standing rules Claude reads automatically instead of you restating them — for two different products. If you use both daily, that similarity is deliberate, not a coincidence: whichever surface you're on, the fix for "I keep repeating myself" is the same one.
Support Resources
| Resource | Link | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Claude | claude.ai | Sign up and use Claude in your browser |
| Claude Docs | code.claude.com/docs | Official documentation |
| Claude Support | support.claude.com | Help center and account support |