Getting Started With Claude Code
The human-first guide for people who have never coded a day in their life. Six steps, about fifteen minutes, and zero lines of code.
The word "code" is the only intimidating part of this, and we are taking it off the table right now. What you are doing is building. Claude Code is the same Claude you already talk to, now living on your computer with the power to make real things for you.
I walked a 19-year-old client through this exact setup in a single session, and he had never touched Claude Code before. None of it is hard. It is just new. Anytime something looks confusing, you ask Claude to explain it simply, and you keep moving.
The Whole Path
Six steps. About fifteen minutes to your first build.
- Open the Code tab
- Build your folder
- Point Claude Code at it
- Flip the settings
- Let Claude Code set itself up
- Build your first thing
That's the whole thing. Let's go.
Before You Start
Two things to have ready.
- A paid Claude plan. Pro or Max for most people. Team or Enterprise for businesses.
- The Claude desktop app. Open it and look at the top. If you see the word Code, you're ready.
First, The One Idea
Two versions of Claude, two different jobs.
Regular Claude
Your strategist. Where you think, plan, and write. You already live here.
Claude Code
Your builder. It sees the files on your computer and makes real things. Same brain, now with hands.
Get that one difference and the rest is just learning where the buttons are.
Part 1: Get Building
Open the Code Tab
This is the door into everything.
You're inside Claude Code.
Open the desktop app, look at the top for Chat, Cowork, and Code. Click Code.
That was the scariest step. It was one click.
Build Your Context Vault
Claude Code needs one organized home to work inside. If it's not written down somewhere, AI can't use it.
A clean home base for everything you build.
- Open your Documents folder
- Create a folder called [Your Name] AI Context Vault
- Inside it, create two folders: Projects and Reference
Projects holds the things you build. Reference holds everything Claude should know about you.
Point Claude Code At Your Vault
This tells Claude Code where it's allowed to work.
Claude Code can now see and build inside your vault.
In the Code tab, click Select Folder, find your vault, and choose it.
It's the front door. You just said, come on in.
Flip the Settings
A few settings take Claude Code from cautious to powerful. You set these once.
Claude Code works freely without stopping you every five seconds.
- Change the bottom button to Bypass Permissions so Claude stops asking approval for every move (people call it YOLO mode)
- Use Plan Mode when you want to think before building, then flip back to Bypass Permissions when you're ready to go
- Turn on Remote Control and Dynamic Workflows if you see them
For your model, a strong default is Opus. Watching your usage? Ask Claude, "given my plan, which model should I use for what?"
Let Claude Code Set Itself Up
You don't have to know how to configure anything. You let Claude Code do it for you.
Your whole setup gets built, explained in plain language as it goes.
Switch to Plan Mode and paste this:
I'm using Claude Code for the first time and need to set up my CLAUDE.md file, my folder structure, and anything else I don't know about. I've already created a [Your Name] AI Context Vault folder with a Projects folder and a Reference folder inside it. Walk me through this step by step and make it simple and easy to understand. Assume I have never done this before.
When it asks something you don't understand, say "explain that simply" and keep going.
Build Your First Thing
The magic becomes real the moment you watch it happen once.
You've built something with Claude Code. You're officially in.
Drop a file you already have into your vault and give Claude Code a job:
- Have it read a spreadsheet and pull out three interesting things
- Ask it to turn messy notes into a clean one-page summary
- Tell it to build a simple webpage about something you love
Watch it do the work. That's when it becomes yours.
Part 2: Make It Yours
Two power-ups that make Claude Code feel like it was built for you.
Add Your Soul Data
When Claude knows who you are, everything it builds sounds like you.
You never have to re-explain yourself again.
- Put your background, what you do, and what matters to you into your Reference folder as files
- These are markdown files (they end in .md), which is a fancy name for a text file
- No file yet? Tell Claude, "give me everything you know about me as an .md file I can download," then drop it in
Want the full breakdown on soul data? I wrote it here.
File Your Skills In Two Places
This keeps your skills working in every project, automatically.
One skills library that Claude Code always finds.
Every time you build a skill, tell Claude Code:
Save this skill in my .claude skills folder and also drop a copy in my Reference Skills folder.
Then close Claude Code and reopen it, because it looks for skills when it starts. Your new skill goes live on the next launch.
The .claude folder is a hidden folder on your computer. It's hidden because the name starts with a dot, and you almost never need to open it yourself.
Part 3: The Way You Think
The buttons are easy. The way you think is the real edge.
How I Actually Work In It
I never learned to code. Here's my rhythm:
- When something's new, ask. "Walk me through this step by step, simple and easy." Five minutes, every time.
- Copy, paste, screenshot, what's next. Think it through in regular Claude, paste the result into Claude Code, screenshot where you land, and ask what's next.
- Don't watch it work. Open a new tab and start your next thing while it builds.
AI does 92% of the work. You do 8%.
You're the boss. AI is the assistant.
Write it down once, use it forever.
The world is about to put AI first and humans second. You get to do the opposite, and that's your whole advantage.
The Habit That Changes Everything
At the end of anything you build, log it.
- Say, "Hey Claude Code, log everything we just did"
- Make it part of your definition of done: you're not finished until it's written down
Do this and one month from now you're a different person with AI.
The bigger the dreams, the deeper the foundation.
This guide is the floor everything else stands on. Lay it well and there's no ceiling on what comes next. To go further, faster, and build alongside people chasing the same thing, come build with us in the Undeniable Studio.
Join the Undeniable Studio →