How to use Claude Code
Learn to use Claude Code by building a personal website, from opening the terminal and installing it to reviewing changes and putting the site online.
The guide has 25 chapters in five modules. Start with the overview for the whole workflow, follow the chapters in order, or open the part you need. Later chapters cover project instructions, reusable skills, permissions and working with larger projects.
You
You type what you want in plain English. No code.
Claude Code
An AI living in a terminal window on your own machine.
Its memory
CLAUDE.md and rule files. Teach it once, it remembers.
Your folder
The only thing it can see. It edits these files for real.
A live site
What you walk away with. Yours, on the internet.
Module 01 · 5 parts · 25 min
Getting Started
- 01 Start here: the Claude Code workflow Using Claude Code is a loop: ask, change, check, decide. Here is what a normal session looks like, six commands worth learning first, and how to recover when it goes wrong.
- 02 What Claude Code can do Claude Code can inspect a project, use development tools, and apply approved changes. Your job is to decide what should happen and check the result.
- 03 Opening the Terminal You need four terminal actions to start Claude Code: open it, run a command, move to the project folder, and close it when you are done.
- 04 Installing Claude Code Install Claude Code with Anthropic's current native installer on Windows, macOS, or Linux. No Node.js, no npm, and the fixes for when the command is not found.
- 05 Your First Conversation Create a separate practice folder, then use three prompts to inspect it, create a file, and edit that file while reviewing each action.
Module 02 · 5 parts · 37 min
Working with files and instructions
- 06 How Claude Code Sees Files The folder where you start Claude Code is its main working directory. Keep one project in scope, then add other directories only when the task needs them.
- 07 Giving Better Instructions Give Claude Code the problem, relevant context, and the result you expect. A specific instruction reduces guessing, but you still need to review the result.
- 08 Parallel work with subagents Use Claude Code subagents when a focused task can stand alone. Split independent checks, ask for one combined result, and keep dependent work with one owner.
- 09 Workspace Setup Keep Claude Code and the result visible at the same time so you can review each change before asking for the next one.
- 10 Undoing changes with rewind and Git Claude Code will sometimes make the wrong change. Inspect the diff, use rewind for recent mistakes, and keep Git for a durable restore point.
Module 03 · 4 parts · 25 min
Project instructions, skills and rules
- 11 CLAUDE.md Basics Each Claude Code session starts with fresh context. CLAUDE.md loads the project facts and instructions you want available, while auto memory stores patterns Claude learns.
- 12 Custom Skills If you keep pasting the same prompt, save it as a small Claude Code skill. You can run it with a short command and add templates or scripts later.
- 13 Rule Files Use CLAUDE.md for project-wide facts and rule files for detailed standards, including rules that load only for matching paths.
- 14 Organizing project files Give each file an obvious home, document the stable rules, and test what your deployment actually includes.
Module 04 · 8 parts · 48 min
Building a website
- 15 What Is Vibe Coding Vibe coding is useful for disposable experiments where failure is cheap. Software you intend to keep needs review, tests, version control, and an owner.
- 16 The personal website we will build The next six chapters build a four-page site in plain HTML and CSS, then debug, save, and publish it. The goal is a small site you can review, not a demo you throw away.
- 17 Planning First Write down the pages, content, and design constraints before Claude creates files. A short plan gives you something concrete to review and reduces avoidable rebuilding.
- 18 Building Your First Page Build the home page first, review it in the browser, then record the decisions that should carry into every other page.
- 19 Adding the remaining pages Use the home page as a reference, then build and review each remaining page one at a time.
- 20 Reviewing and refining the design On this site, building the structure was the short part. I spent much longer refining the design.
- 21 Debugging / Fixing Bugs Something broke. Describe what you expected, show what happened, let Claude investigate, then test the proposed fix.
- 22 Saving & Going Live Two problems to solve: keep a recoverable copy of your work and publish the site without exposing private files.
Module 05 · 3 parts · 19 min
Permissions and larger projects
- 23 Permissions and reviewing changes Claude Code can change real files and run commands. Check the permission mode, protect secrets, review the diff, test the result, and keep a restore path.
- 24 Managing context in larger projects My website is close to a thousand files. I keep Claude Code useful by giving each session one task, naming the files involved, and keeping the project instructions current.
- 25 Choosing your next project You have a working website and enough Claude Code experience to build the next thing. Pick one real problem, define done, and finish the first part.