Claude Code Guide

Meet Your AI Assistant You want to build something but you're not a programmer. Claude Code is an AI that lives on your computer, making real changes. Talk to it in plain English. 9 min read

Opening the Terminal The terminal is the most intimidating thing that isn't actually intimidating. It's just a text window where you type something, press Enter, and your computer responds. 5 min read

Installing Claude Code You're going to paste one command, wait a minute, and Claude Code will be ready. No runtimes to install, no PATH to configure, no settings to edit. 10 min read

Your First Conversation You're about to have a conversation with an AI that can actually touch your files. Create a practice folder, start Claude Code, and try three starter prompts that show the entire workflow.

How Claude Code Sees Files When you start Claude Code from a folder, that folder becomes its world. Everything inside it is visible, everything outside doesn't exist. This is the most important thing to understand.

Giving Better Instructions The quality of what Claude Code builds depends entirely on the quality of your instructions. Vague instructions get vague results. Specific instructions get exactly what you want.

Doing Multiple Things Claude Code can split itself into multiple copies and work on several things at the same time. You don't need to manage this. Just describe what you want and Claude figures out the rest.

Workspace Setup Set up your screen so you can see Claude Code and your project at the same time. This one change makes the whole experience feel different. Terminal on one side, results on the other.

When Things Go Wrong Claude Code will misunderstand you. It will edit the wrong file. It will occasionally do the opposite of what you asked. Normal. You just need to know how to recover.

CLAUDE.md Basics Every time you start Claude Code, it forgets who you are. CLAUDE.md is a text file that gives it permanent memory. One file, read automatically at the start of every session.

Custom Commands Some prompts you'll type over and over. Custom commands let you save them as reusable recipes. Type a short name instead of pasting a paragraph every time.

Rule Files CLAUDE.md gives Claude the overview, but rule files handle the details. They're focused documents in .claude/rules/ that Claude reads automatically based on what it's working on.

Staying Organized A messy project folder slows you down and confuses Claude. Organized projects get better results because clear structure means clear communication.

What Is Vibe Coding Andrej Karpathy called it "fully giving in to the vibes." Collins Dictionary made it Word of the Year. What vibe coding actually means, when it works, and how everything you've learned so far has been building toward it.

What We Will Build Three modules in, zero things built. Time to change that. Over the next five chapters, you're going to create a personal website from scratch with real content about you.

Planning First The biggest mistake people make with Claude Code isn't giving bad instructions. It's skipping the planning step entirely. Fifteen minutes of planning saves an hour of correcting.

Building Your First Page Build your home page first and get it right. Ask for design variations, iterate until you're happy, then capture your standards in a rules file.

Building the Rest Build out your remaining pages using the patterns you established. One page at a time, consistent navigation, responsive design, and real content.

Making It Look Good Building the structure is 20% of the work. Refining the design is the other 80%. Colors, fonts, spacing, and the small details that make a website yours.

Debugging / Fixing Bugs Something broke. Don't panic. Describe the problem, show Claude a screenshot, and let it investigate. Most bugs get fixed in two or three rounds.

Saving & Going Live Two problems to solve: don't lose your work, and let other people see it. Git saves snapshots, GitHub backs them up, and free hosting puts your site online.

Staying Safe Claude Code is powerful, which is exactly why you should verify the important stuff. Review changes, protect sensitive files, save snapshots, and start fresh sessions.

Bigger Projects As projects grow, the way you use Claude Code needs to evolve. Start fresh sessions often, be specific about files, and break big tasks into small steps.

What Next Twenty-four chapters. One website. A toolkit of skills that didn't exist for you a few weeks ago. What you can do now, and what to build next.