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Claude Code is an AI assistant that works inside a folder on your computer. It opens your files, reads them, edits them and creates new ones, so you end up with finished work instead of text to copy and paste. You don’t need to know how to code. You need the Claude Pro plan ($20 a month, or $17 a month billed yearly), the free Claude desktop app, and a real task you want off your plate. In September I ran a free Claude Code workshop at my house in Monterrey. This is the guide I gave everyone, rewritten for anyone starting on their own, plus the things I actually use it for.
Key takeaways
- What it is: an AI that works on the files in a folder you choose, not just a chat window.
- Cost: the free Claude plan doesn’t include Claude Code. Pro is $20 a month ($17 a month billed yearly). Max starts at $100 a month. Prices checked November 9, 2026.
- Setup: skip the terminal. Download the Claude desktop app, sign in, and click the Code tab.
- Coding: not required. If you can explain in writing what you want, you can use it.
- Control: it asks permission before it creates or changes a file.
- Best first project: one boring, repetitive computer task that eats an afternoon.
What is in this guide
- What is Claude Code, and how is it different from a chatbot?
- How much does Claude Code cost?
- How do you install Claude Code without the terminal?
- What should your first test look like?
- What do I actually use Claude Code for?
- How do you pick a good first project?
- How do you ask Claude Code for things so it gets them right?
- What to do when you get stuck
- Phrases to copy and paste
- FAQ
What is Claude Code, and how is it different from a chatbot?
You already know AI chats: you type, it answers, and you copy and paste the answer somewhere. Claude Code works inside a folder on your computer. It opens your files, reads them, edits them and makes new ones. A chat gives you text. Claude Code leaves the work done in the folder.
It’s called “Code” because it started as a tool for programmers. Today people use it for all kinds of office and life admin work. And it doesn’t have to stay in one folder. You can connect it to apps like Gmail, Google Drive and your calendar, and to the Chrome browser, where it can open pages and work on sites you’re already signed into. That’s how it finishes tasks with several steps from start to end.
You stay in charge. Before it creates or changes a file, it asks, and it does nothing until you say yes.
How much does Claude Code cost?
The free Claude account doesn’t include Claude Code, which surprises almost everyone. These are the personal plans, from the official pricing page on November 9, 2026:
- Free: $0. No Claude Code.
- Pro: $20 a month, or $17 a month if you pay for the year ($200 up front). Includes Claude Code.
- Max: from $100 a month. Includes Claude Code with a lot more usage.
Start with Pro, monthly, no yearly commitment. It’s enough to learn and to get through your first few weeks. If you end up using it for hours every day and keep hitting the limit, move up then. And before you pay, ask your employer: Team and Enterprise plans include it too, so you may already have access.
How do you install Claude Code without the terminal?
Online you’ll see that Claude Code installs by typing commands into the terminal, that black screen. Ignore that. There’s a normal app with windows and buttons, and it’s what I use and teach.
- Download the Claude desktop app from claude.com/download. There are versions for Mac (Intel and Apple Silicon) and Windows, including Windows on ARM.
- Open the app and sign in with the same account you paid with. If you have two email addresses, check which one.
- At the top you’ll see three tabs: Chat, Cowork and Code. Click Code.
- If it asks you to upgrade, your payment hasn’t gone through yet. Close the app, open it again and sign back in.
On Windows you may also need Git, a free tool the app uses behind the scenes. Download it from git-scm.com and click “Next” through the installer. Most Macs already have it. Anthropic’s desktop quickstart covers the rest.
What should your first test look like?
Do a small test before you try anything real. The point is to find any problem now, while it’s quick to fix.
- On your desktop, make a folder called Claude Test. Copy three or four files into it: a PDF, a document, a few photos. Copies, not the originals.
- In the Code tab, choose Local, click Select folder and pick that folder.
- Type: “Tell me what files are in this folder and what each one contains.” Press Enter.
- When it answers, type: “Create a new file called summary.txt with what you just told me.”
Before it creates the file, it will ask your permission. Read what it says and accept. Then open the folder and check that summary.txt is there. If it is, you’re set up. You can write to it in any language you like, even though the buttons are in English.
What do I actually use Claude Code for?
I live in Monterrey, work remotely, teach Spanish through Speak Better Spanish, and spend a lot of my free time climbing, biking and camping. Claude Code runs a big chunk of the admin around all of that. Some real examples:
- This blog: after a trip, it researches the place, drafts the post from my notes and photo album, and writes the Facebook and Instagram captions from the same story. Nothing goes live until I say yes.
- Adventure video: it cuts short vertical clips from my trip footage, including my 360 camera, and lines them up to post.
- Spanish classes: after a class, it turns the Zoom summary and the vocabulary from the chat into notes and a draft email for the student. It also writes my lesson plans.
- Training: it plans my weeks around recovery while I train for a marathon and for Pico de Orizaba in December.
- Travel planning: how long to go, flights once bag fees are added, a packing list that fits in a personal item, and who watches the dogs and cats.
- Money: a monthly review of my spending in dollars and pesos, kept in one spreadsheet.
- Email: it sorts my personal inbox by who is waiting on me and drafts the replies. It never hits send. I do.
- Fun stuff: it watches Monterrey concert listings for artists I actually listen to on Spotify and emails me when one is coming.
None of this was built in a day. Each one started as a single task I taught it once, then kept improving over weeks. Expect the first week to be the clumsiest.
How do you pick a good first project?
Think of a computer task that’s repetitive, boring and eats hours. Then answer three questions on paper or in a note on your phone:
- What task do I want off my plate? Something specific you do every week or month.
- What files does it need? Documents, spreadsheets, photos, PDFs. Put them in one folder.
- How will I know it’s done right? What should exist at the end: a file, a table, a message ready to send.
Size matters. Pick something that would take you an afternoon, not “organize my whole life.” A small project that gets finished teaches you more than a big one left half done. If nothing comes to mind, these are real first projects from my workshop:
- Sort and rename hundreds of photos or documents with a rule you make up.
- Read thirty PDFs and build a table comparing what each one says.
- Clean up a spreadsheet, match two sheets, or find the duplicates.
- Turn scattered notes into a clean document.
- Plan the week’s meals and the grocery list from what’s already in your kitchen.
- Teach it a task once and have it repeat it the same way every week.
How do you ask Claude Code for things so it gets them right?
It doesn’t read minds. A vague request gets a generic result. A good request has four parts:
- What you want. The specific result. Not “something for social media” but “three Instagram posts.”
- Who it’s for. Who will read it, and what you want them to do next.
- What good looks like. An example you like. If you have a model file, tell it to open it.
- What you don’t want. Length, tone, anything it shouldn’t include.
Not this: “Write this week’s newsletter.”
This: “Write this week’s newsletter for my students. The topics are in this folder, read it first. 150 to 250 words, plain English, three links. Don’t send it, leave it as a draft.”
When the result isn’t what you wanted:
- Stay in the same conversation. It already knows everything you’ve discussed. A new one means explaining it all again.
- Point to the exact part. “It’s wrong” tells it nothing. “The third paragraph talks about prices and should talk about schedules” does.
- For long jobs, ask for the plan first and tell it to wait for your yes.
- If it’s heading the wrong way, stop it. Don’t let it finish just to fix it at the end.
And if you don’t even know how to ask, say: “I don’t know how to explain what I want. Ask me the questions you need.” It will build the request you couldn’t write.
What to do when you get stuck
This comes from helping people through their first weeks. It’s almost never that something broke.
It stopped and isn’t doing anything. It’s almost always waiting on you: it asked for permission or asked a question. Check the screen. If you walk away, it waits until you come back. That’s why short jobs of 20 or 30 minutes, while you can keep an eye on it, work best. If you need to leave, close it. The conversation stays saved in the list on the left.
You’re lost and don’t know what’s next. Ask it first: “I’m lost. Tell me where we are and the next step, just one, in simple words.”
It answered in technical jargon. Say: “Explain it without technical terms, like it’s my first time using this.” You don’t need to understand how it did something, only what it did and what comes next.
It says it can’t find your file. It only sees the folder you opened. A file in another folder, on your phone or in a Drive on another account is invisible to it. Move the file into your project folder and ask again.
It says it’s done, but you don’t see it. Ask for proof: “Open it again yourself and tell me what you see,” or “give me the link.” That makes it check instead of assume.
It asks for a password or a key. Never paste passwords into the conversation or an email. If something needs a login, sign in yourself, directly on the site.
Phrases to copy and paste
- Before you do anything, tell me what you’re going to do and wait for my yes.
- I’m lost. Tell me where we are and the next step, just one.
- Explain it without technical terms.
- Open it again yourself and tell me what you see.
- I don’t know how to explain what I want. Ask me the questions you need.
- That’s too generic. Do it again using what’s in this folder.
- Stop there. Let’s fix this before you keep going.
FAQ
Do I need to know how to code to use Claude Code?
No. If you can explain in writing what you want, you can use it. The name comes from its start as a tool for programmers.
Is Claude Code free?
No. The free Claude plan doesn’t include it. You need Pro ($20 a month, or $17 a month billed yearly) or Max (from $100 a month). Prices checked November 9, 2026.
Do I have to use the terminal?
No. Install the Claude desktop app, sign in, and use the Code tab.
Can Claude Code change my files without asking?
It asks permission before it creates or changes a file. Test it on copies first, not originals.
Can I use Claude Code in Spanish?
Yes. You can write to it in Spanish or any other language. The buttons in the app are in English.
What’s a good first project?
One repetitive computer task that takes you about an afternoon, like renaming a pile of photos, comparing a stack of PDFs, or cleaning up a spreadsheet.
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