/ Claude Code guide
The Claude Code guide for people with a business to run.
Claude Code lives in your terminal, reads your actual project, and does the work instead of describing it. This is the short version of what we teach in the Thursday workshop: install it, run something real on day one, give it memory, then turn the repeated parts into agents.
/ Step by step
Six steps, in order.
01
Install Claude Code
Claude Code is a terminal tool. You need Node 18 or newer, then install it globally with npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code. Run claude inside a project folder and sign in with your Anthropic account when it prompts you. It reads the folder you launched it from, so launch it from the repo root, not your home directory.
02
Run your first real task
Do not start with hello world. Point it at something that already annoys you. Ask it to explain the file you are most scared of, or to add one small feature end to end. Describe the outcome you want and the constraint that matters, then let it read the code before it writes any.
03
Write a CLAUDE.md
Put a CLAUDE.md at the root of the project. It is the memory file Claude Code reads before every session. List the stack, the commands to run tests and builds, the folders it should not touch, and the conventions you actually care about. Ten honest lines beat a hundred generic ones.
04
Keep the loop tight
Give it a way to check its own work. A test command, a typecheck, a build. When Claude Code can run the check itself it will iterate until the check passes instead of handing you something that looks right and is not.
05
Turn a repeated task into an agent
Once you have run the same instruction three times, it should stop being an instruction. Save it as a reusable command or a subagent with its own scope, its own tools and its own definition of done, and stop retyping it.
06
Wire the output into the business
The code is not the point. Push the result into the place the work actually lives. For us that is GoHighLevel: a webhook that fires a workflow, a form that opens a pipeline, a nightly job that writes the report someone was building by hand.
/ What goes wrong
Four mistakes that cost people the first week.
Asking for everything in one prompt
Big vague asks produce big vague diffs you cannot review. Ask for one change, review it, then ask for the next. You will be finished sooner.
Skipping the context file
Without a CLAUDE.md it guesses at your conventions and you spend the session correcting style instead of shipping.
Not letting it read first
Tell it to read the relevant files before proposing a change. Cheap step, and it removes most of the wrong answers.
Accepting work you cannot verify
If there is no test, no build and no way to run it, you are not reviewing, you are hoping. Give it a check to pass.
/ Questions
Claude Code, answered plainly.
What is Claude Code?
Claude Code is Anthropic's agentic coding tool. It runs in your terminal, reads the files in the project you launched it from, edits them, runs commands, and iterates until the task is done. It is different from chatting in a browser because it has the actual repository in front of it.
Do I need to be a developer to use Claude Code?
No, but you do need to be comfortable opening a terminal. Plenty of operators use it to write scripts, clean data, generate reports and build small internal tools without ever calling themselves developers.
How much does Claude Code cost?
Claude Code is billed by Anthropic, either through a Claude subscription or API usage. On Point Tech Academy does not resell it and we are not affiliated with Anthropic. Check Anthropic's pricing page for current numbers.
What is a CLAUDE.md file?
It is a plain markdown file at the root of your project that Claude Code reads automatically at the start of a session. Use it for your stack, your commands, your conventions and anything it should never touch.
Can Claude Code work with GoHighLevel?
Yes, through the API and webhooks. That is most of what we build in the Thursday workshop: Claude writes the script or the payload, GoHighLevel runs the workflow that does something with it.
Where can I learn this live?
The Claude Workshop runs Thursdays, 12:30 to 1:30 PT, free, inside On Point Tech Academy. We build one thing you can use the same day, then take GoHighLevel questions.
Reading about it only gets you so far. The Claude Workshop runs every Thursday, free, and you build one working thing on the call.