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Module 1 — Your First AI Win (in 15 Minutes)

By the end of this page, you'll have Claude Code running and you'll have completed your first real AI task. Takes about 15 minutes.

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Page 2 of 14 · Module 1 — Your First AI Win

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First — Which Version of Claude?

Before we install anything: Anthropic ships two versions of Claude. Most people start with the wrong one.

Claude Desktop

• A chat interface — like Notion or Spotify
• Can answer questions
• No memory between sessions
• Best for a quick one-off question

Claude Code

• Runs in a terminal window inside VS Code
• Can answer + read files + connect to your tools + take action
• Remembers your projects and preferences
• Best for everything in this guide

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Use Claude Code. Every time.

Claude Desktop is fine for a quick question. For everything in this guide — and for building your AI operating system — Claude Code is the only option.

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<aside> 💡

"But I'm scared of the terminal." Fair — it looks like something from a hacker movie. That's why we're installing VS Code: a free, friendly app with a built-in terminal. You click a panel at the bottom, and that's where Claude Code runs. You'll never need to understand what the commands mean. Claude handles all of that.

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flowchart LR
    A["Download VS Code"] --> B["Open Terminal"]
    B --> C["Run install command"]
    C --> D["Log in to Claude"]
    D --> E["🎉 First win — test it"]

<aside> 1️⃣

Install VS Code

VS Code is a free app made by Microsoft. Think of it as a friendly home for Claude Code — it gives you a clean interface and a built-in terminal without any of the intimidation.

1. Go to code.visualstudio.com
2. Click Download — it'll detect your operating system automatically
3. Open the downloaded file and follow the install instructions
4. Open VS Code when it's done

You should see a clean editor window. Don't worry about what's in it — we're going to use the terminal panel at the bottom.

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<aside> 2️⃣

Open the Terminal in VS Code

In VS Code:

1. Go to the top menu: Terminal → New Terminal
2. A panel will open at the bottom of the screen with a blinking cursor
3. That's your terminal. That's where Claude Code will live. </aside>

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What is a terminal? It's just a text-based way to talk to your computer. Instead of clicking icons, you type short commands. You don't need to know any commands — Claude handles all of that. You just need this window open.

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<aside> 3️⃣

Install Claude Code

In the terminal panel at the bottom of VS Code, type the following and press Enter:

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

You'll see some text scrolling — that's normal. When it finishes and you see a cursor again, Claude Code is installed.

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<aside> ℹ️

If you get an error saying "npm not found": You need to install Node.js first. Go to nodejs.org, download the LTS version, install it, then come back and run the command above again.

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<aside> 4️⃣

Log In to Claude Code

In the terminal, type:

claude

Press Enter. Claude Code will ask you to log in with your Anthropic account.

1. It'll open a browser window or give you a URL to visit
2. Log in with your Anthropic account (the same one you use for Claude.ai)
3. Authorise the connection
4. Come back to the terminal — you should see a welcome message and a > prompt </aside>

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You're in. If you see the > prompt, Claude Code is running and ready.

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<aside> 5️⃣

Your First Win

Let's prove this works. Copy a URL from your browser — any article or webpage you've been meaning to read.

At the > prompt in the terminal, type:

"Summarise this page for me and pull out the 3 most important points: [paste your URL here]"

Press Enter and watch.

Claude Code will:

1. Fetch the page
2. Read it
3. Return a clean summary with your key takeaways

In about 30 seconds. No copy-pasting. No opening tabs. Just: ask, get the answer.

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