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

Right now, Claude is clever but it doesn't know anything about you. This page changes that. We're going to look at the three files that turn Claude from a generic AI into your AI.

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Page 3 of 14 · Module 1 — Your First AI Win

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Every Session, Claude Starts Fresh

By default, each time you open Claude Code, it has no memory of who you are, what you're working on, or how you like things done.

That changes the moment you give it a home.

When you run Claude Code from a folder (called a working directory), it automatically reads a set of files in that folder before doing anything else. These files are how you teach Claude who you are.

The Four Files That Matter

flowchart TD
    A["📁 your-claude-folder"] --> B["📄 CLAUDE.md<br>Your identity file"]
    A --> C["📄 .mcp.json<br>Your connected tools"]
    A --> D["📁 .claude/"]
    D --> E["📁 commands/<br>Your shortcuts - Skills"]
    D --> F["📁 memory/<br>What Claude remembers"]

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CLAUDE.md — Your Identity File

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The most important file. Claude reads it at the start of every session. It's where you tell Claude who you are, how you like to work, what tools you use, and your current projects. Without this file, Claude is a stranger. With it, Claude is a colleague who already knows your context. We'll write yours on the next page.

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.mcp.json — Your Connected Tools

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This file tells Claude which external tools it's connected to — Notion, Gmail, Slack, GitHub, Telegram, and so on. Think of it as the list of keys on Claude's keyring. Every key is access to another one of your tools. We'll set this up in Module 2.

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.claude/commands/ — Your Shortcuts (Skills)

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A folder where you store your Skills — reusable shortcuts for tasks you do repeatedly. Instead of typing a long prompt every time, you type /research and Claude already knows exactly what to do. Each skill is just a simple text file. We'll build your first one in Module 4.

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.claude/memory/ — Persistent Memory

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This folder is where Claude stores things it needs to remember between sessions — project notes, your preferences, decisions you've made, context it should always have. You can add to this manually, or ask Claude to remember something and it'll update the files itself.

What This Looks Like

Here's the full folder structure, once everything is set up:

your-folder/
├── CLAUDE.md                  ← Claude reads this first. This is you.
├── .mcp.json                  ← Connected tools (Notion, Gmail, Slack...)
└── .claude/
    ├── commands/              ← Your skills (/research, /draft, /summarise)
    └── memory/               ← What Claude remembers between sessions

You don't need to create all of this now. We'll build it up piece by piece as we go through the guide. And your Starter Kit (Page 13 — Your Starter Kit & Downloads) includes all of this pre-built — you just fill in your details.