Lesson #1 - Getting Started with Claude Code (Without Breaking Anything)

Welcome!

You're probably drowning in invisible work. The stuff that doesn't belong in a product but still needs to get done. Usually by you. Usually late at night. Usually in a spreadsheet.

Claude Code is about to change that.

Here's what we'll cover:

1. Installing Claude Code (easier than you think)
2. Understanding what makes a good prompt
3. Building your first automation

Let's go!

Hi, I'm Susana 👋

I've spent the last 10+ years leading support at Airbnb, Loom, and OpenPhone. Today, I'm the Head of Community at Plain, where I help companies build modern support teams.

I've been thinking about where support is going in 2026 and beyond, and I keep coming back to this: we can't just keep responding to problems. We need to build solutions that prevent them.

The support teams who thrive won't be the ones who manage tickets best — they'll be the ones who can spot patterns, build tools to eliminate those tickets, and create systems that scale.

Claude Code was my gateway to thinking this way.

If your background is not technical like mine, don't worry. By the end of this post, you'll have Claude Code running on your computer and you'll have built your first automated tool.

Think of Claude Code as the dedicated data analyst you never got, or the ops person you've been begging for in every headcount conversation.

It won't be perfect but it will be yours, and it will work.

Who This Guide Is For

This guide is designed for support and operations professionals who want to build their own tools and automations.

You might want to use Claude Code if you:

• Analyze customer feedback or support tickets regularly
• Create reports by manually copying data between systems
• Wish you could automate parts of your workflow
• Want to build simple internal tools without waiting for engineering
• Need to process large batches of files or data

You don't need technical experience. If you can describe what you want in plain English, Claude Code can help you build it.

Not sure if this is for you? Try Lesson 1. If you can follow the installation steps and build your first automation, you're ready to keep going.

My Setup

Here's what I personally use every day:

• Claude Max ($100/month) - I use this because I build automations daily. If you're just starting out, Claude Pro ($20/month) will be plenty.
• Cursor (free) - I like seeing files and folders visually while Claude works. You don't need this (and your terminal works just fine) but I'll show you how I use it later in the lesson.

That's it. Two things. You don't need a complicated tech stack to build powerful automations. Everything you'll see in this course comes from this exact setup.

What is Claude Code?

You're probably familiar with ChatGPT, Claude, and other AI chatbots. You go to a website, upload some files, ask questions, get answers. Maybe you use them for brainstorming, writing emails, or analyzing data. They're helpful.

But they're limited. They advise. Claude Code does.

Say you have 200 customer feedback PDFs sitting in a folder. You need to organize them by sentiment — positive, negative, neutral. Extract key themes. Create a summary report.

With Web Claude or ChatGPT:

1. Upload 10-20 PDFs (file limit)
2. Ask it to analyze them
3. Download the results
4. Repeat with the next batch
5. Repeat... and repeat... and repeat
6. Manually combine everything at the end

It works. But you're doing this manual dance every single time. Next month when you have 200 more PDFs? You start over.

With Claude Code:

1. Tell it: "Analyze all PDFs in the 'Customer Feedback' folder, categorize them by sentiment, and create a summary report"
2. It accesses the files directly on your computer
3. Processes all 200 at once with a script
4. Saves the organized results right back to your folders

Next month? Run the same command. Takes 30 seconds.

Web Claude and other LLMs are incredibly smart. They can help you think through problems. But Claude Code? It works directly with files on your computer. Handles larger batches. Lets you save workflows to repeat instantly.

Another advantage: you own everything. When you work in web Claude or ChatGPT, your conversation history lives on their servers. If the service goes down or you lose access, your context is gone. With Claude Code, everything—your files, your context, your work—lives on your computer. You can back it up, move it to another machine, or even switch to a different AI tool if you want. It's yours.

When to Use What

Web Claude is like having a really smart consultant. Claude Code is that same consultant, but with keys to your office. They can actually do the work while you grab coffee.

Both are valuable. They just solve different problems.

A Quick Note On Cost

This came up in a recent live workshop I hosted for support leaders.

You need a paid Claude subscription to use Claude Code. The free tier doesn't support Claude Code functionality. Here's how to think about the ROI:

• Claude Pro ($20/month) - Pays for itself every single month when you automate a report that used to take you three hours
• Claude Max ($100/month) - Pays for itself if you're automating multiple weekly tasks and getting back 5+ hours every week
• Claude Max ($200/month) - Pays for itself if Claude Code becomes your daily workflow engine, running automations every single day and saving you 10+ hours per week

The skills you build today will compound as the tools get better and more capable. At current pricing, if you're saving even 3-5 hours per week, the subscription pays for itself many times over.

⚠️ Before We Start: Will This Break My Computer?!

Claude Code is a really powerful tool. It runs in your terminal, which means it can edit or delete files on your computer.

The exercises in this course use prompts and commands that I have personally used. Nothing here should harm your system.

This is still a tool that interacts with your files, though. I strongly encourage you to understand what a command does before you run it, look things up if you're unsure, and stay within your comfort zone.

As with anything technical: proceed thoughtfully.

If you want to dig deeper, Anthropic has extensive documentation on Claude Code.

Installation: Choose Your Path

There are three ways to get started with Claude Code. Pick the one that makes sense for you. This guide focuses on terminal installation. I have a Mac computer so all the screenshots and examples will reflect that setup.

Option 1: Terminal (Covered in this guide)

• Install Claude Code directly on your computer
• Run it from Terminal (Mac) or PowerShell (Windows)
• Best for: Following this course step-by-step, learning how things work
• Installation time: ~5 minutes

Option 2: VS Code Extension

• Install Claude Code as an extension inside Visual Studio Code
• Visual interface with integrated terminal
• Best for: People already familiar with VS Code, prefer IDE environment
• Learn more: Claude Code VS Code Extension Documentation

Option 3: Web Browser or Claude iOS App

• Access Claude Code directly in your browser at claude.ai
• No installation required, works on any device
• Requires GitHub account to save your progress
• Best for: Quick start, no installation, trying before committing
• Learn more: Visit claude.ai and look for Code features

Which should you choose?

This guide provides detailed instructions for Option 1 (Terminal) because it gives you the most direct understanding of how Claude Code works.

If you prefer Option 2 or 3, follow the official documentation linked above — the core concepts in this course still apply, just the interface will look different.

Ready to install via Terminal? Let's go.

Terminal Installation (5 minutes)

The install script comes directly from Anthropic. Here's a video of me installing Claude Code on my own computer from start to finish:

macOS Installation

Step 1: Open Terminal

Press Command + Space, type Terminal, and hit Enter.

(Alternatively, you can open Terminal through the Finder (Go > Applications > Utilities > Terminal) or via the Launchpad)

Step 2: Install Claude Code

Paste the command below into your terminal and press Enter:

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

This installs Claude Code on its own, without needing Node.js, npm, Python, or other dependencies.

Step 3: Restart Your Terminal

Close and reopen Terminal so the PATH updates.

Step 4: Verify the Installation

Paste the command below into your terminal and press Enter:

claude --version

You should see the current version number.

Step 5: Launch Claude Code

Finally, paste the command below into your terminal and press Enter:

claude

Sign in when prompted.

Windows Installation

Step 1: Open PowerShell

Press the Windows key, type PowerShell, and hit Enter.

Step 2: Install Claude Code

Paste the following command and press Enter:

iwr -useb https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex

This installs Claude Code as a standalone executable.

Step 3: Restart PowerShell

Close and reopen it to refresh your environment.

Step 4: Verify the Installation

Paste the following command and press Enter:

claude --version

You should see the installed version number.

Step 5: Launch Claude Code

Paste the following command and press Enter:

claude

Sign in when prompted.

Claude Code is now installed and verified on your computer! 🎉

Let's Build!

Now that the hardest part (confronting the terminal) is behind you and Claude Code is installed via the terminal, you can use it there or you can launch it in Cursor using the integrated terminal.

This is my preferred way of working as you can preview files and keep an eye on your folder structure.

Understanding Cursor (Optional but Recommended)

Cursor is a code editor — basically a fancy text editor that developers use to write and organize code.

You can absolutely use Claude Code directly in your terminal — it works perfectly fine. But I prefer using Cursor because it shows you:

• What files Claude is creating (in real time)
• Where those files live (your folder structure)
• What's inside each file (you can click and preview)

You can download Cursor for free at cursor.com/download

Here's what you're looking at when you open Cursor:

How to launch Claude Code in Cursor:

1. Open Cursor
2. Click Terminal in the top menu, then select New Terminal
3. Type claude and press Enter
4. Start chatting with Claude!

When you ask Claude to "create a folder called customer-feedback and organize these files" you can literally watch it happen in the left panel. When Claude writes a script or creates a document, you can click it and see what's inside.

Do you need Cursor?
No. But it makes the experience much more intuitive, especially when you're learning. You can always switch to terminal-only later if you prefer.

Your First Quick Win: 2-Minute Automation

Here's your first task. It's deliberately simple, but it's real and it demonstrates something web Claude can't do: work directly with files on your computer.

Let's ask Claude Code to create a file inventory report from your Downloads folder (or whatever folder you prefer).

1. Make sure Claude Code is running

If you closed it, open Terminal (or Cursor's terminal) and type claude to start it again.

2. Copy and paste this prompt

Create a folder called 'first-lesson' on my Desktop. Inside it,
analyze my Downloads folder and create a CSV file called
'file-inventory.csv' with all files listed, including: filename,
file type, size, and last modified date. Sort by size (largest first).

3. Press Enter and watch

Claude will:

• Create a new folder called 'first-lesson' on your Desktop
• Access your Downloads folder and read all files
• Generate a structured CSV file with the inventory
• Save it in the folder it just created

Here's a video of what happens when I do it (using Terminal):

What Just Happened?

You gave Claude Code a plain English instruction, and it:

1. Created a folder on your computer (file system control)
2. Accessed your Documents folder directly (something web Claude can't do)
3. Analyzed all the files and extracted metadata
4. Generated a structured CSV file with organized data
5. Saved it in the folder it created

This is the core loop you'll use for everything: describe what you want → Claude does it → you get results.

Try These Variations (Optional)

If you want to experiment more, try these prompts:

"Find all PDF files in my Documents folder and create a separate list just for those"

"Analyze my Desktop and tell me which files haven't been modified in over 90 days"

Each one takes seconds and gives you actionable insights about your files.

Congratulations, First Automation Complete!

You've completed Lesson 1.

Let's review what you accomplished:

✔️ Understand what Claude Code is and why it matters for support professionals

✔️ Install Claude Code on your computer

✔️ Verify the installation works

✔️ Set up your workspace (Terminal or Cursor)

✔️ Build your first automation (your quick win!)

What's Next?

In Lesson 2, we'll build something more substantial — a tool you can actually use in your support work. You'll learn how to:

• Give Claude Code more complex instructions
• Create reusable automations you can run again and again

The foundation is set. Now we build on it.

Troubleshooting

You did it! See you in Lesson 2 😄