Claude Code · L1 · 1
Claude Code · ISTO.

Lesson 1 · What Claude knows

Why Claude Code

Same Claude. Set up for what we'll build.

Run scriptsSmall programs that do a job the same way every time, such as a check that runs every morning. Claude runs them in the terminal and asks you first.
See every fileThe project's documents, rules and scripts, open in VS Code right next to Claude.
Share through GitHubIn week 3: one shared project, and changes are reviewed before they land.

Everything you learned in Cowork still applies: same Claude, same way of asking.

The building blocks

Six blocks. One way of working.

Lesson 1We are here
VS Code tour
Where everything is: files, Claude, the terminal.
Memory and context
What Claude knows every time, and what must never happen.
Lesson 2
Tools and reach
How Claude acts: scripts, connectors, a shared database.
Plan, then build
Agree the plan, then build one phase at a time.
Lesson 3
Skills
A job handbook Claude follows every time.
Hooks and automations
When something happens, the next step moves on its own.
Sharing through review
One shared project on GitHub; every change is reviewed before it lands.Also in lesson 4
Lesson 4
Your 4-minute demo
Show the team what you built, on Isto's own data.
Your Agentic Map
What you built, where it lives, who owns it, what's next.
All six blocks together

Without them, you are Claude's memory and messenger: you paste the context in and carry the answer out. These blocks move that work into the project.

Your VS Code window

Four places you'll use every day.

VS Code with the practice project open: Explorer, Claude panel, a CLAUDE.md preview and the terminal12234
1Explorer
The project's folders and files.
2Claude panel
Opens from the Claude icon in the sidebar. Where you talk to Claude Code about this project.
3Editor
Open any file to read it: a CLAUDE.md, a policy, a report.
4Terminal
Where commands run. Mostly Claude runs them for you.
Your turn · 3 min

Open VS Code. Find the Explorer, open a terminal (Terminal → New Terminal), then open the Claude panel.

Get the practice project

A team handbook. Open it in VS Code.

Your turn · 4 min
  • Go to github.com/Adapt-to-AI-B2B/este-handbook
  • Green Code button → Download ZIP. No GitHub account needed.
  • Unzip it, move the folder into your projects folder, rename it to este-handbook.
  • In VS Code: File → Open Folder → este-handbook.

Este is a fictional clothing brand. The project holds documents only: how the company works, its policies, its words, some meeting notes.

Idea · Claude only knows what you give it

The chat forgets. The files don't.

Your turn · 4 min
  • Open CLAUDE.md, then docs/returns.md: a document, exactly as the team wrote it.
  • Tell Claude your name and your role. Then start a new session and ask: "What's my name?"
  • In the new session, ask: "Read CLAUDE.md and tell me in two lines what this project is."

The second answer works every time, for anyone, because it comes from a file in the project.

Memory and context

What Claude reads when it starts.

1~/.claude/CLAUDE.md
You, in every project. Your own habits: language, how you like answers, who you are.
2projects/CLAUDE.md
Folders above (optional). Anything that holds for every project in that folder.
3projects/este-handbook/CLAUDE.md
The team, in this project. How this project works, its rules, where everything is.
Every session starts hereAt the start of every session Claude reads all of them, from your own file down to this project's. Nothing else is read until a question needs it.
Today: the project's CLAUDE.mdYour own ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md comes back in week 2.
Memory and context

Orientation manual + book index.

# Este — team handbook You are helping someone on Este's team… ## Rules - Sage is the source of truth for stock, because the stores sell through it. ## Where things are - docs/returns.md: the returns policy - docs/suppliers.md: suppliers and lead times
The orientation manualWho we are, how to answer, the rules. Short: what Claude needs every time.
The book indexWhere everything else is. Claude opens a document only when the question needs it.
About youABOUT-ME.md who you are; pointed to from your own ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md.
RulesRULES.md or one file per topic in .claude/rules/ (next block).
MemoryMEMORY.md decisions and lessons worth keeping.
The project's documentssuppliers.md returns.md, words-we-use.md…

Common names, not required ones. What matters is that CLAUDE.md says where they are.

A good CLAUDE.md

Short, with reasons.

  • Short. Under 200 lines. A long file is followed less well.
  • Points, doesn't copy. "The returns policy is in docs/returns.md", not the policy pasted in.
  • Every rule has a "because". Without the reason, Claude has to invent one, and applies the rule in the wrong place.

Claude reads it as guidance it takes into account. It is not a lock.

Memory and context

A word nobody wrote down.

Your turn · 8 min
  • Ask Claude: "What does 'weeks of cover' mean at Este?"
  • Ask Claude to add a definition to docs/words-we-use.md, with the reason we use it.
  • Start a new session and ask the same question again.

The meeting notes used a word the handbook never defined. Now the answer is the same for everyone, every time.

Memory and context

Rule files: one topic each.

Always onA file in .claude/rules/ is read at the start, like CLAUDE.md.
Only for some foldersA "paths" line at the top: read only when Claude works there.
Fails silentlyWrong folder, a typo, two rules that disagree: no error, it just doesn't apply.
A request, not a lockClaude takes it into account. When something must never happen, a hook enforces it (week 3).
Memory and context

Write one rule. Then test it.

Your turn · 8 min
  • Open .claude/rules/customer-replies.md. When does it apply?
  • Ask Claude to draft a reply in drafts/customers/ to Rui, who wants to return a sale T-shirt he bought online 20 days ago.
  • Create .claude/rules/delivery-dates.md: never promise when an out-of-stock item is back, because supplier lead times move.
  • New session: draft a reply to Ana, who asks when the Medium Green Men's T-shirt is back in stock.
Memory and context

You write the rules. Claude keeps notes.

CLAUDE.md and rulesYou write them. Instructions for everyone in the project.
Auto memoryClaude writes it: your preferences, your corrections. On by default, this project, your computer.
Chat memory in the Claude appYour personal profile in claude.ai. Not part of the project.
Your turn · 4 min
  • Tell Claude: "Remember: I manage the Porto Foz store, and I like short answers in bullets."
  • Type /memory and open what Claude wrote.

Claude decides what's worth keeping. If the whole team needs it, put it in CLAUDE.md instead.

Memory and context

Where does it go?

Together · 6 min
  • "Our returns window is 30 days."
  • "Always answer me in Portuguese."
  • "Sage is the source of truth for stock, because the stores sell through it."
  • "Replies to customers follow the brand voice."
  • "I like short answers in bullets."
  • "The password for the online shop admin."

Places: CLAUDE.md in the project · a rule file · a document in docs/ · ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md · auto memory · nowhere.

To keep

Three things from today.

  • The chat forgets. The files don't.
  • Write the reason, not just the rule.
  • A rule is a request. A hook is a lock.

Next week: plan and build on shared data. Before then: the short pack in the Academy.