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Tab 01 · 9 total

Start Here

What this course is, who it's for, and how to move through it.

Section 1.1

What this course is

A complete, start-from-zero course teaching any agency employee how to use Claude Code in Cursor to build real agency deliverables.

By the end, you will have installed the toolchain on a fresh Mac or Windows machine, wired Claude to a CRM, a meeting recorder, a form tool, a webhook glue layer, and a team comms channel, and shipped at least one real deliverable end-to-end.

Nothing in here is theoretical. Every recipe is one you can run today on a real client project. Every code block is copy-paste runnable. Every external link points to the official docs so you can verify anything we claim.

Section 1.2

Who it's for

Primary audience

Agency operators

Founders, account managers, and ops leads at agencies who want every employee shipping with Claude instead of asking Claude for “advice.”
Primary audience

Setters, closers, coaches

People closing or delivering client work who want internal tools and content pipelines built to their exact spec without waiting on a dev team.
Secondary audience

Agency developers

Engineers at agencies adopting Claude Code as the default build tool. Tabs 4–7 are the dense reference.
Not for

Pure consumers of ChatGPT

Claude Code is an agent you hand a task to, not a chatbot you trade turns with. If you're looking for a better chatbot, this isn't the tool.

No prior programming experience is assumed. You do need to be comfortable reading instructions and willing to copy-paste commands into a terminal. If you can follow a recipe, you can do this.

Section 1.3

Two learning paths

Pick a path based on how much focused time you can block off. Both arrive at the same destination.

Casual · 2 weeks
60-90 min/day
  1. 01Day 1-2: Start + Install
  2. 02Day 3-4: Foundations
  3. 03Day 5-7: Claude daily workflow
  4. 04Day 8-9: API fundamentals
  5. 05Day 10-12: Platforms
  6. 06Day 13-14: First real use case
Intensive · 2 days
8-10 hr days
  1. 01Day 1 AM: Install + Foundations
  2. 02Day 1 PM: Claude workflow
  3. 03Day 2 AM: APIs + Platforms
  4. 04Day 2 PM: Ship 1 use case end-to-end
Section 1.4

Before-you-start checklist

These are the only things you need before Tab 02 (Installation). Each item takes under five minutes.

  • A laptop or desktop— macOS 13+ or Windows 10/11 (with WSL2 available). Any machine made in the last five years is fine. 16 GB RAM recommended, 8 GB works.
  • A working internet connection. Everything in this course runs on cloud services; nothing requires a local GPU.
  • An email you check every day.You'll sign up for several accounts and verify emails from each.
  • A payment card.Claude, Cursor, Vercel, and some integrations require a paid plan or have pay-as-you-go pricing. Budget ~$50–$100 for month one if you're building actively.
  • 60 minutes of uninterrupted time to work through Tab 02 in one sitting. Installation is smoother when you finish it without context-switching.
Section 1.5

Terms you'll see

You'll meet these terms early. Full definitions live in Tab 09 — Reference. This is just a preview so no term blindsides you.

Claude Code

Anthropic's CLI agent. You hand it a task in plain English and it edits files, runs commands, and ships work.

Cursor

An AI-native code editor built on VS Code. It gives Claude Code a graphical shell with integrated terminal and file editing.

Context window

The working memory Claude has during a session. Finite. When it fills up, you hand off to a new session with a summary file.

Handoff

A written summary a Claude session produces so a new session can pick up exactly where it left off. The key discipline of every long build.

Webhook

A URL an external tool calls when something happens (new form submission, new call recorded, new contact created). How the internet tells your code “something happened, react.”

API key

A secret string that identifies your account to an external service. Stored in environment variables or your OS keychain, never in code.

Environment variable

A value set outside your code that the code can read — typically API keys, database URLs, and other secrets.

Deploy

Pushing your code from your laptop to a public URL on the internet. In this course, that almost always means Vercel.
Section 1.6

How to use the course

  • Top tab bar— nine tabs, numbered. Walk them in order on your first pass. After that, treat them as reference.
  • Outline rail (right side)— jumps to any section on the current tab. Highlights your scroll position.
  • Cmd+K search (⌘K on Mac, Ctrl+K on Windows) — fuzzy-search every section on every tab. Fastest way to find a specific concept or command.
  • Copy buttons on every code block— never retype a command. Click, paste, run.
  • External links open in a new tab— so your place in the course is always one click away.