Getting Started with Claude
A 17-page PDF on the six Claude tools that share one account: Cowork, Models, Excel, Plugins, Artifacts and Projects. It says what each one is for, how to set it up and which prompt to try first.
What the guide is
Most people use Claude as a chatbot: you type a question and read the answer. That is about a sixth of what the account does.
I use Claude every day on client work. I write code in it, build spreadsheets with it, draft proposals in it and run whole project workflows through it. The guide takes the six tools in turn, then ends with a 30-minute setup that gets you from the download to a first useful result.
Cowork
Cowork is the desktop app. You point it at a folder on your machine and it reads the files in it, so you stop pasting the same background into every chat.
The guide covers the install, why your first prompt should ask Claude to question you before it starts work, and the about-me.md file that replaces most of the prompting. Cowork with a folder of markdown files is how I work with Claude day to day.
Models
The guide recommends the most capable model with Extended Thinking switched on for any task that matters, and explains what Extended Thinking does: Claude reasons through the problem before it writes.
It also covers Connectors, which let Claude read from Google Drive, Notion, Slack and other tools in the middle of a conversation.
Excel
Claude in Excel is an add-in that reads a workbook, explains formulas, finds #REF and #VALUE errors and builds new sheets. It highlights every cell it wants to change and changes nothing until you approve it.
The guide gives the install steps for Windows and Mac, the first prompts to try and a template for building a spreadsheet from a description. Check its formulas against a result you already know before you rely on them.
Plugins
Plugins are skill packs for one kind of work: sales, marketing, legal, finance, data analysis, customer support and more. You install one from the library and it adds slash commands to the chat.
The guide lists what is available and gives example prompts for the marketing and data plugins.
Artifacts
Artifacts are things you can use rather than read: a calculator, a comparison chart, a project tracker, a diagram. They appear inside the chat, you change them by asking, and you can download the result. There is nothing to install.
The guide has four prompts to start from.
Projects
Projects are folders of chats that share the files you upload, so every conversation in a project can refer to them without another upload.
The guide sets one up in five minutes and compares it with Cowork. I still prefer Cowork with the files on my own machine, because it is more reliable and quicker to keep up to date.
What else is in it
A page on what Claude cannot do and what to use instead: images, video, live search, and running code anywhere but Claude Code. Then the 30-minute setup in five-minute steps, which ends with Cowork reading your files, a plugin installed, an artifact you have built and the Excel add-in running.
It goes with course 2 on the path, Build Your AI Toolkit, where you set up Claude Code and n8n and build three automations of your own.
Take the guide with you
The PDF is free to download and keep. Hub members get each new guide as it ships.
Every guide is listed on the resources page.