Your First Claude Code Session

Milestone 1: Open Claude Code in a Project

Pick any folder on your computer. In your terminal:

cd /path/to/your/project
claude

Claude Code shows a trust prompt: "Do you trust the files in this folder?" Select Yes, proceed. This is a one-time security check per folder.

You'll see the Claude Code prompt — a blinking cursor waiting for your input.

Milestone 2: Ask Claude to Explore

Before changing anything, ask Claude to understand the project:

what does this project do?

Claude reads your actual files — package.json, README.md, source code — and describes what it finds. It doesn't guess. Everything it tells you comes from real files in your project.

Try a few more:

what technologies does this project use?
where is the main entry point?
explain the folder structure

Milestone 3: Make Your First Edit

Ask Claude to make a small, real change:

add a comment at the top of the main file explaining what this project does

Claude will:

1. Find the right file
2. Show you exactly what it plans to change
3. Ask for your approval before touching anything

Type y to approve the edit, n to reject it. Then open the file in your editor — the change is there, exactly as shown.

Claude never modifies your files without your approval.

Milestone 4: Key Commands to Know

These four things will get you through every tutorial on this platform:

Ctrl+C — cancel anything Claude is doing mid-run.

Ctrl+D — exit Claude Code.

Shift+Tab — cycle through permission modes:

• Normal mode (ask before each action)
• Accept-edits mode (auto-approve file edits)
• Plan mode (read-only — Claude explores and plans but changes nothing)

Use Plan mode before any big task. Type Shift+Tab twice to enter it, then ask Claude to plan something. You see the full plan before a single file is touched.

/help — show all available commands.

What You Built

You ran the core Claude Code loop:

1. Opened Claude in a project
2. Let Claude explore and understand the codebase
3. Approved a real file edit
4. Learned the key controls

Everything on this platform — the screen recorder, the Drive organizer, the agents — is this same loop applied to harder problems.