How to Use Claude Code: A First-Weekend Tutorial (2026)

To use Claude Code, start it in a project folder, describe the result you want in plain English, let it plan, approve or review what it changes, and check the result yourself before you move on. This tutorial shows that loop on one small, real project you can finish over a weekend: a one-page website for a local business. You will see exactly what to type, how permissions and plan mode work, and how to undo a step that went wrong.

The example business is made up: Muddy Paws Grooming, a dog-grooming salon. Swap in your own business, or a friend's, and you finish the weekend with something genuinely useful.

What you need before you start

• Claude Code installed and signed in. If you haven't done that yet, follow the install guide for Mac and Windows first.
• A paid Claude plan, since the free plan doesn't include Claude Code.
• The business details: name, what it sells, three services with prices, opening hours, area, phone number, a booking link if there is one, and two or three real customer reviews.
• A couple of focused sessions: one on Saturday to build, one on Sunday to polish.

I use the terminal version below. The desktop app's Code tab has the same controls, with the permission mode selector next to the send button.

Saturday morning: set up the project

Step 1: create a folder and start a session

Every project gets its own folder. Claude Code can read everything inside the folder you start it in, so a clean folder keeps it focused and keeps your other files out of reach.

On a Mac:

$ mkdir -p ~/claude-projects/muddy-paws
$ cd ~/claude-projects/muddy-paws
$ claude
$ 

On Windows, in PowerShell:

PS> mkdir -Force "$HOME\claude-projects\muddy-paws"
PS> cd "$HOME\claude-projects\muddy-paws"
PS> claude
PS> 

In the desktop app, open the Code tab, choose Local, click Select folder and create the same folder there.

Step 2: choose how much control you want

Claude Code has permission modes: settings that decide which actions it can take without asking you. You cycle through them with Shift+Tab, the line under the prompt shows the current one, and current versions start new terminal sessions in auto mode.

When Claude Code asks for permission, Yes approves this one action, Yes, and don't ask again saves a rule so that command runs without asking in this project from then on, and No declines (Esc does the same). With Yes or No highlighted, press Tab to attach a note such as "No: use the photos in the images folder instead", and Claude adjusts.

Step 3: write the brief in plan mode

Press Shift+Tab until the status line reads ⏸ plan mode on, or type /plan at the start of your message. Then paste a brief like this one, with your details filled in:

I want a one-page website for Muddy Paws Grooming, a dog-grooming salon in [TOWN].

Audience: busy dog owners who live nearby and mostly book from their phones.
Goal: get them to tap "Book a groom" ([BOOKING LINK]) or call [PHONE NUMBER].

Sections, in this order:
1. Headline saying what we do and where, with the booking button
2. Three services with prices: [SERVICE AND PRICE] x3
3. Opening hours and address
4. Two customer reviews: [PASTE REAL REVIEWS]
5. Contact: phone, email and a map link

Style: friendly and clean, lots of white space, large text, easy to use on a phone.
Constraints: one index.html file and one styles.css file. No frameworks. No photos I haven't approved.
Done means: I can open index.html in my browser and everything above is there and readable on a phone.

Before you write anything, ask me up to five questions about what's missing, then propose a plan.

Claude reads the empty folder, asks its questions (sometimes as multiple choice), and then presents a plan: which files it will create, what goes in each section, and what it still needs from you. To change the plan directly, press Ctrl+G to open it in your text editor.

Saturday afternoon: build, look, react

Step 4: approve the build step by step

Claude now creates index.html, then styles.css, and before each file it shows what it is about to write and waits for your answer. Approve when it matches the plan, and look closer at any command that deletes files or reaches outside the folder.

When it finishes, open the page by double-clicking index.html in Finder or File Explorer, or on a Mac type ! open index.html in Claude Code. The ! at the start runs a command yourself, without going through Claude.

Step 5: give feedback like a client

This is where most of the value comes from. React the way a picky client would: short, specific, one thing at a time.

Typing @ followed by a file name, such as @brand.txt, points Claude at that exact file so it reads it before acting. To show a problem instead of describing it, take a screenshot and paste it into Claude Code with Ctrl+V in most terminals, Cmd+V in iTerm2 or Alt+V on Windows.

You don't have to wait in silence while it works. Type a correction and press Enter, and Claude reads it as soon as its current step finishes, or press Esc to stop it immediately.

Step 6: undo a change you don't like

Sooner or later a change makes things worse. You have three ways back:

1. Ask. "Undo that last change" works for simple cases.
2. Rewind. Press Esc twice on an empty prompt, or type /rewind, pick the message from before things went wrong, then choose Restore code and conversation, Restore code (keep the chat, revert the files) or Restore conversation (keep the files, rewind the chat).
3. Go back to a saved version, if you use git, a free tool that stores named snapshots of a project.

For a proper safety net, ask for one. Most Macs include git already; on Windows, install Git for Windows first.

Turn this folder into a git repository and save the current version with a clear description of what works.

Sunday: make it solid

Step 7: write down what you agreed on

By now you have made decisions about colors, tone and "always check phone width". Save them so you never have to repeat them:

Create a CLAUDE.md file for this project with the business details, the style rules we settled on, and a rule to check the page at phone width before saying you're done.

CLAUDE.md is a plain text file that Claude Code reads at the start of every session in this folder, and edits you make mid-session take effect after /clear or in the next session. The guide to the CLAUDE.md file shows what to put in it, with templates.

Step 8: ask for a review with evidence

Review the page like a picky client. Check that every section in my brief is there, every link and the phone number work, text is readable at phone width, images have alt text, and no name, price or time differs from my brief. Fix what you can, then list what you changed and what you still need from me.

Then check it yourself: click every link, narrow the browser window to phone width, and read every price aloud against your price list. If you set up git in Step 6, /diff shows what changed since the last saved version.

Step 9: decide where it goes live

Publishing is its own job: a domain name, free hosting, and a few settings so search engines can find the page. The guide to building a website with AI covers publishing with Claude Code and Vercel, and the vibe coding walkthrough adds a launch checklist for a business landing page.

10 tips for using Claude Code well

1. One outcome per message. "Make the booking button full width on phones" beats a paragraph of five wishes.
2. Point, don't describe. @styles.css gets Claude reading the right file instead of searching for it.
3. Let it interview you. For anything bigger than a tweak, end with "ask me questions until you have what you need".
4. Plan when you can't say it in one sentence. Skip planning for small fixes, where it only adds steps.
5. Stop early. Press Esc the moment it heads the wrong way, because waiting only makes the cleanup bigger.
6. Two strikes, fresh start. If you have corrected the same thing twice, run /clear and write a better first prompt using what you learned.
7. One task per session. Use /clear between unrelated jobs, and run /rename first if you want to find the old conversation later with /resume.
8. Ask for evidence, not reassurance. "List the files you changed" or "show me where that number comes from" beats "is it done?".
9. Keep side questions on the side. /btw answers a quick question without adding it to the main conversation.
10. Let the tool teach you. /powerup runs short interactive lessons, the interactive mode reference lists every shortcut, and our Claude Code cheat sheet keeps the useful ones on one page.

What to do next

Pick a second small project for next weekend, ideally something you would otherwise pay for or keep postponing, and run the same loop: brief in plan mode, build in Manual, review with evidence, save what you learned in CLAUDE.md. Our list of Claude Code project ideas has options sized from one hour to one weekend. If you would rather be walked through the whole journey, the Claude Code course goes from setup to a published landing page, an AI video and an invoice agent.