Install Claude Code the easy way and set up your AI assistant. One concept plus 6 steps, in order, and you're ready to build.
Claude.ai is the web app in your browser. Every chat starts from zero. It doesn't know your name or your projects. Claude Code is different. It installs on your machine. It reads your real files. It runs your scripts. It connects to tools you already use. This is the version creators and business owners should use.
Anyone who wants AI inside their real workflow, not just a chat box.
Claude Code runs inside a code editor called Visual Studio Code. You install this first. It's the window where everything happens. The download takes a few seconds. Windows and Mac both work. The steps are nearly identical on both.
Everyone. This is step one for every machine.
Download the Claude desktop app too. You'll be able to run Claude Code right inside it later. Skip the plain browser chat. You won't need it once Claude Code is set up. You're installing something far more powerful.
People who'd rather work in a clean app than in a browser tab.
Inside Visual Studio Code you add the Claude Code extension. This is what puts Claude into your editor. Once it's in, a Claude icon appears on the side. That icon is your way in.
Anyone who wants Claude living inside their workspace.
Open the Claude panel and it asks you to sign in. Click open, grab the authorization code, and finish the login. To set up Claude Code you need a paid Claude plan. That means Pro or Max. If you're not sure you have one, try logging in and see.
Anyone ready to commit to building with AI on their machine.
This is where it gets fun. You paste one prompt into the Claude Code chat. Claude asks you smart questions about who you are and how you work. Then it builds your folders and your CLAUDE.md file. That file is the map. It tells Claude who you are every time you open a new chat.
I want to build a personal AI assistant using Claude Code that runs locally on my laptop. The idea is to give Claude persistent context about who I am, what I'm working on, and how I like to work, so every session starts from a full picture instead of zero. Help me design and set up the folder structure for this. Here's what I want it to do: know who I am, my role, goals, communication style, and current priorities; remember things across conversations, decisions I've made, preferences, and project state; be organized by areas of my life or work, each with their own automations or skills; connect to external tools I already use, like [Notion], [Google Drive], and [Gmail]. Start by asking me the right questions to understand my situation, then help me build the CLAUDE.md file and folder structure step by step. Don't build everything at once. Walk me through it.Anyone who wants Claude to remember context across every session.
After the build, you're sitting in the root, not inside your new project. So you point Visual Studio Code at the folder Claude just made. Now Claude works in the right place, with your context loaded. Test it. Ask Claude who you are. It should know, because it reads your CLAUDE.md file.
Everyone. This step makes sure Claude works where your files live.
🚀 You just built the foundation. Now keep going. Inside Build with AI you get the step-by-step written version of this setup. You also get new skills and tools dropped regularly, the same ones I install with my clients. Come build with us: skool.com/ai-for-everyone