Claude Code is the most-misunderstood product in Claude's lineup. It is not "ChatGPT for developers." It's a tool that lets you build small, useful software without learning to code.
This workshop is the most ambitious in the catalog and the most honest about its ceiling. You are not leaving a software engineer. You are leaving with one specific working tool and the pattern that built it.
What we cover
- The minimum viable terminal setup for someone who's never opened one.
- How Claude Code reads, edits, and runs files — what's safe to let it do and what isn't.
- A live build, start to finish: a real tool one of the students wants. We'll vote on it at the start of class.
- GitHub as a "save and undo" layer so you can experiment fearlessly.
- What you can realistically build alone in three months and what you can't.
How the time breaks down
First 30 minutes: setup. Next 90 minutes: live build. Final hour: the patterns, the limits, and the next-step plan you take home.
Who shouldn't take this
If the words "terminal" and "GitHub" make your eyes glaze, this isn't your workshop yet. Start with Claude Basics and Claude Operations.