AI-Ready CMO
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Part 1: Boot Up

The Problem

You've been copy-pasting between ChatGPT and your files. Losing context every conversation. Waiting for dev to make simple changes.

There's a fundamentally better approach — and it starts with understanding what Claude Code actually is.

What Claude Code Actually Is

The difference between chat-based AI and an AI agent that lives in your project:

ChatGPT / Claude Web

Claude Code

Lives in a browser tab

Lives in your terminal

You paste code to it

It reads your files directly

It tells you what to do

It does the work itself

Context resets every chat

Context persists via CLAUDE.md

Output: text you copy

Output: actual file changes, commits, deploys

Claude Code is an AI agent that runs in your terminal (the command-line interface on your computer). When you open it inside a project folder, it can see every file, understand the relationships between them, run commands, make edits, and even deploy — all from natural language instructions.

Key Distinction

Think of ChatGPT as a consultant who reads what you give them and writes a report. Claude Code is more like a contractor who walks into your office, looks at everything, and starts building.

Getting Started in 5 Minutes

Four steps to go from zero to running:

1

Install

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

One command — or your dev team can install it for you.

2

Navigate to your project

cd ~/your-project-folder
3

Launch

claude

That's it — one word.

4

Give it a task

“Look at the codebase and tell me what this project does”

Heads Up

You need Node.js installed and an Anthropic API key. If those words mean nothing, your developer can set this up in 10 minutes. You only do it once.

Your First 5 Commands to Try

Copy these into Claude Code and see what happens:

1
“Explain this codebase to me like I'm a marketing director”

Claude Code reads every file and gives you a plain-English summary.

2
“Find all the pages on our website and list them”

It searches through files and gives you a sitemap.

3
“Change the hero headline on the homepage to [your text]”

It finds the file, edits it, done.

4
“Add a new section to the pricing page with these 3 bullet points”

Writes the code, shows you the diff.

5
“Commit this change and push it to production”

Handles git, deployment, everything.

What You Just Learned

  • You now know what Claude Code is and how it differs from chat-based AI
  • You understand the core workflow: navigate to project, launch claude, give instructions
  • You've seen 5 real examples of what you can ask it to do
  • You know that it works WITH your files, not just talks ABOUT them

Next: Learn how Claude Code sees your project — and why that changes everything.

Back to Course OverviewPart 2: Understand Your Workspace