In this one-day course, students will be introduced to using Claude Code, which is the agentic command-line interface (CLI) tool that is used to interact directly with local filesystems, build features, and automate routine technical tasks in the Claude Code (https://support.anthropic.com/en/articles/10636361-what-is-claude-code) environment. The course covers the fundamental terminal mechanics required to launch the tool, but the emphasis is on using Claude Code to analyze and organize local projects without extensive programming experience. Students will learn how to configure project guardrails, navigate multi-mode execution cycles, control token budgets, and safely coordinate parallel background sub-agents. This instructor-led course consists of a combination of lecture, demonstrations, and hands-on labs.
Software Used During the Class
The standard lab setup for this class consists of a PC or Mac with a terminal application (such as Terminal, PowerShell, or Git Bash), a modern text editor or IDE (such as VS Code), and Claude Code installed natively or via a package manager.
Audience
This course is intended for business users, product managers, QA analysts, and ops professionals who are comfortable with Claude Chat and Claude Cowork and are ready to step into a hands-on agentic environment. Mastering Claude Code is a highly effective "next step" for professionals looking to automate engineering tasks and direct codebase modifications locally without writing code from scratch.
Prerequisites
Although advanced software programming experience is not required for this class, students with a basic familiarity with file directory navigation and standard prompting principles will be better equipped to get the most out of the lab work.
Course Outline
- Getting started with Claude Code
- Managing context, budgets, and the workspace
- Controlling execution modes and interaction styles
- Project configuration and memory boundaries
- Scripting automation and background sub-agents
