Your first file
Listen instead
Your first file
2:05 · spoken companion to this lesson
You have Claude Code installed. Now you will give it a job and watch it do the job.
Step 1 — Start Claude
In your terminal, type this and press Enter.
claudeThe first time you run it, your web browser opens and asks you to log in. Log in with the Claude account you pay for, then come back to the terminal window.
You now see a different prompt. Claude is waiting for you to say something in plain language.
Three things surprise everyone here, so read them first:
- You cannot click things in this window. Use the arrow keys to move between options.
- Press Esc to interrupt Claude if it starts doing something you did not intend.
- To leave, type
/exit. You are not trapped.
Step 2 — Ask for a file
Type this sentence and press Enter. Type it rather than pasting it. This is a sentence, not a command, and writing them is what the whole course is about.
make a file called hello.txt that says helloClaude tells you what it intends to do and waits for your approval. Read what it says, then approve it.
It writes the file and tells you it is done.
Step 3 — Go and look at the file
This step matters more than it looks. Do not skip it.
Open File Explorer from your taskbar. Click This PC, then your Windows (C:) drive, then Users, then the folder with your name on it.
hello.txt is in there. Double-click it.
It is a real file, on your real computer, and you did not type a word of it. You described what you wanted, and something else made it.
Next
Where did that file go?