Get on the right account, into the tool, and through one real interaction. When the skills start, the only new thing is the skill, not the software.
Four things happen here. You get on a paid plan. You open the tool where you'll actually use it. You learn where everything on the screen lives. And you run one real interaction that works. That's the floor the rest of the program stands on.
Already oriented and on a paid plan? Skip ahead. Everything on this page is the floor, not the skill. Nobody's watching if you move fast.
We set this up together in your live Week 1 session. This page is your backup. Read it again when you get home and want to redo it on your own, or follow it on your own time if you're moving ahead.
We teach on Claude. Every tool we cover has the same parts, so if you already use a different one, you can follow along. We'll point out the match as we go.
Here's the part most people get wrong. The free account gives you an older, weaker version. Most people who tried AI and walked away unimpressed were judging that weak version. The paid account is about $20 a month. That's the price of seeing what this actually does. Get on it before you judge anything.
| Maker | The tool | The plan you want |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | Claude (what we teach on) | Claude Pro |
| OpenAI | ChatGPT | ChatGPT Plus |
| Microsoft | Copilot | Copilot Pro / M365 Copilot |
| Gemini | Gemini Advanced (Google One AI) |
The free-vs-paid gap comes down to which model you're talking to. We pull that apart in Frontier Models, the next reference. If you want the full reason a weak model leads people to write off AI, that's where it lives.
"Open Claude" is really three different things. Pick one place to work so you're not deciding every time. For most people that's the website or the desktop app.
Type claude.ai into the address bar. That's the long box at the very top of the browser window, the same place any web address goes. Then sign in. This works on any computer, with nothing to install.
Download the Claude app from claude.ai/download and open it like any other program. The difference from the website: this is its own window, not a tab inside your browser. If you've ever mixed up "an app" with "a browser tab," this is that difference. It trips up plenty of people.
Claude has an app in the iPhone and Android stores. It's handy for catching a thought on the go. Set up the website or desktop app as your main spot first. We come back to the phone later.
Same idea. Each one has a website you sign into and an app you can download. Find the official site, sign in with the account you just put on a paid plan, and you're in.
This is the smallest set of words you need to follow any later instruction. You don't have to use them yet. Just be able to point at each one.
Three things throw almost everyone in the first week. Here's the plain answer to each.
The conversation in front of you is the chat. Older ones sit in the list down the left side. Closing the window doesn't lose them. They're saved, and you can reopen any of them.
When you upload a file, it attaches to the chat you're in. When the AI makes something for you, like a document or a spreadsheet, it shows up in that same chat, with a button to download it. The file work in Cowork stores things a little differently. We cover that in Chat vs. Cowork.
What you say in a chat stays available inside that chat. Start a brand-new one and it won't carry over what you said in the last. The full story of what the AI remembers is its own topic, How AI Remembers, later in Foundations. That one line is enough to get going.
One move so you feel the difference. This isn't a lesson in writing prompts. That's next. It's a check. Paste this into the message box, swap in your own role and business, and send it.
It comes back with something useful, then asks you a question. That back-and-forth is the point. It's the moment this stops feeling like a search box and starts feeling like something you can work with.
Don't let that context vanish when you close the chat. Paste this next:
Save that note. In Claude, you keep reusable context like this in a Project, so the AI starts every chat already knowing you instead of from scratch. We build your Projects properly in a later module. For now, hang on to the file. It's the first piece of context you'll load in.
Tick these off. If all four are true, you've cleared the floor, and the next module assumes nothing more.
Before the skills begin, one short read sets the right expectations: what to trust, what to double-check, and what's safe to put in.
Next: What to Watch For →