Basics

Getting started

Accounts, models, and your first useful prompt.

Knowledge cards
Knowledge card
Give Claude the Context It Can't Guess
A foundational habit of giving Claude the specifics of your situation it has no way to know — who the audience is, what happened before, the goal, the constraints — instead of a bare request stripped of context.
L1 · Basic prompts
Knowledge card
Have Claude Restate the Task in Its Own Words
A beginner move where, for anything non-trivial, you ask Claude to restate the task and its assumptions in its own words before it starts — so you can catch a misunderstanding while it's still free to fix.
L1 · Basic prompts
Best practice
Open With the Outcome You Want, Then the Details
A simple prompt structure for beginners: lead with the outcome you actually want — the finished thing and who it's for — then give constraints and context, and end with the specific ask. The goal comes first because everything else is in service of it.
L1 · Basic prompts
Knowledge card
Start by Telling Claude Who It Is and Who You Are
A reliable first-message shape for Claude: name the role you want it to take, give the context you're working in, state the constraints, then make the ask — in that order.
L1 · Basic prompts
Getting started with Claude

Frame first, then ask

The fastest way to get good work from Claude is to set the frame before the task. Tell it who it is and who you are — 'You are a careful technical editor; I'm a developer writing release notes' — and then lead with the outcome you want rather than a list of steps. That single framing line shifts the register, the assumptions, and the standard of the whole reply. Claude is happy to ask for missing detail, so give it enough to work with and it will stay faithful to what you actually need.

Small habits that compound

Two beginner habits pay off immediately. First, show one example of what a good answer looks like — a sample anchors Claude far better than more description. Second, pick the right model: a fast one for quick edits, a deeper one for hard reasoning or long documents. You do not need clever prompt tricks to start; a clear role, a clear goal, and one example will already put you ahead of most users.

Frequently asked
How do I get started with Claude?

Open Claude, give it a role and tell it who you are, then lead with the outcome you want. Showing one example of a good answer sharpens results right away.

Do I need special prompt tricks for Claude?

No. A clear role, a clear goal, and one concrete example of what good looks like will already outperform most prompting. Precision beats cleverness.

Which Claude model should a beginner pick?

A fast model for quick edits and everyday questions, and a deeper model for hard reasoning or long documents. Match the model to how demanding the task is.