If you regularly use an AI like ChatGPT or Claude, Claude Code is a must-try. Despite its name, you don't need coding experience. You can use plain English through the Terminal and get capabilities impossible with normal AI chat interfaces.
Claude Code can read files directly from your computer (no uploading or copy-pasting), process documents too long for ChatGPT or regular Claude to handle in one go, and run multi-step tasks without you babysitting each step.
I use it daily for content audits, interview analysis, reporting, and many other non-technical tasks, and installation takes just a minute.
⚠️ Requirements: A paid Claude account (Pro or Max) is required for Claude Code. This tutorial uses macOS, but Windows users can follow along. Just substitute Finder with File Explorer, Command with Control, and use PowerShell instead of Terminal.
Why Trouble Yourself Using Claude Code in the Terminal?
The Terminal setup takes minutes and the capabilities make it worthwhile:
1. Your Input and Output Are Unconstrained
Normal Claude and ChatGPT have per-response token limits. They default to concise answers unless you ask for more.
Claude Code can read files directly from your computer without the response limits of the chat app. It handles massive files by intelligently breaking them into chunks that it can process sequentially.
These capabilities mean you can analyze entire content libraries, lengthy transcripts, or comprehensive reports that would be impossible to reliably work with in a regular AI chat.
2. Your Local Folder Structure Becomes Context
Normal Claude and ChatGPT offer Projects, essentially a folder where you can store information that gets added to all your chats in that project.
While helpful, Projects have limitations: they can't have subfolders, come with a file size limit, and their information has to work within constraints (see point one above).
Claude Code runs in a local folder on your computer: you can include almost any file, organize it in sophisticated ways through file naming and subfolders, and therefore add much more context to your chats.
According to Anthropic's engineering team, proper file organization directly impacts the effectiveness of AI agents: "Folder hierarchies, naming conventions, and timestamps all provide important signals that help both humans and agents understand how and when to utilize information."
When you give a file a descriptive name like q4-content-audit-findings.md and place it in a well-organized folder structure, you're providing Claude Code with valuable metadata that helps it instantly understand the purpose and context of that information.
Small detail, big time-saver: no more “here's what this file is” explanations for every attachment.
3. Create Agents for Complex Workflows
Claude Code can create multiple agents that work in parallel with a specific focus. This capability means you can get better results faster. For example:
Agent 1: Scans interview transcripts for quotes on topic X
Agent 2: Scans the same files for topic Y
Agent 3: Synthesizes all quotes into one article
Agent 4: Fact-checks quotes against original transcripts
Because each agent has a dedicated assignment, you get much better results than if you attempt the same task through one convoluted prompt.
(We won't cover agents in detail here. But a quick tip: add "Feel free to use multiple agents for this request" to any prompt, and Claude Code will spin up agents when it helps.)
4. Get-It-Done Is Claude Code's Default Mindset
Under the hood, Claude Code and the chat app run the same models. The difference is configuration and context: the chat app leans toward friendly, guided conversation, while Claude Code prefers direct, get-it-done outputs.
This distinction can make Claude Code feel more immediate and powerful. Not because guardrails are gone, but because there's less conversational scaffolding and fewer app-level limits.
Getting Started: Install Claude Code
Installation takes one command. Open Terminal and paste:
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash
Once finished, type claude to start. You'll be prompted to authenticate with your Claude account in your browser (you only have to do this once).
Mac users who prefer Homebrew can alternatively run brew install --cask claude-code.
Your first prompt
Once you're in Claude Code, try this to see its file-reading capabilities (and solve a problem we all have!):
analyze my desktop and downloads folders and suggest how to organize them
⚠️ Heads up: You'll see permission prompts. macOS will ask about folder access, and Claude will confirm before moving files. This keeps you in control.
Your First Content-Based Use Cases
I suggest using a dedicated folder for Claude Code to manage your projects and keep your files organized.
The default folder on macOS for development projects is /Users/{your-username}/Developer, but any folder will do.
For each project you start, create a subfolder in that folder, for example:
/Users/{your-username}/Developer/content-audit-2025
To launch Claude Code in that folder, right-click the folder in Finder, then select "New Terminal at Folder." This opens a terminal that operates in that folder, but can still read from your whole computer (when you say so).
Type claude, hit "return," and you're off.
Use Case 1: Build a Queryable Database From Multiple Sources
Claude Code can read files directly from your computer. This means building a "database" is as simple as dragging files into a folder.
Create a project folder called content-intelligence, then add subfolders to organize by type, like /interviews, /blog-export, /analytics. Drop in whatever you have. Claude Code will figure out what's what based on file names and folder structure.
Start with the basics — interview transcripts, blog exports, customer feedback — then expand to analytics exports, CRM data, social media metrics, and more. Once assembled, you can ask questions that span your entire marketing ecosystem.
Examples of what you can add:
Blog exports and competitor articles: Content for analysis and benchmarking
Channel analytics: Email, social, and web performance data (exports from HubSpot, GA, native platforms)
CRM and sales data: Customer records, lead scoring, deal history
SEO exports: Rankings, backlinks, keyword data from Ahrefs, SEMrush, etc.
Customer feedback: NPS surveys, support tickets, user research
Transcripts: Sales calls, webinars, interviews, internal meetings
Strategy documents: Brand guidelines, ICPs, content strategies
Visual assets: Images, PDFs, presentations
Now your queries can get more interesting. Here are some examples to get your started:
Find trending topics across multiple channels
Which insights from our interviews haven't been used in LinkedIn posts yet?
Map our content library against customer journey stages. Where are we missing content for the consideration phase?
Cross-reference our highest-converting blog posts with objections mentioned in sales call transcripts. Which objections are we addressing well vs. missing entirely?
Compare topics our competitors cover against questions customers ask in support tickets and interviews. Where's the content gap we could own?
⚠️ The larger the volume of data and the number of requests you bundle into one prompt, the higher the chance Claude will make things up. Break complex analyses into smaller, focused requests or use multiple, focused agents.
Use Case 2: Analyze Interview Transcripts Without Limits
Now that you've built your database, start with a familiar task: analyzing transcripts.
ChatGPT and regular Claude can handle multiple transcripts but compress data internally to fit their context limits. You get summaries that look comprehensive but quietly drop nuance. The danger is getting confident-sounding analyses that miss the most valuable insights.
Claude Code's higher token limits and direct file access mean you're analyzing the full content, not whatever fits the context window.
How to Run It
With your transcripts in your database folder (along with context like your ICP), give Claude Code specific instructions:
Analyze all interview transcripts and find the three most valuable insights for our ICP. Explain your selection criteria. Output everything into a markdown file.
This approach scales to any text analysis: customer calls, support tickets, research papers — anything where missing nuance matters.
Example: We used this approach to analyze all interviews from our podcast season on enterprise content marketing and identify the ten most important lessons from the guests we interviewed.
Use Case 3: Audit Your Content Library in Minutes
A content audit usually takes hours of spreadsheet work. Claude Code can surface the same insights in minutes.
First, get your content out of your CMS:
WordPress: Tools → Export → All Content → Download
Webflow: CMS Collection → Export (CSV)
Other CMSs: Look for "Export" in settings. Most have it, and you can always ask ChatGPT or Claude for help.
Alternatively, give Claude Code your sitemap URL (usually yoursite.com/sitemap.xml) and ask it to scrape your blog directly.
How to Run It
Here's an example prompt to start with. Ask Claude Code:
Analyze my content export. Show me: Publishing cadence over the last six months; Author contribution breakdown; Content topics by percentage; Average post length trends; Internal linking opportunities.
Based on these instructions, Claude Code delivers:
Parsed data from posts, authors, dates, categories, and content
Pattern identification and content opportunities
Metrics you won't get directly from most CMS dashboards
Internal linking opportunities
From here, you can drill into any pattern that looks interesting.
Use Case 4: Turn Data Into Interactive Presentations
You've done the analysis. Now it's time to share what you've found with stakeholders, and Claude Code can help with that, too.
Traditional slides struggle with complex analyses: too many findings, too many themes, too much that needs exploration rather than explanation. Claude Code can turn your materials into interactive HTML presentations instead.
How to Run It
Point Claude Code at your analysis files and describe what you want. Here's an example:
Using the content audit and cross-channel analysis in this folder, create an interactive HTML presentation for stakeholders. Include publishing cadence charts, author contributions, and content gaps. Reference the brand style guide in /style for colors and fonts. Propose a structure first, then build it after I approve.
Give as much or as little direction as you want. Claude Code will ask clarifying questions if needed.
The output is a single HTML file you can open in any browser. No software required to view it, easy to share, and fully interactive: clickable tabs, expandable sections, hover states on charts.
Use Case 5: Reverse-Engineer Your Editorial Style Guide
By now you've seen Claude Code find patterns across transcripts, audit content for gaps, and turn raw data into presentations. Here's one more pattern-finding task it handles well: extracting your style from your published work.
Most brands have inconsistent guidelines. Either they don't exist, they're outdated, or they're locked in someone's head. Instead of creating a style guide from scratch, let Claude Code analyze what you've already published and codify the patterns: voice, tone, grammar preferences, formatting standards, content structures.
How to Run It
Point Claude Code at your blog export (the same content you used for the audit in Use Case 3) and give it clear instructions:
Analyze the articles in my blog export and create an editorial style guide. Identify consistent patterns in voice, grammar, formatting, and content structure. Include examples for each pattern you find. Let me triage any conflicting findings.
Claude Code will scan your content, identify recurring patterns, and generate a style guide document. The depth and structure will vary based on how consistent your existing content is, but you'll typically get sections covering voice and tone, grammar preferences, formatting standards, and content patterns — each with real examples pulled from your articles.
For more comprehensive results, expand your prompt with specifics:
Categorize the guide and include at least the following sections: Voice and tone (active vs passive, pronouns), grammar (Oxford comma, capitalization, numbers), punctuation (em dashes, quotation marks), formatting (headings, links, lists), and content patterns (titles, openings, CTAs). Include clear Do/Don't examples and a quick-reference checklist.
If you already have a style guide template or want a specific structure, include it as a reference file in your project folder. Claude Code will analyze your content and populate your template with actual patterns it finds in your writing.
💡 Want a more sophisticated version? Our style guide plugin (see "Install These Workflows as Claude Code Plugins" below) uses dedicated agents for each section — voice, grammar, formatting — that analyze in parallel for deeper, more consistent results.
Essential Slash Commands
Claude Code comes with built-in commands that will save you time. Trigger any of these by typing / followed by the command name:
/help- Lists all available commands/init- Sets up project context by creating a CLAUDE.md file that helps Claude understand your folder structure/clear- Starts a fresh conversation while keeping your project config/compact- Compresses your conversation when approaching context limits/model- Switches between Claude models (Opus for complex tasks, Haiku for quick ones)/resume- Pick up where you left off in a previous session—useful when returning to drafts/cost- See your token usage and estimated costs/config- Adjust Claude Code settings interactively
Create Custom Commands
Once you've mastered the basics, you can let Claude Code handle frequent tasks more efficiently by creating custom commands. Rather than typing out detailed prompts each time, you can trigger complex workflows with a single command.
These commands are simply markdown files stored in the /commands folder (either in Claude's directory or your project folder). Each file contains a prompt template that Claude Code will use when you trigger that command.
For example, you can create a command called /analyze-meeting that contains your perfect meeting analysis prompt. Whenever you type that command, Claude Code runs your pre-written instructions against whatever transcript you're working with.
This approach helps you standardize your workflows while saving significant time on repetitive tasks.
Install These Workflows as Claude Code Plugins
We’ve packaged the above use cases as Claude Code plugins, packaged workflows that add new capabilities to Claude Code with a single install command.
The Claude Code community is building an ecosystem of specialized tools, from DevOps automation to documentation generators to content analysis workflows. We're adding four plugins based on the workflows above:
1. Interactive presentation generator: Turns your data into self-contained HTML presentations with charts, tabs, and your brand styling.
2. Interview transcript analyzer: Analyzes multiple transcripts in parallel, extracting themes and ranking insights based on your ICP.
3. Content library auditor: Goes through your blog exports for insights like publishing trends, author contributions, and topic analysis. Generates both terminal charts and interactive HTML dashboards.
4. Blog style guide creator: Analyzes 15+ articles from your blog to extract consistent patterns and generate a comprehensive editorial style guide.
Getting Started with Plugins
First, add our plugin marketplace to your Claude Code environment with this command:
/plugin marketplace add animalzinc/claude-plugins
Then browse and install any plugin:
/plugin
Once installed, each plugin adds its own commands. For example, after installing the interview transcript analyzer, you can simply type:
/analyze-interviews customer-research ./interviews/
Explore the code, leave feedback, and contribute: github.com/animalzinc/claude-plugins
Nothing's Stopping You Now
Most of us are still working within the constraints of chat interfaces, copying and pasting content, hitting token limits, and manually combining outputs.
Claude Code removes these barriers.
Once you're comfortable with the basics, explore multi-agent workflows, API integrations, and even building simple apps. The Claude Code documentation and Anthropic YouTube channel are great places to expand your skills and get inspiration for your projects.
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This introduction guide to Claude Code originally appeared as a series of LinkedIn posts and was expanded for Tim's Substack We Eat Robots with a personal productivity focus.