Apr 29, 2026 · Free Guide

Master Claude in One Weekend (The 9-Step Claude Code Playbook)

Most people open claude.ai, type a prompt, copy the answer, close the tab. That's it. That's their entire Claude experience. Meanwhile a small group quietly moved to Claude Code months ago and now have AI running their business while they sleep. This guide is how you join them — over a single weekend.

STEP 01

Get Claude Code

The browser is the kiddie pool. Claude Code is the deep end. Same Claude. Way more power.

Install: Visit claude.com/claude-code, hit install, follow the prompts. It runs in your terminal (Terminal on Mac, PowerShell on Windows). Yes — the terminal. No, you don't need to learn it. Claude does the typing. You just talk to it in plain English.

If you're still using Claude in a browser tab, you're using 5% of what it can do. Skills, plugins, MCPs, scheduled agents, file-aware projects — none of that exists in the browser. The browser is a chatbot. Claude Code is an operating system for AI work.

Cost: Same Pro plan you already pay for ($20/mo). Same Claude. Same login. Just way more capability.

STEP 02

Pick the Real Mode

There are 4 modes. Most people stop at the wrong one.

Chat
Asking what year it is. Skip for real work.
Projects
Simple recurring tasks. Browser-based. Fine for emails.
Cowork
Desktop app. Solo deep work with files.
Claude Code
THE REAL ONE. Skills, plugins, MCPs, automations.

Everyone debates Chat vs Projects on Twitter. The real ones quietly moved to Claude Code months ago and stopped arguing. Live in Claude Code. Treat the others as accessories.

STEP 03

Stop Retyping the Same Prompt

If you type the same setup prompt 10 times a week, you're doing AI backwards.

Fix: Build it once. Save it as a slash command — /email, /script, /post, /onboard. Now you type 6 characters and the full prompt fires.

On Mac: Use System Settings → Keyboard → Text Replacements. Type ;script and your full 400-word prompt appears. I run /script every morning. 0.3 seconds instead of 4 minutes.

Example slash command (.claude/commands/script.md):

You are writing a 60-second Instagram reel script for me, Marc.
Use my voice: direct, no fluff, real talk.
Hook in the first 2 seconds.
End with one specific action the viewer can take today.
Topic: $ARGUMENTS

That's it. Now /script how to use claude writes a full reel script in your voice, every time.

STEP 04

Make It Run Without You

This is the level most people never reach.

Use Managed Agents. Anthropic runs your scheduled task on their servers. Your laptop can be closed. Still working. Still delivering.

I get a Slack message every morning at 7am with my ad spend, revenue, and cost-per-call. Zero clicks. The agent pulls Meta Ads + Stripe data, formats it, drops it in Slack. I wake up and the report is already there.

What to schedule:

  • Daily morning numbers (revenue, ad spend, leads)
  • Weekly client recaps (every Friday at 4pm)
  • Monthly P&L (1st of every month)
  • Daily content ideas pulled from competitor posts

Set it once. Runs forever. Claude isn't a tool anymore — it's a teammate that doesn't sleep.

STEP 05

Add Your First Skill

A skill is a tiny file that teaches Claude exactly how you do something.

I've built skills for: writing scripts in my voice, building carousels, onboarding clients, organizing receipts, scraping competitor reels. Each one is a folder with a SKILL.mdinside. Claude loads them automatically when relevant — you don't trigger them, they fire on their own.

Start with brand-voice. It scrapes your last 25 reels or posts, transcribes them, and builds a voice profile every other skill reads. Your AI stops sounding like every other AI overnight.

Install:

Tell Claude: "install brand-voice for me from https://github.com/tenfoldmarc/brand-voice-skill"

Or manually:

git clone https://github.com/tenfoldmarc/brand-voice-skill ~/.claude/skills/brand-voice

If plugins are toolkits, skills are your personal playbook inside them. One is generic. The other is yours.

STEP 06

Pick One of My Free Skills

The Claude Code plugin store has hundreds. I've also published 20+ free skills on GitHub built specifically for non-technical business owners. All MIT, all free, all battle-tested in my own business. Pick ONE that matches what you actually do every week.

Content Creators
brand-voiceyour voice, locked in
scriptdaily reel scripts in your voice
carousel-suitefull slide decks on demand
repurposeturn one reel into five
hook-intelfind what's actually working
Business Owners
accountingcategorizes receipts + statements
lead-scraperpulls leads from anywhere
cold-outreachdrafts in your voice
landing-pagefull lead magnet system
ghl-pageGoHighLevel users only
Data / Operations
dashboard-buildercustom business dashboards
business-dashboardMRR, clients, pipeline
command-centerdaily ops dashboard
wiki-brainevery chat ingests into a personal wiki

Or grab the whole pack: github.com/tenfoldmarc/ai-builders-free — every free skill in one repo.

Rule:One skill you actually use beats 50 you don't. Master one. Then add the next.

STEP 07

Connect Your Tools With MCPs

This is where Claude stops being a smart stranger and becomes your COO.

MCPs (Model Context Protocol servers) let Claude Code reach into your real apps — Slack, Gmail, Notion, Stripe, Drive, GHL, Apify, anything with an API. One command, real action.

To add one: In Claude Code, run /mcp → pick from the catalog or paste a server URL → done. Claude can now read and write to that tool.

Real example: "Pull last week's Stripe revenue and post it in the #wins Slack channel." Without MCPs, that's a 10-minute copy-paste job. With them, 4 seconds.

My stack:

  • Slack (messaging)
  • Gmail (inbox)
  • Notion (docs)
  • Stripe (revenue)
  • Drive (files)
  • GHL (CRM, every client lives here)

Claude knows my whole business because every tool is wired in. Without MCPs, Claude is a smart stranger. With them, it's your COO.

STEP 08

The Two Files That Run My AI

Two files. More work than 50 prompts combined.

CLAUDE.md — Drop this in your Claude Code project root. Claude reads it at the start of every session. Mine is 200 lines.

What goes in it:

  • Who you are (name, role, business)
  • What you do (services, products)
  • Who you sell to (audience, avatars, pain points)
  • What you're working on this week (current focus)
  • Your tools (CRM, payment, social, automation)
  • Your voice rules (how you talk on camera vs in DMs)

anti-style.md — A list of every phrase Claude must NEVER use. AI tells on itself with these:

  • "delve into"
  • "boundaries"
  • "dive into"
  • "elevate"
  • "navigate the complexities of"
  • "in today's fast-paced world"

Add to it every time you catch Claude using a phrase that makes you cringe. Within a month, your AI sounds like a human you'd actually trust.

Don't dump 30 random docs in. Two great files beat fifty mediocre ones. Be intentional.

STEP 09

Make Claude Work for Everyone

Solo Claude is a tool. Shared Claude Code is your unfair advantage.

I run a publishing business — Tenfold Marketing. Each client gets their own Claude Code folder with their own CLAUDE.md:

  • /Hattie/CLAUDE.md — her voice, her offer, her audience
  • /Misha/CLAUDE.md — different voice, different offer
  • /Armed Scholar/CLAUDE.md — different again

My VA opens the "Hattie" folder. Same brain I have on her account. Same outputs. Zero re-training.I don't have to brief my team — the folder briefs them.

Set up a folder per client/project. Each gets:

  • CLAUDE.md (the brief)
  • voice.md (how they talk)
  • past-wins.md (what's worked)
  • current-offer.md (what they're selling now)

That's the whole magic. Anyone on your team opens the folder, Claude knows the context, work happens.

All Resources

Claude CodeInstall Claude Code
MCP CatalogOfficial Model Context Protocol directory
brand-voice skillStart here — your voice profile
AI Builders Free packEvery free skill in one repo
FlowtypeVoice-to-text Mac app I built
@tenfoldmarc on InstagramDaily AI breakdowns

The Next Step

Guides show you what. AI Builders shows you how.

Inside the community, I walk through every build live — including the stuff that doesn't make it into guides. Regular people (not developers) figuring out AI together, shipping real projects, asking me anything. No fluff, no theory, just the actual work.

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skool.com/ten-fold