The Complete AI Workshop

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PART 0 · YOUR FIRST STEPS

Open your first account

What you'll be able to do
Create your Claude account and land on the start screen, ready to write your first message.
A person pushes open a large, half-open door with warm light pouring out, hinting at a workshop behind it.
Two minutes to open the door. The whole rest of the handbook happens on the other side.

In 2 minutes

Before you can use the tool, you need an account. Creating one is free and takes two minutes: you can do this whole chapter and the next without spending anything.

Just keep in mind what we saw in chapter 0.0: the free plan is enough for chatting, but you'll need a paid plan for Claude Design and Claude Code, in Parts III and IV. There's no rush; you'll decide when the time comes.

Let's do it together

  1. Open your browser and go to claude.ai.
  2. Click the button to create an account. You can use an email address or an existing Google account, whichever you prefer. The Google account is the simplest option: nothing extra to remember.
  3. Confirm your address. If you chose email, a confirmation message will arrive; open it and click the link. Remember to check your spam folder if it takes a while.
  4. Sign in. You land on the home screen, and it is deliberately empty.
  5. Take thirty seconds to look around. Two things to spot, and only two: the message box, the large field where you write, and the conversation history, along the side, which will fill up as you go. Everything else you can ignore for now.
Claude's home screen once signed in: the message box in the centre, the conversation history on the left (titles hidden).
This is your starting point. The message box is here.
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Note
Interfaces move around: a button can change place or colour from one update to the next. What you're looking for doesn't change, though: a place to write, and a list of your conversations. If you can find those two things, you're in the right place.
Your turn

Create your account now, and stop at the home screen without writing anything. Resist the urge to try it out: we'll do it together in the next chapter, and you'll get more out of it that way.

Pitfalls to avoid
  • Using an address you rarely check. You risk missing the confirmation email, and that's the kind of detail that makes people give up on day one.
  • Losing heart at the empty screen. It's empty on purpose. We'll fill it in two minutes.
Key takeaways
  • The account is free to create and takes two minutes.
  • Two landmarks on the home screen: the message box and the history.
  • A paid plan only becomes necessary from Part III onwards.
← AI in 2 minutes, no jargonYour first conversation with Claude →

The rest of the handbook covers Claude, Higgsfield, Claude Design and Claude Code, with 11 recipes and a 30-day programme.

See the full handbook Open in the reader