Move From Claude Chat to Cowork and Code

Claude: Beginner to Pro

The complete setup cheat sheet. Everything from the video on two pages.

The 3 Levels

• Level 1: Chat. You type, Claude responds. You do all the work.
• Level 2: Cowork. Your assistant. Handles daily tasks on your desktop.
• Level 3: Claude Code. Your engineer. Builds tools, systems, automations.

Your Project Folder

Every project gets its own folder. Claude reads these files for context.

/Your-Project/
INSTRUCTIONS.md <- Employee handbook
MEMORY.md <- Long-term brain (the hack)
CONTEXT-strategy.md <- Reference docs for the job
/outputs/ <- Where work goes

INSTRUCTIONS.md

This is your agent's employee handbook. Five sections:

• Who you are: One line. "You are my [role] for [project]."
• What you do: List the actual tasks. Be specific, not vague.
• Rules: Tone, fact-checking, when to ask questions vs guess.
• Good output: Describe ideal output. Length, format, style.
• Memory rule: "Read MEMORY.md at start. Update it at end."

Template (copy this):

# INSTRUCTIONS
## Who You Are
You are my [role] for [project/company].
## What You Do
- [Specific task 1]
- [Specific task 2]
- [Specific task 3]
## Rules
- Match my tone: [describe your voice]
- Never invent stats - flag anything needing a source
- If unclear, ask ONE question before starting
- When you learn something new, add it to MEMORY.md
## What Good Output Looks Like
- [Your format/length/style preferences]
## Memory
Start of every session: read MEMORY.md
End of every session: update MEMORY.md with new learnings

The Memory Hack

Claude doesn't remember between sessions. MEMORY.md fixes that.

• Add this to your INSTRUCTIONS.md: "Read MEMORY.md at the start of every session.

Cheat Sheet - Page 2

AI Edge

MEMORY.md Template

# MEMORY
## Preferences
- [Format preferences, tone, tools, length]
## Corrections
- [Mistakes Claude made + what the right answer was]
## Patterns
- [Recurring tasks, common workflows, frequent requests]
## Decisions
- [Choices made together that shouldn't be revisited]
Don't edit this manually. Let Claude maintain it. It grows every session.

Context Files - What to Include

Only include docs relevant to the agent's job. Name them clearly.

• Content creator: Content strategy, brand voice, past scripts
• Business owner: Company overview, SOPs, product docs
• Freelancer: Client briefs, portfolio summary, rate card
• Developer: Architecture docs, coding standards, API specs Think: what would I hand a new employee on their first day?

The Pro Loop

This is how Cowork and Claude Code work together:

1. Give Cowork a real task from your daily work.
2. Notice when you keep giving the same type of task.
3. That's your signal. Go to Claude Code.
4. Code builds a system that automates that task permanently.
5. Cowork's job shifts - it reviews instead of creates.
6. Repeat. Every loop = less manual work.

The Compounding Timeline

• Week 1: You're handing off individual tasks.
• Week 4: You've built systems that handle whole categories of work.
• Week 8: The agents are compounding while you sleep.

20-Minute Quick Start

[ ] Create your project folder. [ ] Write INSTRUCTIONS.md using the template on page 1. [ ] Create MEMORY.md with the four sections (preferences, corrections, patterns, decisions). [ ] Add one or two context files relevant to your work. [ ] Open Cowork and give it a real task. Not a test - something you'd actually do today.