The Workshop

Build
Something

Three guides. Real commands. Working results. Start at the top and work down, or jump to what you need.

Guide 01

Set Up Your AI Agent

We'll set up Claude Code — Anthropic's agentic coding tool. It runs in your terminal, reads your entire codebase, and writes real code. You need Node.js 18+ and an Anthropic API key.

Step 1 — Install Node.js if you don't have it

brew install node

On macOS with Homebrew. For other systems, visit nodejs.org.

Step 2 — Install Claude Code globally

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Step 3 — Set your API key

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-your-key-here

Get your key from console.anthropic.com. Add this to your shell profile (~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc) to persist it.

Step 4 — Run it in a project

cd your-project && claude

That's it. The agent starts, reads your project, and waits for instructions.

Step 5 — Give it a task

"Read the README and summarize what this project does"

Start simple. As you build trust, give it bigger tasks: "Add a dark mode toggle", "Write tests for the auth module", "Refactor this component to use hooks".

The agent learns your codebase as it works. It reads files, checks types, runs tests. It's not generating code in a vacuum — it's working inside your project.

Guide 02

Install & Use Skills

Skills give your agent specialized capabilities. A skill for deployment knows the exact steps. A skill for testing knows the framework conventions. Skills are loaded on demand — they don't bloat your agent when unused.

James walkthrough

Install your first skill

A voiced Remotion walkthrough using James's ElevenLabs clone — one outcome, one skill, one live operator loop.

Step 1 — Understand where skills live

~/.claude/skills/ — Global skills, available in every project

.claude/skills/ — Project-local skills, scoped to this repo

Step 2 — Create a skill file

# ~/.claude/skills/deploy.md

---

name: deploy-to-vercel

description: Deploy the current project to Vercel

---

When asked to deploy, run `npx vercel --prod`.

Confirm the deployment URL with the user.

If it fails, check for build errors first.

Step 3 — Use the skill

/deploy

Type the slash command in Claude Code. The agent loads the skill and follows its instructions. You can also just say "deploy this project" and the skill activates by matching the trigger.

Step 4 — Install community skills

Community skills are markdown files you download and drop into your skills directory. Browse curated collections, copy the file, and the capability is available immediately.

Good skills are specific and opinionated. "Deploy to Vercel" is better than "deploy anywhere". The specificity is what makes the agent reliable.

Guide 03

Connect MCP Servers

MCP servers give your agent access to external tools — databases, APIs, browsers, file systems. Once connected, the agent can use these tools as naturally as reading a file.

Step 1 — Open your Claude Code settings

claude config

Or edit ~/.claude/settings.json directly.

Step 2 — Add an MCP server (example: GitHub)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_TOKEN": "ghp_your_token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Step 3 — Restart Claude Code

Exit and re-launch Claude Code. It discovers MCP servers on startup. You'll see the server's tools listed in the available tools.

Step 4 — Use the tools

"List my open pull requests on this repo"

The agent calls the GitHub MCP server's tools automatically. No special syntax needed — just describe what you want.

Step 5 — Add more servers

Popular MCP servers to add:

filesystem — Read/write files outside the project

postgres — Query and manage databases

supabase — Full Supabase platform access

browserbase — Cloud browser automation

Each MCP server you add expands what your agent can do. Start with one or two and add more as you need them. The configuration is the same pattern every time.