How to Set Up Your Claude Environment
A 90-minute hands-on workshop for Claude users who are still typing into a single chat window while Cowork and Terminal sit unopened. You'll set up both, live: Cowork for running collaborative, multi-step work across your actual files, and Terminal for the direct control developers and power users want. You'll leave with a properly configured environment and a clear sense of when to reach for which.
This session is part of the Claude 100, Foundations track. No prior AI experience required.
Who it's for
Claude subscribers who have gotten comfortable with chat and hit its ceiling. The ones re-uploading the same rent roll every session, copying output into documents by hand, and wondering why the assistant can't see the folder it just wrote about. The Cowork half assumes no technical background at all. The Terminal half assumes willingness, not experience.
The case sponsor
Meet Marcus, a principal at a three-person value-add multifamily shop in Dallas, TX. He pays for Claude every month, opens it every day, and still pastes documents into a chat box one at a time, re-explaining his fund and his model each session. By the end of this workshop his deal folder, his inbox, and his underwriting model all sit inside the environment where Claude actually works.
What you'll build
First, the Cowork setup. We'll install and configure the desktop app, point it at a real working folder so Claude reads and writes files directly instead of taking uploads, connect the tools the work already lives in, install the skills and plugins that match the job, tune permissions so a task can run to completion without a confirmation at every step, and give Claude persistent memory so it stops relearning the firm's context every morning. Then we'll run one multi-step task end to end and watch it produce actual files rather than a wall of chat text.
Second, the Terminal setup. We'll get Claude Code installed and authenticated, walk through what the permission modes actually do and which one to work in day to day, put a project instructions file in place so Claude arrives with your context already loaded, and run a comparable task from the command line. We'll close on the decision rule: which surface handles which kind of work, and the specific signals that tell you you're in the wrong one.
You'll leave with
A configured Cowork workspace pointed at your real working folder, with your tools connected and permissions set
Claude Code installed, authenticated, and running in your terminal
A project instructions file that hands Claude your firm's context on every single run
A skills and plugins setup matched to the work you actually do, rather than the default install
A decision rule for Cowork versus Terminal, plus a short list of starter tasks to run Monday morning
Format & access
One live session 90 minutes, Friday, November 13, 12:00-1:30pm ET.
Hands-on setup Live configuration of both surfaces. Bring a laptop and your Claude login; you'll be building the environment as we go, not watching someone else's screen.
Materials within one week Full session recording, presentation deck, the setup checklist for both Cowork and Terminal, a starter project instructions file you can adapt to your firm, connector and permission configuration notes, and the Cowork versus Terminal decision guide.
Ongoing access Your recording, slides, and materials stay in your Thesis Driven account, ready whenever you need them.
Frequently asked questions
Will participants receive a copy of the materials?
Yes. All registered participants get access in their Thesis Driven account. Recordings, slides, setup checklists, and the starter configuration files appear there within one week of the workshop ending.
I can't make this time, will a recording be available?
Yes. All registered participants get the recording and materials in their Thesis Driven account, even if they cannot attend live.
Do I need a Claude account to participate?
Yes, and it should be a paid plan. This is a setup session, so following along in your own account is the point rather than a bonus. Come with your login ready and a laptop you can install software on.
Do I need to know how to code for the Terminal half?
No. Terminal is the surface developers prefer, but nothing in this session requires writing code. If you can follow a setup checklist, you can complete it. We'll cover the handful of commands that matter and skip the rest.
I already use Claude every day. Is this too basic?
If you have already configured a working folder, connected your tools, written a project instructions file, and installed Claude Code, then yes, skip it. If any of those is new, the session pays for itself in the first week. Most heavy chat users have never touched the layer this workshop sets up.