The agent ecosystem course
  • 0Before you start
  • 1Claude Code
  • 2The mental model
  • 3Map your ecosystem
  • 4The brief
  • 5The connectors
  • 6The runbooks
  • 7Working hours
  • 8The ecosystem
  • 9The backup
  • 10Sharing skills

The stages

  • 0Before you start
    • 0.01A Claude account
    • 0.02Claude Code in VS Code
    • 0.03Context, and saying it out loud
    • 0.04CRIT, for setting something up from scratch
  • 1Claude Code
  • 2The mental model
  • 3Map your ecosystem
  • 4The brief
  • 5The connectors
  • 6The runbooks
  • 7Working hours
  • 8The ecosystem
  • 9The backup
  • 10Sharing skills
BACK TO THE COURSE

Pre-work

Before you start

Four things to sort before you start.

0.02

Claude Code in VS Code

  1. 1

    Install VS Code

    Download it from code.visualstudio.com and open it. It is free, and everything on this course happens inside it.

  2. 2

    Add Claude Code inside it

    • Click the Extensions icon on the far-left strip, the one that looks like four blocks.
    • Search for Claude Code and install it, and a Claude logo appears in that strip.
    • Click the logo and sign in with the account your plan is on.
  3. 3

    Make a folder called ecosystem and open it

    • Use File, then Open Folder, and make a plain new folder called ‘ecosystem’, somewhere like Documents or on the Desktop.
    • Leave it empty and open it, and if it asks whether you trust the files, click Trust everything.

    Note: Keep the folder out of iCloud Drive, OneDrive and Dropbox, because those services copy and lock files in the background and you will end up with conflicted copies and half-written ones.

  4. 4

    Check it worked

    • Your folder name shows down the left of VS Code.
    • The Claude panel is open beside it.
    • Typing hello into that panel gets an answer back.

The agent ecosystem course

Claude Code in VS Code

This is part 0.02 of the course. Start it free and it opens straight away, with no password.

A few quick questions come next. You will also get my Thursday newsletter, and you can unsubscribe from it without losing the course. How your details are kept is in the privacy policy.

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