TRAINING SESSION · GETTING STARTED

Put your plan to work

A step-by-step guide to setting up Claude Code and turning the Builder DNA Plan from a document you read into a system you use every day.

For Michael Read, MD With Adam Lopez Delon 60 to 90 minutes
Part A

The program

What this session is, what to have ready, and what you will be able to do at the end of it.

What this is

One session, you and Adam, screen-sharing. By the end you will have Claude Code running on your computer, your Builder DNA Plan loaded in, and your first real task done. Around 60 to 90 minutes.

What to have ready

A laptop you can install software on. The Builder DNA Plan open in another tab. One real V2E task in mind, something small you would normally do yourself, like a follow-up to a builder who has gone quiet.

What you can do after

Ask your plan questions and get straight answers. Draft content, emails and briefs in V2E's voice. Brief your team from one shared source. Keep building from there.

You do not need to be technical for any of this. Adam is on the call for every step. This page is your reference, before, during and after.
Part B

The tutorial

Nine steps, in order. Follow along on the call, or come back to any step later.

1

What Claude Code is

Claude Code is an AI assistant that works from your own files, on your own computer.

Most AI tools are a chat box that forgets everything the moment you close it. Claude Code is different. You point it at a folder of your documents, and it reads them, works with them, and helps you get things done. Your plan, your notes, your voice. It works from what is actually yours.

2

What a Context Core is

A Context Core is just a folder of plain documents your AI reads. Think of it as a shared folder for your business knowledge.

Your Builder DNA Plan goes in it. Later, so do your builder notes, your meeting summaries, your voice. Everything in one place, so the AI always has the full picture.

You do not need to remember the term. You just need a folder. We have already built yours.

3

Install Claude Code

This is the one-time setup, about 20 minutes. Adam is on the call for every line, but every instruction is written out here too, so you can re-do it later or hand it to someone on your team.

You will work in the terminal. Do not let the word put you off. It is just a plain text window where you type instructions instead of clicking buttons. It is already on your computer.

You do not need Git or GitHub today. That comes later, only when you share with your team (Step 8). Today is three things: a terminal, Node.js, and Claude Code.
3.1

Open your terminal

Windows

Press Windows + R, type cmd, press Enter.

Mac

Press Cmd + Space, type Terminal, press Enter.

3.2

Install Node.js

Node.js is free software that Claude Code runs on. You install it once.

Windows & Mac

Go to nodejs.org. Click the green LTS button. Run the downloaded installer and keep every default setting, just click through to Finish.

Now close your terminal and open it again. This matters, the terminal only sees new software after a restart. Then type this and press Enter:

node --version
If you see something like v20.10.0, Node.js is installed.
3.3

Install Claude Code

One command. In your terminal, type this and press Enter:

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

It takes a minute or two. On a Mac, if it says permission denied, run the same line with sudo in front, then enter your computer password:

sudo npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
3.4

Sign in and check it works

Type claude and press Enter. The first time, it asks you to sign in. Choose browser login. It opens your browser, you log in with your Anthropic account, and you are done.

No Anthropic account yet? Adam sets that up with you on the call. It takes two minutes.
You will know it worked when typing claude opens Claude Code and it waits for you to type something.
4

Set up your folder and load your plan

Now you make one permanent home for your work, and put your Builder DNA Plan inside it. You create the folder, then Claude Code loads the plan in for you.

4.1

Create your permanent folder

With Adam, create the folder that holds all your work. In your terminal, type this and press Enter:

mkdir ~/michael-read-ops

That makes one permanent, easy-to-find home. The ~ is shorthand for your home folder. Everything you do with Claude Code lives in here from now on.

4.2

Download your plan

Download your Builder DNA Plan, packaged ready to load. It saves to your Downloads folder. You do not need to unzip it yourself, the next step does that for you.

michael-read-ops.zip

Your Builder DNA Plan, split into 19 sections.

Download your plan
4.3

Let Claude Code load it in

Go into your new folder and start Claude Code. In the terminal, type these two lines, pressing Enter after each:

cd ~/michael-read-ops
claude

Claude Code starts up. Now paste this in:

Paste this into Claude Code
My operations folder is at ~/michael-read-ops and I'm working inside it now. I've downloaded a file called michael-read-ops.zip into my Downloads folder. Please unzip it and load all the files into this folder. When it's done, show me the folder structure so I can see my Builder DNA Plan is in there.

Claude Code unzips your plan and loads it into the folder. This is your first prompt, and it is already doing real work for you.

You will know it worked when Claude Code shows a context-core folder with your 19 Builder DNA Plan sections inside. That is your Context Core, live.
5

Create your two shortcuts

Right now, getting into your folder means typing that cd line every time. Let us fix that. Claude Code can set up shortcuts for you.

A shortcut, or 'alias', is a short word that runs a longer command. You are still in Claude Code from the last step, so just paste this in:

Paste this into Claude Code
I want two shortcuts so I can get back into my work folder fast. Add an alias called mroc that goes into my michael-read-ops folder and starts you, and mror that does the same but resumes my last conversation. Put them in my shell config, then tell me the one command to reload it so they work straight away.

From now on, you type mroc to open your folder and start working, or mror to pick up where you left off. Two letters of difference: c for a fresh start, r to resume.

6

Build your CLAUDE.md

Your folder has a file called CLAUDE.md. This is the briefing Claude Code reads first, every single time.

It tells the AI who you are, what V2E does, and how you like things written. Set it once, and every conversation already knows your business. You never re-explain yourself.

Yours has a starting version already. Let us make it properly yours. Paste this in:

Paste this into Claude Code
I want you to understand my business so you can help properly. Interview me. Ask about Vision 2 Estimating, my customers, what I'm trying to achieve, and how I like things written. One question at a time. When you've got enough, update the CLAUDE.md file in this folder and walk me through what each part does.

Claude Code interviews you, one question at a time. Answer in your own words, the way you would talk to a new hire. When it is done, your CLAUDE.md knows your business, and so does every conversation after it.

7

Your first real task

This is the part that matters. From now on, you get into your folder by typing mroc in the terminal. Do that, then pick the real task you brought to the session. Type it in plain English, the way you would ask a capable assistant. For example:

  • 'Draft a follow-up to a builder who has gone quiet.'
  • 'Write a LinkedIn post about margin leakage on custom builds.'
  • 'Summarise this builder meeting and tell me the next move.'

Watch what happens. Claude Code reads your plan, reads your CLAUDE.md, and does the work in V2E's voice. Not generic AI. Your strategy, your archetypes, your words.

This is the moment. When the first draft comes back sounding like V2E and built on your actual plan, you have seen what the rest of this is about.
8

When you are ready to share with your team

Everything so far lives on your computer alone. That is the right place to start.

When you want your team working from the same folder, there is one more step: turning it into a shared folder the team can Save, Share and Sync. Your folder is already set up for it. One action in a free app called GitHub Desktop does it.

This is not part of today. It is here so you know the path exists when you want it.
9

Where this goes

Today is one person, one session, one folder. The same approach scales to your whole team: everyone working from the same knowledge, in V2E's voice, shipping faster than they could before.

That is the cohort. Once you have felt this work for yourself, that conversation makes a lot more sense. No need to decide anything now. Get your hands on it first.