Claude Code for Developers: Essentials — Your First Week with Claude Code

The developer starting point for Claude Code: install it from the official quickstart, run a first session in a real project, describe tasks so Claude Code can act on them, give it project memory with CLAUDE.md, choose how much it may do without asking, and review and undo its work with /diff, /rewind and git. Ends with a fix-and-explain lab on a small Python project.

What this course covers

The course runs across 8 topics, each one a short adaptive session rather than a recorded lecture. The tutor explains the idea, works an example, checks understanding, and adjusts the next step to the answer given.

Where Claude Code fits — Claude Code reads your codebase, edits files, runs commands and works with git from the terminal, an IDE, the desktop app or the web. Learners compare it with chat-based coding help and decide which jobs suit each.
Installing and your first session — Follow the official quickstart, open a terminal in a project folder, run claude and sign in through the browser. Learners ask it to explain the project before changing anything.
Describing a task Claude Code can act on — Say what done looks like, name the files, give constraints and how to check the result, and ask for a plan before edits. Learners rewrite vague requests into ones Claude Code can finish and verify.
Project memory with CLAUDE.md — Run /init to create a CLAUDE.md with build and test commands and house rules, edit it with /memory, and see how it changes results across sessions.
Approvals: how much it may do without asking — Compare the mode that asks before every edit or command, the mode that accepts file edits, the mode where a safety check reviews each action, and plan-only. Learners pick a mode per task and add deny rules that keep secrets out of reach in every mode.
Reviewing and undoing work — Work on a git branch, read every change with /diff, and roll back with /rewind or Esc twice. Learners see that /rewind does not track files changed only by shell commands, so git stays the real safety net.
Keeping a session on track — Use /clear between unrelated tasks, /compact for long sessions and /resume to pick work back up, and notice when to start fresh instead of arguing with a confused session.
Final: fix and explain — Add a failing test for a paging bug, make the smallest fix with each step approved and checked in /diff, and explain the root cause in your own words.

Skills you build

Results are measured against named skills in the OneRange taxonomy of more than 10,000 skills, so a manager sees proficiency per skill rather than a completion tick.

Who it is for

Software developers new to Claude Code. The material is pitched at beginner level, and takes roughly 90 minutes at a typical pace. Because every session adapts, someone who already knows a topic moves through it quickly instead of sitting through an explanation they do not need.

It sits in the Tool: Claude track of the Vero AI Catalog, and can be assigned to one person, a team, or the whole company.

How it is delivered and assessed

Delivery is conversational and interactive, including branching scenario, guided lab, code lab exercises. There is no video to sit through and no slide deck to click past.

Understanding is checked with a lab assessment of 5 items, with a pass mark of 70%.

Administrators can copy this course into their own library and adapt it — edit the outline, change the duration, swap the assessment format, or ground it in internal documentation so answers cite the company's own source material.

Also in this track

All Claude training courses →
Claude: Essentials — A practical introduction to getting real work done with Claude. Learners navigate the interface and models, write effective prompts, organize work in Projects, and create documents and apps with Artifacts. By the end they can confidently use Claude for everyday writing, analysis, and research.
Claude for Developers: Essentials — Docs & Onboarding Playbook — A focused playbook for documentation and onboarding with Claude in chat and Projects. Learners use a Project to get an unfamiliar JavaScript module explained with line references, audit an out-of-date README claim by claim, then write a new README, JSDoc comments and a handoff note. They leave with docs where every claim has been checked against the code. About 45 minutes including the final.
Claude: Essentials — Data & Analysis Playbook — A focused playbook for doing data and analysis work in Claude. Learners run real tasks end to end - data cleanup, analysis, charts, and interpretation - and leave with repeatable workflows they can use the same day. About 45 minutes including the final.
Claude Cowork: Essentials — A practical introduction to getting real work done with Claude Cowork. Learners connect folders, set the right permission mode, describe outcomes instead of steps, and produce finished documents, spreadsheets and research from their own files — while learning to review, correct and stay in control.
Claude Code for Everyone: Essentials — Internal Tools Playbook — A focused playbook for building a small internal tool with Claude Code without writing code. Learners pick a sensible first tool, ask for a plan before anything is built, let Claude Code build it on sample data, check every result by hand, and finish with a plain run guide plus a clear sense of when a tool needs an engineer. About 45 minutes including the final.
Claude Code for Developers: Mastery Exam — A Claude Code proficiency check for engineers: scoping a change, reviewing what the model produced, and knowing what to hand over and what to write yourself.
Claude Code for Developers Pathway — Use Claude Code as a daily engineering tool, from your first week to automating engineering for a whole team. Also includes 4 optional playbooks to take any time after Essentials; they don't count toward the certificate.

Frequently asked questions

How long does this course take?

It runs roughly 90 minutes at a typical pace. Because every session adapts, someone who already knows a topic moves through it quickly instead of sitting through an explanation they do not need.

How is it assigned to a team?

An administrator assigns it from the Vero dashboard to one person, a team, a department or the whole company, and sees progress and results per person and per skill.

Can we customise it with our own documents and terminology?

Yes. Administrators can copy this course into their own library and adapt it — edit the outline, change the duration, swap the assessment format, or ground it in internal documentation so answers cite the company's own source material.

Course code TUL-CCODE-DEV-101.