An OP Claude setup = VS Code + Terminal.

One layer deeper.

You've used Claude or ChatGPT in the browser. You know the value is real. You want to get more efficient and you've heard people talk about working with AI in the terminal — but you have no idea what that means or how to start.

This video is the on-ramp. If you haven't started using AI yet at all, watch a different video first and come back to this one.

In six minutes.

• 01
  Set up VS Code without the noise. Strip the sidebar down to source control, search, and explorer. Hide the rest. Make it feel simple.
• 02
  Open the integrated terminal in the right place. Tal's specific layout — split it horizontally, plant it in the middle, keep the file tree visible. (You'll see why in the next video.)
• 03
  Run claude from the terminal. What it sees by default (everything in this folder) and how to exit (Ctrl-C, not Backspace, not Escape).
• 04
  Create a CLAUDE.md file. One file the model reads before doing anything. Put your standing instructions there. Tal demonstrates by making Claude refuse to speak English.
• 05
  Why this matters. Words are the configuration. Once you can write down what you want — clearly, in a file — the model becomes consistent. Vocabulary is leverage.