HueLife · Staff Training
Working with Claude Code
What AI is · the common words · why Claude Code
The big picture
What is AI?
Software that learned from millions of examples — instead of following hand-written rules.
It works like a colleague, not a database — smart, fast, and sometimes confidently wrong. You review its work.
Vocabulary
Common words
Model
The brain. Ours is Claude.
Prompt
The ask. Better ask → better work.
Token
Word-chunks. All limits are counted in them.
Context
Its short-term memory — everything in the conversation. It fills up.
Harness
The body around the brain. Ours is Claude Code.
CLI
The text window to your computer. Where Claude Code lives.
Skill
A saved playbook Claude can load and follow.
Parameters
The brain's learned dials — billions of them. More ≈ bigger brain.
More terms → HueLife AI Glossary
Vocabulary
Model — the brain
Different brains, same idea. We use Claude.
Model · continued
Claude comes in sizes
Sonnet
Small · quick
Everyday tasks, fast answers.
Opus
Medium
Harder problems, deeper thinking.
Fable
Large
The hardest work. Newest & most capable.
Switch anytime — type /model
Vocabulary
Prompt — the ask
Weak: "write a social post"
Strong: "write a Facebook post announcing the Sept 18 Communication Strategies class in Duluth — warm tone, one link"
Goal + background + what "done" looks like.
Vocabulary
Token — the word-chunks
1 token
≈ one short word: "the"
10 tokens
≈ one short sentence: "Our next class starts September 18."
1 photo ≈ 1,000–1,500 tokens
One image "costs" about a couple pages of text.
Everything in — and out — is counted in tokens.
Vocabulary
Context — the short-term memory
Everything in the conversation lives in a window — and the window fills up.
Long chats get forgetful. Start a fresh chat per task.
Claude Code reloads our rules (CLAUDE.md) every time — chat starts from zero.
Vocabulary
Harness — the body
The harness decides what the brain can see (files, tools, our systems)…
…and what it can do (edit, run, publish — with permission).
Chat is a mouth. Claude Code has hands.
Vocabulary
CLI — the text window
Command Line Interface — typing to your computer instead of clicking.
It looks technical. It's just a text box.
Claude types the commands — you read along and approve.
Vocabulary
Skill — the playbook
A saved set of instructions Claude loads for a specific job — our brand rules, our naming, our workflows.
Write it once → everyone's Claude does it the same way.
Type / to use them. Built-ins you'll actually use:
/help/clear/compact/model
/init/review/memory/mcp
/agents/resume/permissions/cost
Vocabulary
Parameters — the dials
Every line between nodes has a strength — that strength is a parameter. A model has billions.
Training sets the dials — using the model never changes them.
More dials ≈ bigger brain — and slower & pricier.
Same brain · three harnesses
Why Claude Code?
| Chat | Desktop | Claude Code |
|---|
| Skills | ✓ | ✓ | ✓✓ |
| MCP connectors | ✓ | ✓ | ✓✓ |
| Runs commands (CLI) | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| CLAUDE.md — our rules | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Our project context | ✗ | △ | ✓ |
| Edits our files | ✗ | △ | ✓ |
Same brain — Claude Code gives it hands.
Our toolkit
Three programs
Claude Desktop
The assistant
Quick questions & drafts.
Claude Code
The agent
Does real, multi-step work.
VS Code
The IDE
Our files + Claude Code in one window — where we see & review its work.
Question → Desktop · Work → Claude Code
Working practices
What is Git?
A save-point system for a folder — every change recorded, every version recoverable.
If Claude (or we) break something → roll it back. Nothing is ever truly lost.
No server needed — even a local-only repo makes AI work fully reversible.
AI moves fast. Git makes fast safe.
Working practices
claude --dangerously-skip-permissions
Why: normally Claude asks before every action — safe, but it interrupts long tasks constantly. This flag lets it work straight through.
The risk: it can run anything without asking — edit, delete, send. The "dangerously" is not a joke.
Our rules: only inside a git project (every change undoable) · never around passwords or live customer data · review the work after.