Lesson 1

Why Claude?

Understand why storing knowledge in files beats chat history, how context windows work, and set up your Co-work project.

~15 min Output: Your project folder

Set up and start the lesson

1

Install Claude Desktop

Download from claude.ai/download for Mac or Windows. The browser version at claude.ai does not support Co-work.

2

Install Claude in Chrome

Open this link in Chrome and click Add to Chrome:
Chrome Web Store → Claude

3

Enable the connector

In Claude Desktop: click your initials (bottom left) → SettingsConnectors → find Claude in Chrome → toggle on. Enable it in each new conversation via the Connectors dropdown.

4

Create your folder

Open Finder (Mac) or File Explorer (Windows). Create a new folder called Personal-OS on your Desktop or Documents.

5

Open Claude

In the Claude Desktop app, go to Co-work. Below the “How can I help you today?” prompt, click the folder icon. Select Choose a different folder and navigate to the Personal-OS folder you just created.

6

Paste this prompt

Copy the prompt below and paste it into Claude. Claude will teach you the rest.

Paste this into your AI assistant Use the browser connector to read the lesson file at https://patrickwalther.ch/personal-os/lessons/01-intro-cowork.md and teach me. You're the teacher - go one step at a time and wait for my responses.

Need the lesson file? Download from GitHub

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