Your First Win Checklist

A day-by-day plan to get Claude Code running, your brain started, and your first AI employee doing real work · in 7 days.

Don't just read this. Work through it in order. Each day builds on the last.

Day 1 · Get Claude Code running (30 min)

1. Install Claude Code · follow the steps in Claude Code Foundations
2. Create your first project folder
3. Confirm Claude responds in your terminal
4. Type /skills to see every built-in skill already on your machine · try /review on any file

You don't need to understand what's happening under the hood. Follow the steps, and when something breaks, paste the error into Claude.

Day 2 · Start your Brain (45 min)

1. Set up your CLAUDE.md using the starter template in Build Your Second Brain
2. Tell it who you are, what your business does, your stack, your preferences
3. Start the knowledge base · drop in your key processes, clients, and project context

This is the layer every skill reads from automatically. The more you put here, the better everything you build later performs.

Day 3 · Install your first skill from the map (20 min)

1. Open the SkillTree map and pick one job relevant to your work · sales research, client reporting, or invoice processing is a good first one
2. Install that skill into your Claude Code
3. Run it on something real · a prospect, a client, an actual invoice

This is the moment it clicks: an AI employee doing a real job, reading from the brain you just built.

Day 4 · Connect a research tool (45 min)

Pick one and get it running:

• Exa · AI-powered semantic search. Install: claude mcp add exa -- npx -y exa-mcp-server then ask Claude to research any company or topic
• Jina Reader · converts any URL to clean markdown. No install needed · ask Claude: read this page: r.jina.ai/[any-url]
• Firecrawl · scrapes full websites into structured data. Install: claude mcp add firecrawl -- npx -y firecrawl-mcp

Point it at something real · a prospect's site, a competitor, a market you care about. See what Claude does with live data.

Day 5 · Connect your first MCP (20 min)

1. Connect the Notion MCP or Gmail MCP · whichever you use more. MCPs are covered in Claude Code Foundations
2. Ask Claude to read something real from your workspace
3. Ask it to write something back · a draft, a summary, a task

Now Claude isn't just talking. It's reaching into your real tools.

Day 6–7 · Build your first command center (1–2 hours)

1. Open the dashboards in SkillTree and pick the command center most relevant to you · Pipeline, Finance, Content, Outbound, or Ops
2. Read the page before touching anything · understand what it builds
3. Run the build prompt inside your own Claude Code
4. Get it running on real data, even if just a small test batch

That's your first win: Claude Code running, your brain live, an AI employee working, and a command center showing you your own business in real time.