The complete Claude Code course, lesson by lesson.
40 lessons · 9 units · 165 quiz questions · about 8 hours. The first 3 lessons are free. Your progress rings fill in as you go.
Claude Code Foundations
What a coding agent is, how the agentic loop works, and your first real session.
2Steer the Work
Scope long sessions, course-correct with rewind, and write prompts Claude nails the first time.
3Configure Claude
A CLAUDE.md Claude actually follows, settings scopes, permission modes, rules and sandboxing.
4Agent Skills
Package expertise and repeatable workflows into skills Claude loads exactly when needed.
5Subagents & Parallel Work
Delegate to isolated specialists, design subagents that report well, and run work in parallel.
6Model Context Protocol (MCP)
Connect Claude to databases, APIs and apps, and build your own MCP server in Python.
7Hooks & Enforcement
Turn 'please don't' into 'can't': deterministic hooks that format, block, notify and verify.
8Automate Repeat Work
Headless runs, scheduled routines, GitHub Actions and the Agent SDK: Claude without the chat window.
9Verify, Secure & Share
Trust unsupervised runs, package your setup as a plugin, stay secure and ship a capstone.
Claude Code Foundations
Start here. You'll learn how Claude Code differs from a chat window, install it, run your first prompts, and pick up the daily workflow that experienced developers use: explore, plan, code, commit. By the end of this unit you'll manage context like a pro and give Claude a memory with CLAUDE.md.
What Is Claude Code?
Meet Claude Code, the agentic coding tool that reads your codebase, edits files and runs commands. Learn how an agent di…FREE9 min+68 XP2How Claude Code Works: The Agentic Loop
Look under the hood of Claude Code: the agentic loop, built-in tools, the context window and permissions, and how they f…FREE11 min+72 XP3Install Claude Code & Run Your First Prompt
Install Claude Code on macOS, Linux or Windows, sign in, and run your first prompts: explore a codebase, make a change a…FREE12 min+74 XP4The Explore → Plan → Code → Commit Workflow
Master the four-phase workflow behind reliable Claude Code sessions: explore the codebase, plan the change, implement wi…ACADEMY12 min+74 XP5Context Management: /context, /compact & /clear
Keep Claude sharp by managing the context window: read /context, steer /compact with focus instructions, and use /clear …ACADEMY10 min+70 XP6Code Review with Claude
Use Claude Code as a reviewer: /code-review on your branch, focused review prompts, a fresh-context second opinion and /…ACADEMY9 min+68 XP7CLAUDE.md: Your Project's Memory
Give Claude persistent memory with CLAUDE.md: where the files live, how they load, what to put in them, /init, imports a…ACADEMY11 min+72 XPSteer the Work
Once you can run a session, the next skill is steering one. This unit covers plan mode in depth, guiding long sessions through compaction and rewind, choosing between hands-on steering and goal-driven runs, managing and resuming sessions, and the prompting principles that matter most.
Plan Mode, In Depth
Use plan mode to scope work before Claude edits anything: entering it, reviewing and editing plans, approval options and…ACADEMY10 min+70 XP9Steering Long Sessions: Compaction, Rewind & Goals
Keep long Claude Code sessions on track: steer compaction, roll back with rewind and checkpoints, and choose hands-on st…ACADEMY12 min+74 XP10Sessions: Name, Resume, Branch & Export
Manage Claude Code sessions like a pro: name them, resume by name, continue from a pull request, branch conversations an…ACADEMY8 min+66 XP11Prompting That Works: Tell Claude What It Can't See
The prompting principles that matter most in Claude Code: share invisible context, give Claude a check, be specific abou…ACADEMY11 min+72 XPConfigure Claude
Make Claude Code yours. You'll write a lean CLAUDE.md that Claude reliably obeys, learn the settings hierarchy, choose the right permission mode for every job, write allow/ask/deny rules, sandbox shell commands, and tune models, effort, output styles and the status line.
A CLAUDE.md That Claude Actually Follows
Write a lean, high-signal CLAUDE.md that Claude reliably follows: what earns a line, path-scoped rules in .claude/rules,…ACADEMY11 min+72 XP13Settings & Scopes: settings.json Explained
Understand Claude Code's settings files: user, project, local and managed scopes, their precedence, and the most useful …ACADEMY10 min+70 XP14Permission Modes: Choosing the Right Autonomy
Learn all six Claude Code permission modes (Manual, acceptEdits, plan, auto, dontAsk, bypassPermissions) and pick the ri…ACADEMY12 min+74 XP15Permission Rules & Sandboxing
Write precise allow, ask and deny permission rules with Claude Code's rule syntax, and use OS-level sandboxing to restri…ACADEMY11 min+72 XP16Models, Effort, Output Styles & the Status Line
Tune how Claude Code thinks and talks: switch models, set effort levels, use fast mode, pick output styles and build a c…ACADEMY9 min+68 XPAgent Skills
Skills are the most flexible way to extend Claude Code. In this unit you'll learn what skills are and how they load, build your first SKILL.md, add arguments, scripts and supporting files, decide when a skill beats CLAUDE.md, hooks or subagents, and then share and troubleshoot skills across a team.
What Are Skills?
Understand Agent Skills in Claude Code: folders with a SKILL.md that load on demand, how they're discovered and invoked,…ACADEMY9 min+68 XP18Create Your First Skill
Build a working Claude Code skill step by step: SKILL.md frontmatter, a description that triggers reliably, $ARGUMENTS, …ACADEMY12 min+74 XP19Skill Configuration & Multi-File Skills
Level up Claude Code skills: frontmatter options, progressive disclosure with supporting files, bundled scripts, dynamic…ACADEMY12 min+74 XP20Skills vs. CLAUDE.md, Hooks, Subagents & MCP
Choose the right Claude Code extension: when a skill beats CLAUDE.md, rules, hooks, subagents, MCP or plugins, and how t…ACADEMY10 min+70 XP21Sharing & Troubleshooting Skills
Share Claude Code skills with your team through the repo, plugins or managed settings, and fix skills that don't trigger…ACADEMY10 min+70 XPSubagents are isolated workers with their own context window, tools and instructions. You'll learn how delegation works, build custom subagents, design them with focused roles, limited tools and structured reports, and scale out with worktrees, background sessions and batch work.
What Are Subagents?
Learn how Claude Code subagents work: separate context windows, delegation, returned summaries, the built-in Explore and…ACADEMY9 min+68 XP23Creating a Custom Subagent
Create a custom Claude Code subagent: the markdown file format, frontmatter fields (tools, model, skills, permissionMode…ACADEMY11 min+72 XP24Designing Effective Subagents
Design subagents that deliver: single-purpose roles, descriptions that route correctly, least-privilege tools, structure…ACADEMY10 min+70 XP25Parallel Work: Worktrees, Background Agents & /batch
Scale Claude Code with parallel work: git worktrees, background subagents, background sessions, /batch for large changes…ACADEMY11 min+72 XPMCP is the open standard for plugging tools and data into AI apps. You'll learn its architecture and three primitives (tools, resources and prompts), connect servers to Claude Code at the right scope, build and inspect your own Python MCP server, and use resources and prompts from inside a session.
Introducing MCP: Tools, Resources & Prompts
Understand the Model Context Protocol: clients and servers, transports, and the three primitives (tools, resources and p…ACADEMY10 min+70 XP27Connecting MCP Servers to Claude Code
Add MCP servers to Claude Code with claude mcp add: HTTP and stdio transports, local/project/user scopes, .mcp.json, aut…ACADEMY11 min+72 XP28Build Your Own MCP Server in Python
Build a working MCP server with the official Python SDK: define tools with decorators, add resources, test with the MCP …ACADEMY14 min+78 XP29Using MCP Resources & Prompts in a Session
Use MCP resources and prompts inside Claude Code: @-mention resources, run MCP prompts as slash commands, and control MC…ACADEMY8 min+66 XPHooks & Enforcement
Instructions are requests. Hooks are guarantees. You'll learn the hook lifecycle and configuration, exit codes and JSON decisions, build the classic recipes (auto-format, protected files, notifications), and finish with verification hooks that won't let Claude stop until the tests really pass.
Hooks Fundamentals
Learn Claude Code hooks: lifecycle events like PreToolUse and Stop, the settings.json structure, matchers, stdin JSON in…ACADEMY12 min+74 XP31Hook Recipes: Format, Protect & Notify
Build the essential Claude Code hooks: auto-format after edits, block edits to protected files, desktop notifications an…ACADEMY12 min+74 XP32Verification Hooks: Gate Turns on Real Results
Make Claude Code prove its work: Stop hooks that block until tests and typechecks pass, prompt-based checks and safe pat…ACADEMY11 min+72 XPAutomate Repeat Work
Take Claude Code beyond the interactive terminal. You'll script it with claude -p, schedule recurring work with /loop and cloud routines, wire it into pull requests with GitHub Actions and managed Code Review, and build your own agents with the Claude Agent SDK.
Headless Mode: Scripting Claude with -p
Run Claude Code non-interactively with claude -p: piping input, JSON and streaming output, allowed tools, permission mod…ACADEMY12 min+74 XP34Scheduled Tasks: /loop & Cloud Routines
Schedule recurring Claude Code work: /loop for in-session repetition, cloud scheduled tasks (routines) and desktop sched…ACADEMY10 min+70 XP35GitHub Actions & Automated Code Review
Bring Claude Code into pull requests: install the GitHub app, configure claude-code-action, respond to @claude mentions …ACADEMY12 min+74 XP36Build Agents with the Claude Agent SDK
Use the Claude Agent SDK in Python or TypeScript to build your own agents on Claude Code's engine: query(), options, too…ACADEMY12 min+74 XPThen: the final exam 🏆
25 questions drawn from across the course. Score 20 or more to pass and unlock your certificate.
About the exam