Step-by-step guide · Starter Kit 1.0.4
Chat AI answers questions. In Cowork, Claude can also use the files and tools you choose, so it can help with a task—not just talk about it. That is a simple way to think about an AI agent.
Think of Claude as a smart new assistant that does not know your work yet. The Starter Kit gives it clear instructions for one small job; it does not give Claude extra access or permission. You choose what it can use and how closely it checks with you. Read the guide for free; enter your email only to download the folder.
Quick Start
Before you download
If you do not have Claude yet, install the Claude app and sign in. Look for a Cowork button. If you cannot see it, stop here and ask official Claude support to check your subscription.
Select Get the Starter Kit below. If this is your first time, enter your name and email once. The ZIP file should appear right away.
Your browser shows Sidekick_Starter_Kit_v1.0.4.zip in its downloads list.
If it fails: Open your browser's downloads list, or use the button in this step again.
On a Mac, double-click the ZIP. On Windows, right-click it and choose Extract All. This makes a normal folder you can use. Safari may make the normal folder for you.
One folder named Sidekick_Starter_Kit appears.
If it fails: On a Mac, double-click the ZIP. On Windows, right-click it and choose Extract All. If you see two folders with the same name, use the inner one that contains 00_START_HERE.md.
Documents is the easiest place for most people. Move the normal Sidekick_Starter_Kit folder there, then open it once.
The folder opens normally and 00_START_HERE.md and CLAUDE.md are directly inside it.
If it fails: Do not use the folder while it is still inside the ZIP. If cloud storage feels confusing, use Documents on this computer and continue.
That can work if the desktop app puts the folder in Finder or File Explorer and keeps it available on this computer. A folder that exists only on a website is not enough.
If any of this feels unfamiliar, use Documents on one computer for now.
Open Claude and choose Cowork. Start a new task. In the chat bar, select Work in a folder, then choose only the normal Sidekick_Starter_Kit folder.
Cowork shows the Sidekick_Starter_Kit folder and no other folder.
If it fails: Remove the wrong folder. Then choose the folder that directly contains 00_START_HERE.md and CLAUDE.md.
Choose Manually approve for your first task. This matches the instructions inside the 1.0.4 folder, and Claude will pause before actions while you learn. If those pauses feel like too much for this simple, low-risk task, Automatically approve is also reasonable: Claude checks each action for safety and stops or asks when needed.
Manually approve or Automatically approve is selected. Skip all approvals is not selected.
If it fails: Use Manually approve for sensitive files, a new tool or website, messages, purchases, or anything hard to undo. Never use Skip all approvals for your first tasks.
Manually approve: best while learning, or whenever the work is sensitive, unfamiliar, or hard to undo.
Automatically approve: fewer pauses. Claude still screens each action and blocks or asks when it detects a risk. No safety system is perfect, so stay nearby and check the result.
Skip all approvals: not recommended for a first-time user.
Copy the read-only check below into Claude. It asks Claude to name three files without changing anything.
Claude says it can see all three named files and changed nothing.
If it fails: Choose the Starter Kit folder again and repeat the exact check. Do not give Claude access to more folders.
Use the meeting-notes example below, describe one real task, or use the pretend practice notes included in the kit.
Claude starts by showing the work in the chat. It does not save anything yet.
If it fails: Try safe meeting notes, use the pretend practice notes, or ask Claude to help you choose a first task.
You can download the same folder again after you register.
First, copy this sentence into Claude and send it:
Confirm you can see `00_START_HERE.md`, `CLAUDE.md`, and `Practice/Fictional_Meeting_Notes.md`. Do not edit anything.When Claude confirms it can see the files, copy this exact example:
Start my onboarding. I want to turn my meeting notes into a clear list of decisions and next steps.For a different job, copy the sentence below and replace the words in brackets with what you want Claude to help you do:
Start my onboarding. I want to [describe one real task].“Start my onboarding” tells the kit to guide you step by step.
Official Claude help
The written Quick Start above is enough. If watching is easier, Anthropic's five-minute video shows Cowork, folder access, and a first task.
The video opens on Anthropic's site. It is optional, never autoplayed here, and does not replace the written steps.
Your first task
Claude turns messy notes into decisions, promises, next steps, and a follow-up marked DRAFT - NOT SENT.
Claude makes a one-page note with the background, what you want, open questions, and anything to watch for.
Claude helps you choose one main result, put tasks in order, and name the next thing to do.
Wrap up when you are finished.Wrap up does not give Claude permission to send, publish, buy, delete, change an account, or do anything else.
Start my onboarding. Process `Practice/Fictional_Meeting_Notes.md` as a fictional practice run.The kit includes pretend meeting notes. Everything Claude makes from them must say PRACTICE. Nothing is sent and no real work is changed.
After two useful tasks
If the Starter Kit helped you twice, you can keep using it exactly as it is. You do not need a Project, plugin, connected app, or schedule to get value from it.
Safe settings
| Stage | Setting | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Start here | Folder | Let Claude see only Sidekick_Starter_Kit |
| Start here | Approval setting | Begin with Manually approve; Automatically approve is reasonable for a simple, low-risk Starter Kit task if you want fewer pauses |
| Start here | Where to keep it | Keep one regular folder in Documents |
| Start here | Claude app | Use the current Claude app on the computer holding the folder |
| Maybe later | Cowork Project | After the kit helps twice, you may create a Project that uses this same folder |
| Maybe later | Synced storage | Use OneDrive or Google Drive for desktop only when the folder is available on the computer and backed up |
| Maybe later | More folders or connected apps | Add one only when a task truly needs it |
| Maybe later | Scheduled tasks | Wait until you can do and check the task yourself |
| Not yet | Broad access or automatic actions | Do not connect whole drives or let Claude send, buy, delete, or change accounts on its own |
| Not yet | Skip all approvals | Do not use this for your first tasks; it removes both approval pauses and Auto mode's action screening |
| Not yet | Private information | Do not start with passwords, payment details, or private work you do not have permission to share |
Start and stop your work
Start my sessionUse this when you come back later. Claude reads the notes you chose to save, then tells you what was happening and what you could do next. Pretend examples must never appear as real work. After a practice run, Claude must label everything PRACTICE and say that no real work was saved.
Wrap upUse this when you are done. Claude may update only the Starter Kit files you already reviewed and approved. It then tells you exactly which files changed.
Reference/Current_State.md holds your current priorities. Reference/Action_Items.md holds things you promised to do. Each client stays in a separate file. These files are the record you can open and check. If you later use a Cowork Project, Claude can also keep Project memory between sessions; treat that as helpful context, not your only record. A Project never gives Claude permission to act outside the access you choose.
Troubleshooting
I'm stuck. Tell me which setup step failed, what you can see, and the next small thing I can try without changing anything.Open your browser's downloads list. Look for Sidekick_Starter_Kit_v1.0.4.zip, then use Download again if needed.
You may still be looking inside the ZIP. Open or extract the ZIP first, then use the normal Sidekick_Starter_Kit folder.
Open the inner folder. Use the one that directly contains 00_START_HERE.md and CLAUDE.md.
Stop the task, remove that folder, choose only Sidekick_Starter_Kit, and repeat the three-file check.
Do not approve it. Ask Claude what it needs and why. Make the task or folder access smaller.
Stop. Tell Claude the example is only practice, then ask it to start again using only information you confirm is real.
Tell Claude the one biggest thing it missed. Give one good example if you can, then ask it to try again.
Stop the task. Ask Claude to list every file or system it opened or changed. Do not approve more changes.
Stop using the kit on both computers. Make a dated copy, move one folder, then let Claude use it on the new computer.
Stop using the kit on every computer. Keep all copies, make a dated ZIP backup of the most complete folder, and wait for sync to finish before choosing one copy to continue with.
Keep the old folder. Open the new version separately. Make a backup, and never replace your only working copy.
Safety and recovery
If something goes wrong: stop the task. Ask Claude what it opened and changed. Remove any access you did not expect. Keep all copies until you know which one is correct.
Your first week
Finish one simple job. Check where the result was saved, then say Wrap up.
Come back and say Start my session. Try the same kind of task again or fix the first thing that confused you.
Ask: Did this save time? Did Claude use my correction? Did I know how to get help? If yes, read what to add after two useful tasks. Add nothing if the folder already does enough.
File details
Sidekick_Starter_Kit_v1.0.4.zipa849c581b5e90ce3fbd9cb63cdd92295ea4d72fa6d072f61cc7c24002251f72cSidekick_Starter_Kit folderGet help
First, copy this into Claude: I'm stuck. Tell me which setup step failed, what you can see, and the next small thing I can try without changing anything.
Prefer a person? Chase Bernier created the Starter Kit. Email chase@sidekickorchestration.ai or book a call. You do not need to know the technical words first.