Stage 2 · Beginner
Wire it into your world.
Stage 1 got Claude working on a file you handed it. Now connect it to where your work actually lives — and learn the habits that keep the answers good and the cost controlled.
The 70 minutes
Short, practical, and back to work.
01Recap
02The vocabulary
03Connectors
04Projects & habits
05What it costs
No new skills today. This is the easy one: settings, connections, and three habits.
Last time — a quick recap
What lesson one gave you.
1 · You set Claude upA Claude folder, a Cowork project, the setup pack dropped in and run once.
2 · The document-to-deliverable loopHand Claude a real file → use the right skill → check, refine, deliver.
3 · Your five skillsdocument-review, meeting-minutes, mom-priority-distiller, executive-summary-report, email-drafter.
4 · You picked your three tasksThe repetitive, low-value, annoying jobs — the first to hand over.
5 · The habitsThe small routines that keep the work sharp and the cost down.
Talk it through: Claude knows your firm, your toolkit's loaded, and the loop is yours. Stage two plugs it into where your work actually lives.
PresenterAsk the room: who got set up? Did you pick your three tasks? Any of these give you trouble — anything you couldn't get working?
Glossary sprint · 1 of 2
The words that make it feel technical aren't technical.
PromptWhat you ask Claude to do.
ModelThe Claude brain handling the job.
TokenA small chunk of text Claude reads or writes.
Context windowHow much Claude can hold in mind at once.
ArtifactA document, page, or app built beside the chat.
ProjectA named workspace with its own files and instructions.
MemoryUseful facts Claude keeps for later conversations.
HallucinationA confident answer that is not grounded in fact.
Glossary sprint · 2 of 2
Seven more words, then you're fluent.
ConnectorA live link to an app you already use.
SkillReusable instructions for doing one job well.
PluginA packaged capability you can add to Claude.
MCPModel Context Protocol — the common plug standard that lets any outside app, tool or data source connect to Claude. Every connector you just saw is built on it; MCP is the socket they all fit.
CoworkThe visual workspace for hands-on file work.
CodeThe terminal workspace for building software.
Usage windowThe rolling allowance shared across your work.
Vocabulary is a map, not a test. You only need enough to know where to click and what to ask.
01 / CONNECT
Connectors — Claude reads your real work.
Connectors
Stop pasting. Start connecting.
Turn on Google Drive and Claude can open the actual file. Turn on Gmail and it can find the actual thread. Connect Calendar and it can work from the real week — without another copy-paste.
DriveThe current fileNot yesterday's attachment.
→
GmailThe real threadNot a pasted excerpt.
→
CalendarThe real weekNot a typed list.
You stay in control. Settings → Connectors. Approve each connection, and switch it off when you do not need it.
Google Drive
One toggle, one permission.
Settings → Connectors → Google Drive → Connect. Claude asks Google for permission; you grant access.
Gmail + Calendar
Now it can see your inbox and your week.
Summarise the Gmail thread with the design team and draft a reply. Claude reads the real thread.
Chrome extension
Claude where you already are.
The extension puts Claude beside the browser tab you're using: read this page, pull this table, or draft from this email without leaving it.
1Try the useful version
Read this page. Give me the decision, the evidence, and what I need to do next.
Use it when the page in front of you is the source. Turn it off when it is not part of the job.
Projects & folders
The project remembers so you don't repeat yourself.
A Project keeps its own files, instructions, and history. Point it at a real folder and everything Claude makes has a proper home.
One streamOne ProjectKeep the job together.
→
One homeOne folderKeep outputs findable.
→
One briefPersistent instructionsStop repeating the rules.
The expensive habit
Load it once, not every morning.
Project files are cached. Re-uploading the same BOQ into a fresh chat makes Claude re-read the whole thing and burns allowance for no gain.
Cold chat, every day
Upload again. Re-explain the job. Rebuild the context. Get a weaker answer while it catches up.
Project, once
Store the BOQ once. Ask against the same project all week. Better continuity, less waste.
Quality first: the Project that already knows your BOQ gives a better answer than a cold chat you re-fed.
02 / KEEP IT SHARP
Three habits that keep it good — and cheap.
Context hygiene
One topic, one chat.
1Start fresh for a new job
A long chat buries today's question under yesterday's work.
2Connectors off when unused
Do not drag your inbox into work that never needed it.
3Watch the usage bar
Know when to do the heavy job and when to wait.
Long chats make Claude worse, and you pay more for the worse answer. Fresh chat = a clearer brief, a better answer, and less waste.
The shared window
It's one allowance, not three.
Chat, Cowork, and Code draw from the same rolling allowance: the five-hour window and the weekly cap. Heavy use in one leaves less in the others.
ChatQuestions and thinking
+
CoworkFiles and deliverables
+
CodeSoftware and systems
Switching model does not reset it. Plan the heavy job for when the usage window is fresh.
The slide a director needs
What it actually costs.
Start here · US list price$0Free · chat only
$20Pro · Cowork + Code · $17/yr
Need more? · same account, higher limits$100Max 5× · frequent use
$200Max 20× · daily power use
$20 covers regular use. Lean on it all day and you step up to Max — a choice, not a surprise bill. Cowork and Code are included in Pro, not extra.
Defend the quality first. Cleaner context produces better work. Cost is the second argument.
Plans from claude.com/pricing & support.claude.com "Choose a Claude plan" · checked 18 Jul 2026
What you unlocked
You're wired in.
Drive · Gmail · Calendar connectedProject pointed at a folderOne topic, one chatConnectors off when unusedLoad once, not daily
Next: stage 3 chains skills together on your own live project — and shows you how to build one for a job only you have.
Take it with you
Keep the settings card. See you at stage 3.
The deck and two-sided settings + habits card are on your personal pack page. There is no skills zip for stage 2 — settings and habits are the lesson.
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