Claude Code is the function that everybody has been praising in recent years. You’ll be able to see other people raving on and on about all of the techniques the software has enhanced their workflow, and XDA is not at all an exception to that. Now we have written lots about Claude Code’s setup, new options, gear now we have vibe-coded the use of it, comparisons in opposition to competition like Codex and Replit, or even pairings with different gear like Obsidian and NotebookLM.
Now, should you’ve by no means checked out a unmarried line of code, you may well be feeling somewhat overlooked. In the end, Claude Code’s title itself contains the phrase Code, so it is honest to suppose the software has not anything to provide you with. However that is precisely the misunderstanding I wish to ward off on. Claude Code may well be constructed basically for builders, however a few of its perfect use instances don’t have anything to do with writing a unmarried line of code. Listed here are a couple of techniques I have been the use of the software that experience not anything to do with coding.
Organizing my laptop
The virtual assistant I have been looking ahead to
In relation to my virtual lifestyles, I am extraordinarily unorganized. My desktop is the very best instance of that. It is all the time full of folders and recordsdata, screenshots I take for random articles, random PDFs I downloaded as soon as and not opened once more, photographs I stored as soon as and instantly forgot about, and extra. Each week, I promise myself that I’m going to arrange it “later.” Spoiler alert: that later by no means comes.
The most efficient case state of affairs is that my desktop terrifies me such a lot that I in spite of everything sit down down to arrange it, and I make separate folders for the whole lot I would like (like Screenshots, Tasks, College, Paintings, and so forth). I take advantage of it for per week, after which promptly overlook the ones folders even exist. New recordsdata get started touchdown without delay at the desktop, previous recordsdata by no means make it into the folders I made for them, and inside a few weeks, I am proper again the place I began.
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Claude Code (and by means of extension Cowork) is a godsend for this. Regardless that I do admittedly use Claude Cowork for this, it is one thing other people had been the use of Claude Code to do for a good bit longer. The method is basically the similar: you level Claude Code at your desktop, inform it how you need issues looked after, and it looks after the remainder. The adaptation is simply that you are operating from the terminal as an alternative of Cowork’s chat interface.
That mentioned, this workflow has been extremely useful for me. Ahead of a brand new paintings week starts, I’ve it upload the whole lot scattered on my desktop to the related folders I’ve already created and depart the whole lot else as-is. It is this sort of easy job, but person who saves me such a lot time.
Voice mode mind dumps that develop into day by day briefings
The one productive factor I do ahead of espresso
My mind is surely at its maximum chaotic very first thing within the morning, and by the point I sit down down at my table to in spite of everything paintings, part the issues I wanted to bear in mind are already long gone. I have attempted growing arranged to-do lists previously, sitting down very first thing within the morning and placing all of the chaos to leisure ahead of having breakfast, or even sending myself texts and voice messages. Sadly despite the fact that, not anything caught since the drawback was once by no means in point of fact the software. As a substitute, it was once the friction of getting to sit down down and arrange my ideas ahead of I may just in fact start my day. Claude Code’s voice mode got rid of that friction solely.
Each unmarried morning, the very first thing I do is open Claude Code, hit my spacebar, and start rambling about the whole lot I’ve on my thoughts. Paintings time limits, school assignments, emails I wish to reply to, calls I wish to time table, random errands. It all, in no matter order it comes out. When I am finished, Claude takes that whole mess and turns it into an interactive HTML web page with my duties looked after into classes, priority-tagged, and able to test off as I’m going thru my day. Positive, Claude Code is pulling this off by means of writing HTML, which is clearly coding. However I am not the only writing it. I am simply speaking about my day, and Claude handles the remainder.
Putting in place MCP servers and Abilities
The setup that units itself up
Should you assume Claude and Claude Code (or any AI software in point of fact) are tough, simply wait till you create customized Abilities that educate it precisely do the belongings you do or pair it with third-party gear the use of MCP servers. That is the place the actual magic occurs! Whilst growing your individual Abilities is not too tough and Claude, funnily sufficient, has a pre-built Talent that will help you create new Abilities, the better path is in most cases simply putting in person who any individual else has already constructed. The Claude group on GitHub and X is filled with other people sharing Abilities for the whole lot.
With pre-built Abilities despite the fact that, you most often wish to obtain the recordsdata, position them in the proper listing to your gadget, and infrequently even edit a config document to verify Claude in fact selections them up. I am not pronouncing it is technical or rocket science, however it is usually a good bit of friction and a job that may be a lot more uncomplicated. With Claude Code despite the fact that, you’ll be able to merely drop the GitHub repo or a hyperlink to the recordsdata, and it will care for all of the setup for you. It is going to clone the repo (or obtain the recordsdata), work out the place they wish to pass to your gadget, position them in the proper listing, and care for any config adjustments alongside the way in which. If one thing is going mistaken, it will learn the mistake, diagnose the problem, and fasten it by itself.
The similar applies to MCP servers, too. Should you don’t seem to be conversant in MCP servers, they are an open protocol that shall we AI gear like Claude attach without delay to exterior apps and connectors. The adaptation between Claude’s local connectors and an MCP server is that MCP servers will also be constructed by means of any person. That implies the checklist of to be had MCP servers is repeatedly rising. So, if there is a carrier you need Claude attached to, there is a excellent likelihood an MCP server already exists for it. And if it does not, you’ll be able to completely construct one your self. Then again, that is a tale for every other article. For most of the people, together with myself, the objective is simply to get an present MCP server attached with no need to do a lot tinkering.
Simply as with Abilities, Claude Code makes that really easy. All you wish to have to do is ask Claude Code to arrange xyz software’s MCP server, and it looks after the remainder. It is going to to find the related repo, run the set up instructions, position the whole lot in the proper spot, and replace your config document, so Claude in fact acknowledges the brand new MCP server.
Making interactive shows
PowerPoint may just by no means
Should you’ve ever used an AI presentation generator, you understand the drill: you describe what you need, get a deck that is 70% of the way in which there, after which spend an hour tweaking each slide manually. Some time in the past, I got here throughout a Claude Code Talent created by means of Zara Zhang known as Frontend Slides that totally modified how I take into accounts shows. As a substitute of producing static PowerPoint or PDF recordsdata, it creates absolutely interactive internet shows the use of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
You describe the type of deck you need (matter, taste, construction), and Claude builds it slide by means of slide. The most efficient section is that because the output is code, each unmarried part is absolutely customizable. Wish to exchange a font on slide 3, switch a colour, or upload an interactive chart? You simply inform Claude in undeniable English, and it edits the code without delay. If you are conversant in HTML, you’ll be able to even pass in and make the adjustments your self. What I like maximum despite the fact that is that the shows do not appear to be your generic AI slides. They are extremely well-designed. You would by no means wager they have been made by means of any individual rambling right into a terminal.
Solving the small annoyances in my workflow
Automations I did not desire a subscription for
Now, this phase would possibly technically rely as coding. Then again, I in point of fact do wish to point out this since I feel non-developers are lacking out large time. The most efficient factor you’ll be able to do with Claude Code is construct gear that simplify your workflow and automate redundant duties. It is surely the most efficient imaginable factor you’ll be able to do with it. And ahead of you assert “however that is coding” — recall to mind it this manner. No person calls themselves a coder for putting in a Zapier automation, even if automations are technically code below the hood. This is similar concept. You describe an issue, Claude Code builds the repair, and also you by no means have a look at what is beneath.
Now, I am not speaking about construction full-fledged apps or internet sites. As a substitute, I am speaking in regards to the tiny, demanding, five-minute issues that don’t seem to be value downloading an app for however are simply demanding sufficient to trojan horse you each unmarried day. Claude Code permits you to repair the ones in one dialog. As an example, I constructed a device that is attached to Claude’s API the use of Claude Code inside quarter-hour, I examined it out, and it labored extremely effectively.
I then determined to host it on Vercel, and I am not kidding once I say this, it saves me over 5 hours weekly. It makes use of Anthropic’s Haiku fashion, and it prices on the subject of not anything to run. We are speaking cents every week. I would possibly not pass into precisely what this software does since that is an entire article by itself, however the level is: I described an issue, Claude Code constructed the answer, and it is been operating on autopilot ever since.
Please do not sleep on Claude Code
I have been telling other people left and proper to check out out Claude Code. Sure, the title says Code. Sure, it runs in a terminal. However as I am hoping this newsletter has proven, probably the most most beneficial issues it might probably do don’t have anything to do with writing code.
