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A free guide by Mariah Brunner ↗ INSTAGRAM ↗ TIKTOK

The Claude
Cheat Sheet

Every feature explained in plain English. The guide I wish someone gave me on day one.

If chat is the only part of Claude you use, you’re missing most of what you pay for. Here’s every feature that matters, what it does, and exactly where to find it. Claude’s menus are changing this month, so I list both names where they differ.

The Features

01

Chat

Ask a question, get an answer. Best for quick tasks and one-off requests.

Find it → claude.ai, then New chat

02

Projects

A home base for one area of your work. Upload files and write project instructions, and every chat inside that Project starts with them. Set one up for your job with your role, your goals and your writing style. Projects work on every plan, and Free gets up to five. (How Projects work)

Find it → Projects in the sidebar, then + New Project, then Set project instructions

03

Cowork

Where Claude does the work instead of just talking about it. It reads your files, creates documents and runs multi-step tasks on its own. Anthropic is merging Cowork into regular chat, rolling out to Pro, Max and Ultra first, so on newer accounts you just describe the task in any chat and Claude figures out the rest. (Cowork is now Claude)

Find it → The Cowork tab in the Claude desktop app, or on the merged version, any chat

04

Connectors and plugins

Connectors plug Claude into Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Slack and more, so it reads your real data with no copy-pasting. (Connectors) Plugins bundle skills, connectors and commands into one install for a job, like sales or marketing. (Plugins)

Find it → Customize, then Connectors or Plugins. Customize is being renamed Plugins, with everything on one page, so you may see either name

05

Skills and skill-creator

Skills are saved instructions Claude uses automatically when they’re relevant, like "whenever I ask for a weekly report, format it like this." Skills work on every plan with code execution turned on. To build one, ask Claude "help me build a skill for [task]." It uses Anthropic’s skill-creator to interview you and package the skill. (Build a skill with Claude)

Find it → Customize (or Plugins), then Skills, then + to upload or browse

06

Instructions

One box Claude reads before every conversation. Tell it who you are, what you do, and how you like answers. Set it once and it applies everywhere. One good paragraph here beats 50 random prompts. (Personalization)

Find it → Your initials in the bottom left, then Settings, then Your Claude, then Instructions. On the older layout it’s Instructions for Claude under Account

07

Effort

This replaced the old Extended Thinking switch. On the current models, thinking is always on, and Effort sets how hard Claude works, from Low up to Max. Turn it up for anything important. (Effort settings)

Find it → Click the model name next to the send button, then Effort

08

Scheduled tasks and Dispatch

Scheduled tasks run on their own, hourly, daily, weekly or on weekdays, and they run in the cloud so your computer can sleep. Available on Pro and up. (Scheduled tasks) Dispatch lets you control Claude on your desktop from your phone, but it’s now a limited beta closed to new users. (Dispatch)

Find it → Scheduled in the sidebar, then New task. On the merged version, describe the task and how often in any chat

09

Pick the right model

Opus 5.5 is my default for anything important. Fable 5.1 is the heavy hitter for the hardest, longest work. Sonnet 5.5 handles everyday tasks and Haiku 5.5 is the fast one. Free includes Sonnet and Haiku. Opus comes with paid plans. Fable is included on Max and Ultra and runs on usage credits on Pro. (Fable on your plan)

Find it → Click the model name next to the send button. Look under More models if you don’t see one

Where To Start
  1. Today. Write your Instructions and set up one Project with your role and context.
  2. Tomorrow. Connect the apps you live in, like Gmail, Drive, Calendar or Slack.
  3. This week. Build your first skill, or install a plugin for your job.
  4. Next week. Hand Cowork a real multi-step task, then schedule one you repeat.
  5. Every time it matters. Use Opus 5.5 with effort turned up.

Want Claude to build that plan around your actual job? Paste this into a new chat and fill in the brackets.

Build My Claude Setup Plan
You are my Claude setup coach. Your goal is to get me from "I only use chat" to a setup that saves me real time this week, using features Claude has today. About me: - My job or business: [one or two lines] - The apps I live in: [for example Gmail, Google Drive, Slack, Notion] - My Claude plan: [Free, Pro, Max, Ultra, Team or Enterprise] - The 3 tasks that eat most of my week: [list them] Step 1. Ask me up to 3 short questions if anything above is unclear. Then stop and wait. Step 2. Build me a 7-day setup plan, one small step per day, in this order of payoff: - Instructions (Settings, then Your Claude, then Instructions): write me a draft I can paste, under 150 words, covering who I am, how I like answers, and what to avoid - One Project for my most repeated work, with the project instructions written out and a list of the files I should upload - The connectors worth turning on for my apps, and one thing to try with each - One skill to build for my most repeated task, with the exact sentence I should say to start building it - One recurring task I could schedule, if my plan includes scheduled tasks Step 3. For each day, give me: the feature, where to click, the exact text to paste, and a 2-minute test to prove it worked. Rules: - Only recommend features my plan includes. If you're not sure a feature is on my plan, say so. - Menu names change. If a click path might look different, tell me what to look for. - Plain English. No jargon without a one-line explanation.