In this chapter you'll start Claude Code for the first time in a real project folder and get a feel for how Claude Code "sees" your code and what a typical conversation looks like.

Opening a project folder

Claude Code always works in the current directory of your terminal - there's no separate "open file" dialog like in a classic application. So first switch to the folder you want to work on in your terminal, then start Claude Code:

cd path/to/my-project
claude

Once Claude Code is running, that exact folder is its "home" for the current session: all file access, changes, and commands relate to that folder and its subfolders. To open a different project, end the session, switch to the other folder, and start Claude Code there again.

How Claude Code "sees" your code

An important difference from Claude.ai: at the start of a session, Claude Code does not yet have a complete "preview" of your entire project in mind. Instead, it reads files in a targeted way - exactly when it needs them for your request. If you ask, for example, "What does this function in server.js do?", Claude Code opens that specific file and reads the relevant section, rather than blindly reading the whole project upfront.

There's a practical reason for that: a project can contain thousands of files - far too many to keep in view all at once. Claude Code therefore uses the same kind of tools a human would use to find their way around an unfamiliar project: opening specific files, searching for terms, browsing the folder structure. You'll learn exactly these tools in detail in block 2.

Asking your first questions

A good first test in a new project is a general orientation question, for example:

> What is this project about, and how is it roughly structured?

For this, Claude Code typically looks at key files - a README file, package.json, or similar project descriptions - and summarises what it finds. That's a good way to start with any new project, whether it's your own or someone else's.

From there you can ask more specific questions: "Where is user login handled?", "Which libraries are used for testing?", "Explain the file routes.js line by line". Every answer builds on the ongoing conversation, just like in Claude.ai.

Ending and resuming a session

Every conversation with Claude Code is its own session. If you end Claude Code (for example using the exit shortcut from the previous chapter), the history so far isn't automatically lost - it can usually be picked back up the next time you start, instead of starting from zero. Block 5 of this series shows exactly how that works and how to deliberately switch between several sessions.