This is the lesson where it stops being abstract.
A conversation with Claude Code is a back-and-forth in the app’s chat pane. You type a question or a request, Claude does whatever it needs to answer, and tells you what it found.
First, point the app at a folder. There’s an Open folder button (or a folder picker on the welcome screen) — choose any folder you don’t mind it poking around in: your Downloads, a side project, a folder of notes. The app shows that folder’s files down the side, and the chat pane fills the middle. That folder is now Claude’s world for this conversation.
Say hi
Click into the chat box and type:
what's in this folder?Press enter. Watch what happens — don’t skip past this part.
You’ll see Claude do something like this:
- A short “thinking” indicator.
- A line saying it’s looking at the folder — reading the file list.
- A short summary in Claude’s voice: “This folder has three subfolders and a README…”
That sequence is the turn loop. Every interaction is some version of it: you ask, Claude thinks, Claude maybe looks at something, Claude responds.
Try it right here
You don’t need the app open to feel the rhythm. Type or tap a prompt below and watch a chat play out — the thinking, the looking, the answer:
Try one more
Back in the real app, don’t start over — ask a follow-up that builds on what just happened:
what does the README say?This time Claude won’t re-read the whole folder — it already knows the layout from a second ago. It’ll go straight to opening the README and summarizing. The conversation has memory: Claude remembers what it just did, like a person you’re chatting with would.
Try a couple of questions of your own. Get a feel for the rhythm. Notice how the answer is about your files — not a generic answer that could apply to any folder.
Starting fresh
When you want a clean slate — a new topic, a different folder — start a new chat (there’s a button for it). The old conversation is set aside; the new one starts with no memory of it.
That’s a feature, not a limitation. A fresh chat means Claude isn’t carrying over assumptions from the last thing you did.
What’s next
You’ve had a conversation. But it’s worth asking: what exactly can Claude see while you’re chatting? And what can’t it? That’s the next lesson.