Workshop: the 3 experiments of the first weekend

This lesson is still being tested: it improves with learners' feedback. If something is unclear, it is the lesson that needs fixing, not you.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to

install the mon-espace-ia kit and launch the guided course;
make Claude work in your files, reading every permission request;
carry out a first complete job with the method, up to a verified document;
close, reopen and pick up your work thanks to what is written in your folder.

Why it matters to you

Until now, the AI answered you in a conversation. In this workshop, it works in a real folder on your computer: it writes, you check. Three experiments, over a weekend, are enough to understand what changes, and to keep the right reflexes afterwards.

Before you start


You need	The Claude app with the Code tab (lesson 2), and the permissions understood (lesson 3)
Cost	Claude Pro subscription at the minimum: €18 per month excl. VAT, price shown in France on 24/10/2026
Duration	About 3 h 30: 2 h for the first part, 1 h 30 for the second, whenever you like
Reminder	What you write to Claude is sent to Anthropic: nothing from the “never” list, and for work notes, only what your employer allows

Understand it in 3 minutes

The kit is a ready-to-use folder. It contains a course written for Claude, and files for you.

File	What it is for
`DEMARRER-ICI.md`	The guided course. It is written for Claude: you do not need to read it
`CLAUDE.md`	Your working rules, and a few lines about you. Claude rereads it at the start of every session
`journal/`	One page per working day: what is done, the decisions, the next action
`projets/`	One sheet per project, and the documents produced
`prompts.md`, `ma-progression.md`	Ready-to-copy requests, and your “I can do it without help” checklist
`.claude/settings.json`	A hidden setting that makes new sessions in this folder start in Manual mode

The three experiments:

Claude works on your files: it writes a few lines about you in CLAUDE.md, with your permission.
From rough draft to clean document: the complete cycle of the method, on your notes or on sample notes, up to a document verified with the module 3 checklist.
I close, I reopen, I pick up: a new session picks up the thread by rereading your journal.

Your role: answer, read every permission request before clicking, and check. Each message from Claude ends with an “Over to you:” line that says the one thing to do.

The course is an instruction, not a machine. Claude follows DEMARRER-ICI.md, but it can drift from it. If a step seems odd to you, say so: “That’s not what the course says, let’s go back to the previous step.”

Do it together

1Step 1: Download and put away the kit

Download the mon-espace-ia kit (ZIP file)

On Mac

Go to your Downloads folder. If you already see a mon-espace-ia folder there, it was unzipped automatically. If not, double-click mon-espace-ia.zip: the folder appears next to it.
In Documents, rename the folder from lessons 2 and 3 to mon-espace-ia-essais: it keeps your trials.
Drag the mon-espace-ia folder from Downloads into Documents. If the Finder says an item with the same name already exists, do not replace it: stop, and redo step 2. Replacing would erase your trial folder.

On Windows

If the folder from lessons 2 and 3 is already called mon-espace-ia, first rename it to mon-espace-ia-essais.
Go to your Downloads folder, right-click mon-espace-ia.zip, then Extract All….
In the window that opens, choose your Documents folder as the destination, then confirm.

Check your folder

In Documents, the mon-espace-ia folder contains DEMARRER-ICI.md, CLAUDE.md, README.md and the journal and projets folders. On Mac, the .claude folder is hidden: it is normal not to see it. On Windows, it may appear: leave it as it is, it holds the Manual mode setting.

2Step 2: Open the folder, in Manual mode

In the Claude app, Code tab, open a New session.
Under the text box, in the first menu (the environment one), choose the first entry of the Local group. Next to it, in the folder menu, choose Open folder…, then select mon-espace-ia (the new one).
Under the text box, check that the mode is Manual. The kit sets this for new sessions in this folder, but a mode you chose yourself in the selector takes priority: always check.

3Step 3: Launch the course

Write:

Read the file DEMARRER-ICI.md and guide me.

Claude reads the course, welcomes you, checks that it can see the kit’s files, then asks you which mode is displayed.

4Step 4: Experiment 1: Claude works on your files

Claude asks you 3 questions, one per message: what you would like to get this week, whether it is personal, for work or for a project, and how comfortable you are with the computer.
It proposes 3 to 5 lines for the “About me” part of CLAUDE.md. Read them: accurate? nothing sensitive? Answer “yes” or correct them.
The app displays a permission request: read it, then click Allow once. Keep “Always allow” for later: during the workshop, every request gets read.
If a permission request arrives when you have not said “yes” (an answer like “let’s continue” can be understood as agreement), read it: if you do not agree, reject it. Nothing is broken, Claude proposes again.
Open CLAUDE.md to see your lines with your own eyes, then ask for a small change, and see it happen.
Claude offers to write your first journal page. After that, you choose: stop, or continue.

5Step 5: Experiment 2: from rough draft to clean document

You choose the material: your notes (3 to 5 notes, nothing from the “never” list), or sample notes depending on your profile. They are the situations from the module 3 resource, with the same facts and figures; the kit also points out the trap in each example.
Claude creates a project sheet (projets/<name>/projet.md) with your goal and your “It worked if…” criteria, and keeps your starting notes next to it.
It rephrases, proposes an outline, waits for your agreement, then writes the document in your folder.
You check it with the checklist: nothing made up, nothing forgotten, contradictions flagged, clear actions, criteria met. Ask at least once “Where does this information come from?”.

6Step 6: Experiment 3: I close, I reopen, I pick up

Claude updates your journal. Open it and read it: it is your file.
Close the app completely: on Mac, Claude menu, then Quit (or Cmd + Q); on Windows, close the window, and if the Claude icon stays near the clock, right-click it, then Quit.
Reopen the app, Code tab, New session (not the old conversation), mon-espace-ia folder, Manual mode.
Write:

Where were we on my project?

Claude rereads your journal and your project sheet, then sums up where you were. Compare with your journal: is it right? is anything missing?

7Step 7: The wrap-up

Claude fills in with you the “End of the weekend” column of ma-progression.md: for each skill, your opinion is what counts. It then presents the rest of the course, over about 30 days.

Your turn

The whole workshop, over a weekend or in two evenings: steps 1 to 7, at your own pace. You can stop at any moment: the journal keeps the step to pick up from.

Resources to download

The mon-espace-ia kit (ZIP file): the guided course, CLAUDE.md, the journal and project sheet templates, the ready-to-copy requests and your progress checklist.

Check your work

It worked if:

CLAUDE.md contains your “About me” part, 5 lines at most, accurate and with nothing sensitive;
your projets folder contains a project sheet, your starting notes, and a document verified with the checklist;
your journal folder contains at least one page, with the next action;
in a new session, Claude’s summary matched your journal;
ma-progression.md has its “End of the weekend” column filled in.

Common mistakes:

opening Documents or Downloads instead of mon-espace-ia: Claude cannot find the course; close it and reopen the right folder;
a mode other than Manual: changes are made without asking you; change it in the selector;
clicking “Always allow” out of habit: you no longer see what changes;
for the pick-up, reopening the old conversation: the test then proves nothing;
having two mon-espace-ia folders: keep the one from the kit, and rename the other.

Keep it and pick it up later

Your mon-espace-ia folder is your work: make a copy from time to time (USB stick, online storage).
For every new session: New session, mon-espace-ia folder, Manual mode, then “Where were we on my project?”.
Before sending your folder to someone, reread it: it contains your “About me” part, your journals and your projects.

Going further

optional

What Claude keeps, and where, according to the Claude Code documentation (24/10/2026):
- your files stay on your computer;
- what you write and what Claude reads are sent to Anthropic to be processed;
- the app also keeps your conversations on your computer, as readable (unencrypted) text and, by default, without deleting them after 30 days: one more reason never to write a password in them;
- for the Free, Pro and Max plans, what is sent to Anthropic is kept there for 30 days if you refuse to let it be used to improve the models, and 5 years if you accept. The setting is on claude.ai, in the privacy settings (module 1, lesson 3).
The kit’s README.md sums all this up, with the three ways of keeping the thread (module 5).

New words

5 words explained

Word	What it means
Kit	A ready-to-use folder: the guided course and the starting files
Guided course	The instructions Claude follows to guide you step by step (`DEMARRER-ICI.md`)
Project sheet	The file that states a project’s goal, success criteria, steps and decisions
New session	A fresh conversation with Claude Code, which starts from your files (and, sometimes, from a few notes of its automatic memory, module 5)
ZIP file	A file that contains a compressed folder; you “unzip” it to get the folder back

The first part of the kit’s course (experiment 1 and the first journal) and the pick-up in a new session were actually played with Claude Code on the command line, in an isolated copy of the kit. The rest of the course has not been played yet. To be checked: the workshop in the desktop app, on Mac and on Windows, with a real beginner; Windows’ “Extract All” window has not been tested.