Intro to Claude Code for Instructional Designers

Get the kit

Download it, then open a terminal.

Step by step

What to do with the kit

Download the kit and unzip it. You should now see a folder called kit.
Open a terminal in that folder. Windows: open the kit folder, right-click an empty space, choose “Open in Terminal”. Mac: right-click the folder and choose “New Terminal at Folder”. You should now see a dark window with a blinking line.
Type claude and press Enter. The first time it opens a sign-in page; sign in and come back. You should now see the Claude Code banner. (Claude Code needs a paid Claude plan.)
```
claude
```
If it asks “Do you trust this folder?”, choose Yes. Then hold Shift and press Tab until the bottom line says manual mode on. Nothing changes without your yes.
Look at what you were given. samples/topic-shift-swaps/ holds three messy documents about a made-up company. samples/brand-kit/ holds its logo, icons, colours and a voice file (open preview.html). skill-spec/scenario/ is a plain-English note describing how every scenario should look and behave. You should now see the raw material and the rules, and no skill yet.

Ask for the plan first. Paste this and press Enter:

Read everything in samples/topic-shift-swaps. Tell me in five lines what training you would build from it, and do not create any files yet.

You should now see five plain lines and no permission request.

Turn the rules into a skill. Paste this and press Enter, and answer Yes when it asks:
```
Read skill-spec/scenario and turn it into a skill I can run as /scenario. Put it in .claude/skills/scenario.
```
You should now see it write a folder called .claude/skills/scenario with a file named SKILL.md inside. Type a slash and scenario is in the menu. (If it misbehaves, a finished copy is at skills/scenario: copy that folder into .claude/skills/.) Note: the kit you downloaded already has this skill wired in, so you can skip to step 8 or delete .claude/skills/scenario first to do it yourself.
Run the skill on the documents. Press the slash key, type scenario, press space, type samples/topic-shift-swaps/, press Enter, then the plain Yes:
```
/scenario samples/topic-shift-swaps/
```
Wait about five to eight minutes. You should now see a new folder activity/lineup-shift-swaps.
Open that folder and double-click index.html. You should now see a five-decision branching scenario with the Meridian Works logo, an icon on every screen, the candy colours, and a voice that sounds like a kind teacher. Pick choices, watch the consequences, get your score. Everything you see came from the brand kit, the voice file, and the spec.
Put it in a learning system. Inside activity/lineup-shift-swaps/scorm/ is a zip with three small files. Its config.js holds one line: the web address where the scenario lives. Put the folder on the web, paste that address into the line, run zip.ps1, upload the zip to your LMS. Change the files on the web any time; the zip never changes. To make it YOUR brand, swap the logo, colours and voice in samples/brand-kit/ and run step 8 again.

How it works

The whole thing, in four lines.

Documents in. Your notes, a policy, a transcript — whatever the subject expert sent.
Scenario out. Five decisions, three choices each, a consequence every time, in your brand and voice.
Package it. A small zip your LMS accepts, pointing at the mini-course on the web.
See what learners did. Your own page, outside the LMS, showing what they clicked.

Three pictures to remember

If the words slip away, keep the pictures.

🗂️

A skill is a recipe card.

It sits in a folder with its ingredients next to it — your logo, your colors, your voice, your templates. Claude follows it the same way every time.

🖼️

A SCORM package is a picture frame.

Your mini-course is the picture. Change the picture and the frame stays on the wall — you don't rebuild the frame every time.

👣

The data page is footprints.

The LMS says a learner passed. The footprints say where they actually went.

Stay in the loop

Want the recording?

Go further

Two ways to keep going with me.

GameLab Academy

Six weeks, guided. Build a playable learning game with an AI coding agent, with one-on-one coaching every week.

See the course →

Turn your quiz into a game

Your questions, inside a game, this week.

See how it works →

Webinar code: WEBINAR · 20% off either one · this week

Try the free Clean Sweep generator

Paste your questions, get a link to your own game. Free sign-up needed.

Try it →

Watch the September 8 session

The first Claude Code session, recorded.

Watch →

Say hi: emdesigns.ai · Rachel on LinkedIn

Words from today

If a word felt new, it's here.

Terminal: The black window.
Prompt: The blinking line waiting for you.
Command: A short instruction you type.
Permission: Claude asks before it changes a file.
Activity: The finished thing a learner takes.
LMS: The system that hands out courses and records who finished.
Hosted: Living on the web at its own address.
Admin door: Your own data page, outside the LMS.
Endpoint: The web address a page sends its notes to.

First, get Claude Code

One line in a terminal, and you're set up.

Windows, in PowerShell

irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex

Mac or Linux, in Terminal

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

The free claude.ai plan does not include Claude Code. Paid plans do.

Full setup steps: code.claude.com/docs/en/quickstart