Most guides in this hub assume you know what a folder is, what the terminal does, and what ~/ means. If any of those words made you tense, this article is the prerequisite. It explains the few concepts that show up everywhere else, in plain English, with no assumptions about prior technical knowledge.
This is not technical training. It is just enough to make the rest of the hub readable.
Files and folders
A file is a single piece of saved content — a document, an image, a spreadsheet, a music track. Each file has a name and a type (the bit after the dot — report.pdf, budget.xlsx, photo.jpg).
A folder (sometimes called a directory — same thing) is a container that holds files and other folders. Folders nest inside folders, like Russian dolls. Your computer's hard drive is one giant tree of folders, with everything stored somewhere inside it.
You already use files and folders every day in Finder (Mac) or File Explorer (Windows). The hub guides just refer to them with technical names sometimes.
Paths
A path is the address of a file or folder, written as a chain of folder names separated by slashes. On Mac and Linux, slashes go forward (/). On Windows, they go backward (\). When the hub shows a path like /Users/sarah/Documents/reports/, it is just describing where to find something — the reports folder, inside Documents, inside sarah's user folder, inside the top-level Users folder.
The tilde (~) shorthand
You will see ~/ in many guides. The tilde is shorthand for "your home folder" — the top-level folder for your user account. On Mac it is /Users/yourname/; on Windows it is C:\Users\yourname\. So ~/Documents means "the Documents folder inside your home folder." It saves typing.
Hidden folders (the dot prefix)
Folders and files whose name starts with a dot — like .claude/ — are hidden by default. Finder and File Explorer do not show them unless you turn on a setting. They are not secret or special; the dot just means "do not clutter the user's view." Configuration files often live in hidden folders so they do not get accidentally moved or deleted.
To see hidden files in Finder on Mac: press Cmd+Shift+. (period). To see them in Windows File Explorer: View → Show → Hidden items. You can also navigate directly into a hidden folder by typing its path — Finder's Cmd+Shift+G dialog accepts a typed path and will jump straight there.
The terminal
The terminal (also called a command line or shell) is a text-based way to control your computer. Instead of clicking buttons, you type instructions. On Mac it is the app called Terminal (in Applications → Utilities, or via Spotlight). On Windows it is PowerShell or Command Prompt, or — preferably — the WSL terminal once you install Windows Subsystem for Linux.
The terminal feels intimidating because it is just a black or white window with text. There is no menu, no obvious starting point. But the only thing you actually need to know to use Claude Code is how to type one command and press Enter. Everything else, Claude does for you.
The two terminal commands you need
cd /path/to/folder — "change directory" — moves you into a folder. Like double-clicking the folder in Finder.
claude — starts Claude Code in whatever folder you are currently in.
That is the entirety of the terminal interaction for most users.
Workspace
In Claude Code, a workspace is just a folder you have opened a Claude Code session in. There is no special "workspace file" or setup — any folder can be a workspace. When you run claude inside a folder, that folder becomes the workspace for that session: Claude can see and operate on every file inside it (and its subfolders), but nothing outside it.
Most people create one workspace per body of work — one for personal projects, one per client, one per major area of responsibility. Each workspace can have its own configuration (the .claude/ hidden folder inside it) so Claude behaves differently in different workspaces.
The .claude folder
When you set up a Claude Code workspace, a hidden folder called .claude/ appears inside it. This folder holds the configuration that tells Claude how to behave in that workspace — your conventions, your rules, your reusable instructions. The .claude/ folder is what turns a generic Claude Code installation into one that knows your work.
You can read and edit anything inside .claude/ with a normal text editor. Nothing in there is binary or proprietary; it is all plain text and markdown.
What about /Users/yourname/?
On Mac, /Users/yourname/ is your home folder — the same place ~/ refers to. Replace yourname with your actual macOS username. On Windows, the equivalent is C:\Users\yourname\. Inside this folder are your standard subfolders: Documents, Desktop, Downloads, Pictures, etc.
Everything you create, save, and personally own lives somewhere inside your home folder. System files live elsewhere and you generally should not touch them.
Putting it all together
When a hub guide tells you "create a CLAUDE.md file in your workspace's .claude/ folder," what it means in plain English: open the folder you want Claude to work inside, look for (or create) a hidden folder called .claude, and create a text file inside it called CLAUDE.md. That is it. The technical-sounding instruction is describing a normal file in a normal folder, with a name that happens to start with a dot.
If a guide uses a term that is not covered here, it is reasonable to ask Claude itself: "explain what [term] means in plain English." Claude will give you a beginner-pitched answer without making you feel small for asking.