I Wrote 140+ Free Claude Code Tutorials, and Tested Every One in a Real Session

When I started using Claude Code, I kept running into the same problem. The official docs are good, but they tell you what a feature does. They don't show you what it looks like when you actually use it, what Claude says back, or where things go wrong.

So I started writing the tutorials I wanted to read. Each one is tested in a real Claude Code session, in a throwaway demo folder, with real screenshots of what happened. Over the last couple of weeks that grew into more than 140 free tutorials and a searchable directory of 500+ Claude Code skills and plugins.

Everything lives on one page: the Claude Code Tutorials hub. In this post I'll walk you through what's there, show a few tutorials with their real output, and explain how the skills directory works.

What's in the series

Every hands-on tutorial follows the same format: a real session, screenshots of what happened, at least one diagram, a cheat-sheet card, common mistakes, and an FAQ. Each one also says which Claude Code version it was tested with, so you know how current it is.

A few tutorials worth starting with

Here are some of my favorites, with a screenshot from each one.

How to use plan mode

Plan mode is the feature I'd teach anyone first. Claude reads your code and writes a plan, but it can't change a single file until you approve. The plan mode tutorial walks through a full plan, edits it with feedback, and shows exactly what each approval option does.

Claude Code hooks

Hooks let you run your own commands at fixed points, like before Claude edits a file or when it finishes replying. The hooks tutorial builds three working hooks, including one that blocks edits to your .env file. If you just want working examples, there's also a page of 10 ready-to-copy hooks.

Build a Chrome extension

The 20 projects each start from an empty folder and end with something that really works. In the Chrome extension project, Claude Code builds a reading-time badge, and we load it into Chrome to check that it works on a real page.

Build a simple game

The Snake game project is a fun one to try on a weekend. Claude plans the game, builds it in three small files, then adds a high score and a pause key when asked.

Sort photos into folders (no coding needed)

The non-coder guides are for people who don't write code but want Claude Code to handle boring computer chores. In Sort Photos Into Folders by Date, Claude reads the date inside each photo, shows a preview, moves 54 files into year and month folders, and keeps an undo log.

The commands cheat sheet

If you only bookmark one page, make it the Claude Code commands cheat sheet. It covers the commands, prefixes and keys you'll use every day, and you can download it as a printable PDF.

SKILL.md format explained

Skills are one of the most useful parts of Claude Code, and also one of the most confusing. The SKILL.md format guide tests every frontmatter field, so you can see what each one really changes.

Caveman vs RTK: do token savers work?

Some posts test popular add-ons and report the numbers. For Caveman vs RTK, I ran the same bug-fix task with plain Claude Code, the Caveman plugin and RTK, two runs each, and measured tokens and cost. The results were more mixed than the hype suggests.

Floor plan to a 3D model in Blender

And sometimes I just test what Claude can do. In this test, Claude turned a set of house drawings into a 3D model in Blender, then checked its own work against the plans. In an earlier test, Claude drew the floor plans itself.

The Claude Code Skills Directory

Once you're comfortable with Claude Code, the next question is usually: which skills and plugins should I install? There are hundreds now, spread across Anthropic's skills repo, the official plugin marketplace and GitHub.

So I built the Claude Code Skills Directory. It lists 504 skills and plugins in one searchable page:

• 19 Anthropic skills, like PDF, Word, Excel and skill-creator
• 313 plugins from the official marketplace
• 172 community skills and plugins from GitHub

Here's what each card gives you:

• The install command, with a one-click copy button
• Stars, skill count, author and last update, for GitHub repos
• Links to our tutorials that teach it, with "We tested it" on the ones we really ran

You can filter by source or category, show only the ones with a tutorial, or press Cmd+K on a Mac (Ctrl+K elsewhere) or / to jump to the search box.

The data comes straight from the sources, not from a hand-made list. Anthropic's skills come from their GitHub repo, the plugins come from the official marketplace file, and the community entries come from GitHub. Repos that don't actually contain a skill or plugin get dropped. The list is refreshed every week, and the tutorial links update every time a new post goes live.

My next goal is to give every card in the directory its own tutorial. About 100 more guides are already planned. Each popular skill or plugin gets installed and tested on a real task, and the ones that need an outside account get grouped into setup guides.

Where to start

Pick the path that fits you:

• New to Claude Code? Start with What Is Claude Code? and then install it.
• Don't write code? Try the non-coder guides, like the photo sorter above.
• Something broken? The help section covers errors like stuck on "Compacting Conversation" and "Prompt Is Too Long".
• Want to save money? Read 12 Tips to Reduce Token Usage.
• Want to build something? Pick any of the 20 projects.

Everything is free and has no sign-up wall. All of it lives on the Claude Code Tutorials hub.

If there's a Claude Code feature, skill or plugin you'd like me to test next, tell me in the comments. I read every one, and the most requested ones go on the list.