This is the guide I wish I had when I started: everything about Claude Code, organised so you can look things up instead of guessing.

You will learn how Claude Code differs from asking Claude on the web — it reads and edits files in your project, runs Terminal commands, remembers your project's conventions through CLAUDE.md, and runs inside shell scripts or CI. Then it walks you through installation on macOS, Windows and Linux (including the mistake that breaks most installs: running npm with sudo), signing in, and your first session.

The bulk of the book is reference you will use every day: every keyboard shortcut that matters, the four leading characters (@ for files, ! for shell, # for memory, / for commands), and the full slash-command catalogue grouped by what you are trying to do. From there it goes deep on the parts that separate casual users from people who actually get work done: permission modes and how to write allow/ask/deny rules safely, CLAUDE.md and project memory across its levels, settings files, writing your own skills and custom commands, subagents and plugins, hooks for event-driven automation, and connecting external tools through MCP.

It also covers working with Git and GitHub (delegating commits, reviews and pull requests, keeping a separate branch per task), choosing a model and managing context and cost, running inside VS Code and JetBrains, background runs and the desktop and web versions, and a troubleshooting chapter with a quick-reference table. Appendices give you a one-page command sheet, the full keyboard shortcut list, an English–Vietnamese glossary and a map of where every file and folder lives.

Written bilingual Vietnamese–English side by side, so you can follow along in your own language while still matching the exact English names the tool prints on screen. Version 1.0, September 2026, written for Claude Code 2.1.268.