One of the first things our beta testers taught us was humbling. Every one of them only knew the chat side of Claude.
The chat window is what almost everyone sees first. You type, it answers. It is great. It is also only half the product.
The other half
Inside the same app there is a second mode, called Code. The name scares people, because it sounds like programming. It is not what you think.
Here is how I explain the difference:
Chat talks with you. Code works for you.
In Chat, you ask and it answers. In Code, you point it at a folder on your computer and it can read the files, create new ones, run steps, and connect to your tools. That is the mode where an assistant can actually do the busywork.
Why testers missed it
The toggle is easy to overlook. Our first testers had never clicked it, and the instructions needed an explicit line: click Code, at the top left. Once we added that, the confusion disappeared. It is a good reminder that what feels obvious to the person who built something is invisible to someone seeing it for the first time.
What you actually do
You do not need to write code. The whole flow looks like this:
- Open the app and switch to Code.
- Choose a folder for your art business.
- Drop the guide file in that folder.
- Say one sentence: "Read the AI-Companion file and be my guide."
From there the assistant takes over and walks you through everything else, asking you questions in plain language.
Do I need an expensive plan?
I tell people to start on the entry-level paid plan and upgrade later only if they hit limits. It takes the fear of a big commitment off the table, and you can check whether this way of working suits you before spending more.
The takeaway
If you have been using AI for months and feel like it has not changed your workload, check which mode you are in. Chat is a smart conversation. Code is a collaborator that can touch your files and tools.
Next, what happens in that very first session and why the assistant asks about you before it asks you to do anything.
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