IDST
Course contents

Setup: do this before Session 1

Allow about 45 minutes of your attention (plus one very large download running in the background, so start step 3 days early). If anything fails, don't fight it for more than 10 minutes: note where you got stuck and we will fix it together in the first quarter of Session 1, which is budgeted for exactly that.

One promise before you start: you will never open a terminal in this course. Claude runs every command; your job is to read what it asks and say yes or no.

1. Create a GitHub account (~5 min)

GitHub is where your code will live and where some of it will be published as live websites.

  1. Go to https://github.com/signup and create an account. Pick a username you'd be happy to show a future employer, it becomes part of your public web addresses.
  2. Verify your email.

2. Install the Claude Code desktop app (~5 min)

  1. Download Claude Code for Mac from https://claude.com/claude-code and install it like any app.
  2. Open it and sign in with the account that has the Pro subscription (check the invite email if unsure which one).
  3. You should land somewhere you can type to Claude. Type hello, watch it answer. That window is where the entire course happens.

3. Install Xcode (~10 min of clicking, hours of downloading)

In Session 6 you'll build an iPhone app, and Apple's build tool is a huge download. This is the step to start days early.

  1. Open the App Store on your Mac, search for Xcode, install.
  2. When it eventually finishes: open it once, accept the licence, and let it install its extra components (it will ask; say yes; more waiting).
  3. Sign in with your Apple ID when it asks (Xcode → Settings → Accounts). A free account is fine, no developer programme needed.

4. Prepare your iPhone (~5 min)

  1. Plug your iPhone into the Mac with a cable once, and tap Trust on the phone when it asks.
  2. Turn on Developer Mode: Settings → Privacy & Security → Developer Mode → on (the phone restarts). If the option isn't visible yet, don't worry, it appears after the first build attempt, and we'll check it together before Session 6.

5. Your first conversation with Claude (~5 min)

In the Claude Code app, ask, in your own words, this exact phrasing not required:

Make me a folder called "projects" in my home folder, all my coding will live there. Then configure git with my name and email: [your name], [the email you used for GitHub].

Read what it asks permission to do (that's the habit of the whole course starting), say yes. Done. Git is the "save game" system for code, Session 1 explains it properly.

6. Netlify account (~5 min)

Netlify is what puts your projects on the internet. Go to https://www.netlify.com, sign up, choose "Sign up with GitHub" so the two accounts are already connected. That's all; your tutor handles the wiring in Session 1.

7. Install the gstack toolbelt (~5 min)

gstack is a pack of extra skills for Claude Code, commands like /ship, /qa, /retro that package whole professional workflows. Session 1 explains what they're for; for now, just get it installed so it's ready. Say to Claude:

Install the gstack plugin and its skills from https://github.com/garrytan/gstack

Watch what it asks permission to do, say yes, done.

8. Bring an itch

The most important prerequisite isn't software. Come to Session 1 with 2–3 problems you'd genuinely like solved: an annoyance, a service you'd use if it were cheaper, a tool that doesn't exist. Small and real beats big and impressive. Examples of the right size:

Write them down. Bring the list.

Checklist