Prompt · Run the team
Your first CLAUDE.mdTen lines about your business, written with Claude in five minutes.
By Joe Stone
In my first weeks with Claude Code I explained the business again in nearly every session. A CLAUDE.md fixes that: a short file in your folder that Claude reads every time it starts. This prompt has Claude interview you and write it, so you don't have to work out what to put in.
- Runs in
- Claude Code
What you need
- Claude Code open in your work folder. If you haven't set it up yet, start with chapter one of How we use Claude (opens in a new tab).
- Five minutes, and honest answers. It's only as good as what you tell it.
Keep it short. If a line wouldn't change what Claude does tomorrow, cut it.
Copy it into Claude Code
The prompt
Change the parts in [square brackets] to fit who you sell to, then copy it.
I'm new to Claude Code. Interview me so you can write a CLAUDE.md file for this folder. Ask me one question at a time and wait for my answer before the next. Cover: what my business does and who for, who I sell to, how I like things written ([UK English], my tone, words I never use), the tools I use, and what you must never do without asking me first. Then write CLAUDE.md in this folder. Keep it short: plain bullet points, under 40 lines, with the never-do-without-asking list at the top. Show it to me before you save it, and change anything I ask.
Before you save it
- Read every line. Anything wrong in there, Claude will repeat in every session.
- Never put passwords, keys or a client's private details in it.
- Add a line whenever you catch Claude doing something you've already told it not to.
Every Claude setup we run starts with a file like this. If you'd rather we ran your outreach, with all of this behind it, let's talk.
Next in the Vault
- PromptThe company brain starterBuilds the skeleton of a shared company brain: the business rules, a memory of decisions with names and dates, a page per client, and the guardrails that keep it safe.
- PromptThe signals promptFinds UK founders at B2B companies of 11 to 50 staff with one to three people in sales, then adds the buying signals that say who to call first.
- GuideHow we use ClaudeHow Chris and Joe run JumpLead with Claude, from your first session to a shared company brain: research from 58 sales calls, a video made in code, and the skills we use. Three levels, free to read.
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