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<div class="hero">
<div class="eyebrow">★ THE PREPARED PERFORMER ★</div>
<h1>The Beginner's <span class="pop">Glossary</span><br>Claude Cowork + Claude Code</h1>
<p class="subtitle">Every word you've heard tossed around. Decoded. Plain English. No tech-bro nonsense.</p>
<div style="font-family: 'Bebas Neue', sans-serif; color: var(--gold); letter-spacing: 3px; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 24px;">BROUGHT TO YOU BY MOLLYMAHONEY.COM</div>
</div>
<div class="container">
<div class="intro">
<p><strong>Here's the deal, dahlink.</strong></p>
<p>You keep hearing words like Cowork, Code, MCP, skills, agents, hooks, context windows...</p>
<p>And nobody is actually telling you what they mean.</p>
<p>This glossary fixes that.</p>
<p>Bookmark it. Send it to your team. Stop pretending you know what a "subagent" is.</p>
</div>
<div class="legend">
<span class="l-gold">COWORK</span>
<span class="l-code">CLAUDE CODE</span>
<span class="l-both">BOTH</span>
</div>
<!-- ============ SECTION 1: THE BIG PICTURE ============ -->
<div class="section-header">★ Start Here: The Big Picture</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Claude <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>The AI itself. The brain. Made by Anthropic.</p>
<p>Everything else in this glossary is a different way to talk to Claude or let Claude do work for you.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Anthropic <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>The company that built Claude. Founded by former OpenAI folks who wanted to build AI that was actually safe and useful.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Claude.ai (Chat) <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>The regular chat window at claude.ai. You type, Claude responds. One message at a time.</p>
<p>Think of it as Claude in conversation mode.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Claude Cowork <span class="tag gold">COWORK</span></div>
<p>Claude as your actual coworker. Lives inside the Claude Desktop app.</p>
<p>Instead of chatting one message at a time, you give Claude a goal and walk away.</p>
<p>Claude organizes your files, builds your reports, runs research across multiple sources, and hands you the finished thing.</p>
<div class="molly-note"><strong>MOLLY MOMENT</strong><br>This is the one for you if you're not a coder. Cowork is "Claude Code for the rest of us." Built for marketers, operators, coaches, founders.</div>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Claude Code <span class="tag code">CODE</span></div>
<p>Claude that lives in your terminal or inside your code editor (like VS Code).</p>
<p>Built for developers, but also where the deepest power lives. It can read your whole project, edit files, run tests, commit code, fix bugs.</p>
<p>You talk to it like a teammate. "Fix the login bug." "Refactor this file." It does the thing.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Agentic <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>Fancy word that just means "Claude can take actions on its own."</p>
<p>Regular chat answers questions. An agentic system actually does stuff. Reads files. Runs commands. Sends emails. Makes decisions.</p>
<p>Cowork and Claude Code are both agentic. Regular chat is not.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Agent <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>Any AI that can take actions, not just answer questions.</p>
<p>When someone says "I built an agent," they mean a Claude (or other AI) that has a job and the tools to actually do that job.</p>
</div>
<!-- ============ SECTION 2: HOW IT WORKS ============ -->
<div class="section-header gold">★ How Claude Actually Works</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Agentic Loop <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>The cycle Claude runs through to finish a task. Three steps: gather context, take action, verify the result.</p>
<p>Then repeat until the job is done.</p>
<p>You don't have to manage this. It just happens. But knowing it exists helps you understand why Claude sometimes pauses to read a file before doing the next thing.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Context Window <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>Claude's working memory for one conversation.</p>
<p>Everything Claude knows in a session lives here. Your messages. The files it read. The skills that loaded. The instructions you gave at the start.</p>
<p>It's big but not infinite. When it fills up, older stuff gets squeezed out.</p>
<div class="molly-note"><strong>MOLLY MOMENT</strong><br>This is why long messy chats start to drift. Claude is forgetting the early stuff. Start a fresh chat for fresh context.</div>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Token <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>The tiny chunks Claude reads and writes in. Roughly three quarters of a word.</p>
<p>You'll see this come up when people talk about "running out of tokens" or "this skill uses too many tokens." It just means it's eating up the context window.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Model <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>The specific version of Claude doing the work.</p>
<p>Right now the main ones are Opus (most powerful, slower), Sonnet (the workhorse, fast and smart), and Haiku (lightning fast, lighter tasks).</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Session <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>One conversation. Has a beginning, a middle, and an end.</p>
<p>When you close the chat and come back tomorrow, that's a new session unless you specifically resume.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Compaction <span class="tag code">CODE</span></div>
<p>When Claude's memory fills up, it summarizes older parts of the conversation to make room.</p>
<p>Useful, but it's also when small details get lost. Important rules belong in CLAUDE.md, not buried in chat history.</p>
</div>
<!-- ============ SECTION 3: SKILLS, MCP, ETC ============ -->
<div class="section-header black">★ Skills, MCP & The Power Tools</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Skill <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>A folder of instructions that teaches Claude how to do one specific thing really well.</p>
<p>Think of a skill as a playbook. A recipe. A repeatable process you've already figured out, written down, and handed to Claude.</p>
<p>Examples: "How to write a newsletter in my brand voice." "How to audit a sales page." "How to format my call notes."</p>
<div class="molly-note"><strong>MOLLY MOMENT</strong><br>Skills are the heartbeat of how I run my business in Claude. Every repeatable thing becomes a skill. Once you have it, Claude does it the same way every time.</div>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">SKILL.md <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>The main file inside a skill folder. The instruction sheet.</p>
<p>Every skill has one. It's where you write what the skill does and when Claude should use it.</p>
<p>Written in plain markdown, which is just text with a few formatting rules. No coding required.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Slash Command <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>Type a forward slash <code>/</code> in Claude and a menu pops up. Skills, settings, helpers.</p>
<p>Examples: <code>/help</code>, <code>/clear</code>, <code>/init</code>.</p>
<p>If you've created a skill called "newsletter," you can trigger it by typing <code>/newsletter</code>.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">MCP (Model Context Protocol) <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>The thing that lets Claude talk to other apps. Slack. Gmail. GoHighLevel. Stripe. Google Drive.</p>
<p>You don't need to understand the technical part. Just know that an MCP connection is what makes Claude able to actually pull your Slack messages, send a Gmail draft, or look up a contact in your CRM.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Connector <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>A pre-built MCP connection you can turn on in your settings. The friendly word for "I plugged Claude into my Slack."</p>
<p>You'll see connectors for Google Calendar, Slack, Gmail, Stripe, Gusto, GoHighLevel, and a bunch more.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Tool <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>Anything Claude can use to take an action. Reading a file is a tool. Searching the web is a tool. Sending a Slack message via MCP is a tool.</p>
<p>The more tools Claude has, the more it can do.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Subagent <span class="tag code">CODE</span></div>
<p>A second Claude that one Claude spins up to handle a side task.</p>
<p>Picture it like this. Your main Claude is doing a project. It needs to research something complicated. Instead of cluttering its own brain, it sends a subagent off to do the research and report back with a summary.</p>
<p>Keeps your main session clean.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Hook <span class="tag code">CODE</span></div>
<p>An automatic trigger. "When Claude does X, also run Y."</p>
<p>Example: every time Claude saves a file, automatically run the formatter. You set it once, it runs forever.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Plugin <span class="tag gold">COWORK</span></div>
<p>A bundle of skills, connectors, and subagents packaged together for a specific role or team.</p>
<p>Think "marketing plugin" or "operations plugin." One install, you're set up.</p>
</div>
<!-- ============ SECTION 4: COWORK SPECIFIC ============ -->
<div class="section-header">★ Cowork-Specific Words</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Tasks Mode <span class="tag gold">COWORK</span></div>
<p>The mode you switch into when you click "Cowork" inside the desktop app. This is where you give Claude a goal and let it run.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Dispatch <span class="tag gold">COWORK</span></div>
<p>The button you tap to send Claude a task from your phone.</p>
<p>Yes, you can text Claude from your phone and it does the work on your desktop while you go pick up the kids.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Computer Use <span class="tag gold">COWORK</span></div>
<p>When Claude actually clicks around on your screen. Opens apps. Fills in forms. Navigates your browser.</p>
<p>Used as a last resort when there's no connector for the app you want Claude to use.</p>
<p>Slower than a connector but it works for almost anything.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Virtual Machine (VM) <span class="tag gold">COWORK</span></div>
<p>A safe sandbox on your computer where Claude runs code and commands.</p>
<p>Means Claude can do real work without breaking your actual system.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Folder Instructions <span class="tag gold">COWORK</span></div>
<p>Notes you give Claude that apply only when working in one specific folder.</p>
<p>Example: "Whenever you work in the TPP Marketing folder, follow my brand voice rules and never use em-dashes."</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Global Instructions <span class="tag gold">COWORK</span></div>
<p>Notes you give Claude that apply to every Cowork session no matter what.</p>
<p>Your role. Your tone. Your top priorities. Stuff Claude should always know.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Scheduled Task <span class="tag gold">COWORK</span></div>
<p>A task Claude runs automatically on a schedule. Daily. Weekly. Whenever.</p>
<p>Example: every Monday morning, pull last week's revenue numbers and send the report to my email.</p>
<div class="molly-note"><strong>MOLLY MOMENT</strong><br>This is where Cowork stops being a tool and starts being a team member. Set it up once. It works forever.</div>
</div>
<!-- ============ SECTION 5: CLAUDE CODE SPECIFIC ============ -->
<div class="section-header gold">★ Claude Code-Specific Words</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Terminal / Command Line <span class="tag code">CODE</span></div>
<p>The text-based window where you type commands instead of clicking. Looks scary. Isn't.</p>
<p>On Mac it's an app called Terminal. On Windows it's PowerShell or Command Prompt.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">CLI <span class="tag code">CODE</span></div>
<p>Stands for Command Line Interface. Just a fancy way to say "the terminal."</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">CLAUDE.md <span class="tag code">CODE</span></div>
<p>A text file you put in your project folder. It's where you write down rules and context Claude should remember every single session.</p>
<p>Examples: "Always use British English." "Don't touch the database files." "Our brand colors are magenta and gold."</p>
<p>Claude reads it automatically every time it opens that project.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">.claude Directory <span class="tag code">CODE</span></div>
<p>A hidden folder where Claude Code stores skills, settings, and configuration for your project.</p>
<p>You usually don't touch it directly. Claude manages it for you.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Permission Mode <span class="tag code">CODE</span></div>
<p>Controls how much Claude can do without asking you first.</p>
<p>Default mode asks before every change. Auto-accept lets it run free. Plan mode lets it think but not touch anything.</p>
<p>You toggle between them by pressing Shift+Tab.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Plan Mode <span class="tag code">CODE</span></div>
<p>Claude reads and thinks but does not edit anything. It writes you a plan first. You approve it, then it runs.</p>
<p>Best mode for big risky changes.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Checkpoint <span class="tag code">CODE</span></div>
<p>An automatic snapshot Claude takes before changing a file. So if it messes up, you can rewind.</p>
<p>Hit Esc twice to undo.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Git <span class="tag code">CODE</span></div>
<p>The system developers use to track changes to their code. Like Track Changes in Word, but way more powerful.</p>
<p>Claude Code knows how to use it.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Repo (Repository) <span class="tag code">CODE</span></div>
<p>A project folder tracked by Git. Usually lives on GitHub.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Branch <span class="tag code">CODE</span></div>
<p>A separate version of your project where you can try things without breaking the main version.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Commit <span class="tag code">CODE</span></div>
<p>Saving a snapshot of your changes to Git, with a little note about what you did.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Remote Control <span class="tag code">CODE</span></div>
<p>Lets you control a Claude Code session from your browser or phone, even when the actual work is happening on your laptop.</p>
</div>
<!-- ============ SECTION 6: WHERE TO USE IT ============ -->
<div class="section-header black">★ Where Claude Lives</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Desktop App <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>The Claude app you install on your Mac or Windows machine. This is where Cowork lives. Code can also run inside it.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Mobile App <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>Claude on your phone. Pair it with your desktop and you can dispatch tasks from anywhere.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Claude in Chrome <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>A browser extension that lets Claude actually navigate websites, click things, fill out forms.</p>
<p>Currently in beta.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Claude for Excel / PowerPoint <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>Add-ins that put Claude directly inside Microsoft Office. So you can build spreadsheets and decks without leaving the app.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">API <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>The way developers plug Claude into their own software.</p>
<p>You probably don't need this directly. But if someone says "I built it on the Claude API," they mean their app calls Claude in the background to do the AI work.</p>
</div>
<!-- ============ SECTION 7: PLANS ============ -->
<div class="section-header">★ Plans & Pricing Words</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Pro <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>The personal paid plan. About twenty bucks a month. Gets you Cowork, Code, and most features. Has usage limits.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Max <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>The heavy-user plan. More usage. Faster access to new features. Hundred to two hundred a month.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Team <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>For small businesses. Everyone on the team gets Claude. You can share skills across the team.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Enterprise <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>For big companies. Adds admin controls, security features, single sign-on, all that corporate stuff.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Usage Limit <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>The cap on how much Claude you can use in a window of time. Cowork eats through limits faster than chat.</p>
</div>
<!-- ============ SECTION 8: ESSENTIAL COMMANDS ============ -->
<div class="section-header gold">★ Commands You'll Actually Type</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name"><code>/help</code> <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>Shows you what Claude can do.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name"><code>/clear</code> <span class="tag both">BOTH</span></div>
<p>Wipes the conversation. Fresh start.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name"><code>/init</code> <span class="tag code">CODE</span></div>
<p>Walks you through creating a CLAUDE.md for your project. Run this once when you start.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name"><code>/context</code> <span class="tag code">CODE</span></div>
<p>Shows you what's eating up Claude's memory right now. Helpful when things are running slow.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name"><code>/resume</code> or <code>claude -c</code> <span class="tag code">CODE</span></div>
<p>Picks up your last conversation right where you left it.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name"><code>/login</code> <span class="tag code">CODE</span></div>
<p>Switch accounts.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name"><code>/agents</code> <span class="tag code">CODE</span></div>
<p>Set up custom subagents.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name"><code>/doctor</code> <span class="tag code">CODE</span></div>
<p>Diagnoses what's wrong if Claude Code is acting weird.</p>
</div>
<!-- ============ FINAL NOTE ============ -->
<div class="section-header black">★ The Real Talk Bonus Section</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Vibe Coding</div>
<p>The casual style of building software by talking to Claude in plain English. "Build me a quiz." "Add a calendar."</p>
<p>You don't write the code. You describe what you want. Claude writes it.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Distributional Convergence</div>
<p>The reason every AI-generated landing page looks the same. Purple gradient. Inter font. Rounded cards.</p>
<p>AI defaults to the average of everything it has seen. Skills are the cure.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Auto Memory <span class="tag code">CODE</span></div>
<p>Things Claude saves on its own as you work. Patterns. Preferences. Quirks of your project.</p>
<p>Loads automatically when you start a new session.</p>
</div>
<div class="term">
<div class="term-name">Worktree <span class="tag code">CODE</span></div>
<p>A way to have two Claude Code sessions running on two different branches of your project at the same time.</p>
<p>Power user move.</p>
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<p><strong>That's the foundation, dahlink.</strong></p>
<p>You don't need to memorize all of it.</p>
<p>Just come back when someone uses a word you don't know.</p>
<p>Then go get weird.</p>
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<div class="star">★</div>
<h3>The more fun we have, the more money we make.</h3>
<p>The Prepared Performer · Molly Mahoney</p>
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</html>MOLLY MAHONEY
Partner with Molly 1:1 or have her train your whole team so you can use AI Marketing to Amplify Your Impact, Elevate Your Strategy, and Unlock Your Unique Magic.