The exact prompts I'd run if I started over with AI.

Five steps. Most of it happens before you automate anything.

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Yes, the actual terminal. This keeps every file local on your machine, which means your numbers, your customer info, your business data never leaves your control. It is the part most people skip and it is the part that matters most.

The terminal is not a developer tool. It is a text box. You type what you want done. Claude does it. The only difference from the browser version is that this one can actually read your files, edit your documents, and touch your real work.

Full setup takes about five minutes and requires no coding knowledge: Set Up Claude Code in Your Terminal →

Once you are set up, Steps 2 through 5 all happen right here — in Claude Code, inside your terminal.

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Have Claude ask you 50 questions minimum about how you think, how you decide, what you are good at, where you avoid. Give it a full hour. The output is one file that is basically your brain on paper. Now anything you build actually understands how you operate.

In Claude Code, start a new conversation. Paste this:

1. The prompt:"Ask me 50 questions — minimum — about how I think, how I make decisions, what I am good at, and where I avoid. One question at a time. Do not summarize until I say we are done. When we finish, write everything you learned into one file called [yourname]-operating-system.md. That file is the context I will attach to every future build."

Answer every question honestly, including the ones that feel too personal for a business conversation. The parts you want to skip are usually the parts that matter most.

What this produces: A file that lives on your laptop. Every time you start a new project, you attach it. Claude already knows how you think, what you avoid, and how you make decisions. You stop re-explaining yourself from scratch in every conversation.

This is not journaling. This is documentation. The difference is that documentation gets used.

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One file per business. The offer, the customer, the money in and out, the parts held together with duct tape. An hour each. This is the context every future build runs on.

Same structure as Step 2. One fresh conversation per business. Paste this for each one:

1. The prompt:"Ask me 50 questions about [business name]. Cover: what I actually sell and what actually sells, who the customer is and why they buy, the money coming in and the money going out, what is held together with duct tape, what I avoid looking at, and where my attention goes when it should be somewhere else. One question at a time. When we finish, write everything into one file called [businessname]-context.md."

If you run more than one business, do this for each one. An hour each. This is not optional.

What this produces: A file per business that goes with you into every build, every content project, every decision Claude helps you make. Without this, every conversation starts from zero and you are the integration layer doing all the translating.

Most business owners are running four things with zero documentation and wondering why their AI feels generic. This is why.

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Tell it how many projects and businesses you are really juggling and let it build the layout. Now your operating brain has a home instead of living in a hundred tabs and a head full of open loops.

Once you have your files from Steps 2 and 3, paste this into a new conversation:

1. The prompt:"I am running [number] businesses and [number] active projects. Here is the full list: [list each one]. Design a folder structure for my laptop that holds all of this. Make it make sense at 10pm when I am tired. Include one folder per business, sub-folders for active projects inside each, a shared folder for anything that crosses businesses, and a place for context files like the ones we just made. Show me the full structure as a tree."

Claude will output a folder structure. Create it. Move your files in. This takes about 20 minutes and it will feel like something you should have done a year ago.

What this produces: An actual home for your operating brain. Not a new app. Not another subscription. A folder structure that matches how your business actually works, built with real context instead of guessed at.

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Most business owners honestly cannot name what is draining them or what AI could even touch. So do not guess. Have Claude walk through your week and pull out the repetitive, draining tasks hiding in plain sight. That answer becomes your first build.

1. The prompt:"Walk me through my work week. Ask me about each day — what I am doing, what I repeat, what drains me, what takes longer than it should, and what I avoid. One question at a time. After we go through the full week, pull out the three to five tasks that are most repetitive or most draining. For each one, tell me whether AI could touch it and what a simple first build might look like. Do not recommend tools. Just describe the workflow."

Answer honestly. The tasks that feel too small or too embarrassing to mention are usually the ones running in the background every week taking up hours you have stopped counting.

What this produces: Your first build. Not a tool stack. Not a YouTube playlist. One workflow — the real bottleneck you named, with a clear description of what automating it would look like. That is the conversation you take back into Claude Code.

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No tool-chasing. No hacks. Just context, structure, and one honest look at where your time actually goes.

You now have four files and one clear first build. The files are your operating context — every future project starts by attaching the relevant ones. The first build is your next weekend in Claude Code.