Learning Paths (Choose Your Track)
Pick the track that sounds most like you. Each one is an ordered path — do the steps in order, skip what you already know. Times are rough.
- Find the single track that matches your goals — newcomer, knowledge worker, builder, or team lead
- Follow a clear, ordered reading path instead of guessing where to start
- Know roughly how much time each track takes (~45 min to ~½ day)
- Where to begin if none of the tracks feels like an obvious fit
:::tip Not sure which track is yours? Match on your goal, not your job title. Want results without coding? Newcomer. Faster real work? Knowledge Worker. Customizing Claude Code or the API? Builder. Rolling AI out to others? Team Lead. :::
🌱 The Curious Newcomer · ~45 min
You want to use AI well without becoming a programmer.
- Beginner. Get a real result from Claude in five minutes. /docs/start-here/your-first-5-minutes
- Beginner. Pick the right model for what you're doing. /docs/start-here/which-claude
- Beginner. The core moves that make answers better. /docs/prompting/basics
- Beginner. A plain-language mental model of how Claude works. /docs/foundations
- Beginner. Apply it to daily tasks and small wins. /docs/playbooks/productivity
💼 The Knowledge Worker · ~2 hrs
You want AI to make your real job faster — writing, research, analysis.
- Do the ~45 min track above first, then continue below.
- All levels. Reusable patterns you can lift into real work. /docs/prompting
- Intermediate. Make outputs you can actually trust. /docs/foundations
- Choose Writing, Research, or Data Analysis. /docs/playbooks
- Persistent workspaces (/docs/claude-app) and templates you reuse (/docs/templates).
🛠️ The Builder / Developer · ~½ day
You write code and want to customize Claude Code and build on the API.
- Beginner. What the CLI is and why it matters. /docs/claude-code/what-is-claude-code
- Beginner. Teach Claude your project and plan before it acts. /docs/claude-code
- Intermediate. Control what Claude can do and how it behaves. /docs/claude-code
- Advanced. Go from one call to tool use to full agents. Start at /docs/api/first-call then /docs/api
- Intermediate. Put it all together on an actual project. /docs/walkthroughs
- Advanced. Ship safely once you're building for real. /docs/security
👥 The Team Lead · ~3 hrs
You're rolling AI out to a team and care about consistency, safety, and cost.
- Cover the Builder basics above before continuing here.
- Advanced. Ship a shared toolkit so the team works the same way. /docs/claude-code
- Intermediate. Balance speed, quality, and spend. /docs/foundations and /docs/api/choosing-a-model
- Advanced. Make autonomous runs safe at scale. /docs/security
- All levels. Set the norms the team holds to. /docs/security
Tracks at a glance
| Track | You are… | Time | First step |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🌱 Curious Newcomer | Using AI well, no coding | ~45 min | Your First 5 Minutes |
| 💼 Knowledge Worker | Speeding up real work | ~2 hrs | Prompt Patterns Library |
| 🛠️ Builder / Developer | Customizing Claude Code + API | ~½ day | What Claude Code Is |
| 👥 Team Lead | Rolling AI out to a team | ~3 hrs | Plugins & Marketplaces |
:::note Tracks build on each other The Knowledge Worker track starts with the whole Newcomer track. The Team Lead track starts with the Builder essentials (steps 1–3). If you finish one track, the next one up is mostly already done. :::
Check yourself
0/3- Four tracks, one rule: pick by goal, then follow the steps in order.
- Times range from ~45 min (Newcomer) to ~½ day (Builder).
- The tracks nest — Knowledge Worker builds on Newcomer; Team Lead builds on Builder.
- When in doubt, start with Your First 5 Minutes — it pays off on any track.
Not sure which fits? Start with Your First 5 Minutes — it's useful no matter where you end up. And read How Levels & Freshness Work so the badges and dates make sense.