Set up Claude Code with Steven's AI Stack

Install Claude Code

1.1 Open Terminal

Press Cmd + Space, type Terminal, hit Enter. This opens your Mac's command line. Every command below gets pasted into this window and run by pressing Enter.

1.2 Install Homebrew

Homebrew is Mac's package manager. It lets you install developer tools. Paste this entire line and press Enter:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"copy + paste

It will ask for your Mac password (the one you use to log in). Type it — you won't see characters appear, that's normal — and press Enter.

1.3 Install Node.js

Node.js is the runtime Claude Code needs:

brew install node

Wait for it to finish (1–2 minutes). Then verify it worked:

node --version

You should see something like v22.x.x. If you see "command not found", close Terminal completely (Cmd+Q) and reopen it, then try again.

1.4 Install Claude Code

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

1.5 First Run — Sign In

claude

It will open a browser window to sign in. Create a Claude account (or sign in with your existing one) and approve the connection. Claude Code bills through your Claude account — no separate API key needed.

Once connected, you should see the Claude Code prompt (a > waiting for input). Type /exit to quit for now — we need to install skills first.

Install Skills (Steven's Ecommerce Stack)

Steven will give you a file called ecom-skills-pack.zip. Unzip it and copy the skills into place:

# Go to your Downloads folder
cd ~/Downloads

# Unzip the pack
unzip ecom-skills-pack.zip

# Create the skills directory if it doesn't exist
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills

# Copy skills into place
cp -r ecom-skills-pack/skills/* ~/.claude/skills/copy + paste

Verify they installed:

ls ~/.claude/skills/

You should see folders like ecommerce, copywriting-engine, creative-diversity-matrix, etc.

What's in the Pack

Install Plugins

Plugins are community-built extensions. Run each command in Terminal:

# Core workflow system (brainstorming, planning, code review)
claude plugins install superpowers@claude-plugins-official

# Browser automation and screenshots
claude plugins install playwright@claude-plugins-official

# UI/frontend design
claude plugins install frontend-design@claude-plugins-officialrun each line

Set Permissions (Auto-Approve Everything)

By default, Claude Code asks "Allow?" before every single action — reading a file, running a command, editing code. This makes it unusable for real work. We're going to tell it to just do its job.

Paste this entire block into Terminal:

cat > ~/.claude/settings.json << 'EOF'
{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": [
      "Bash",
      "Read",
      "Write",
      "Edit",
      "Glob",
      "Grep",
      "WebFetch",
      "WebSearch",
      "TodoWrite",
      "NotebookEdit",
      "mcp__plugin_playwright_playwright__browser_navigate",
      "mcp__plugin_playwright_playwright__browser_click",
      "mcp__plugin_playwright_playwright__browser_snapshot",
      "mcp__plugin_playwright_playwright__browser_take_screenshot",
      "mcp__plugin_playwright_playwright__browser_fill_form",
      "mcp__plugin_playwright_playwright__browser_hover",
      "mcp__plugin_playwright_playwright__browser_press_key",
      "mcp__plugin_playwright_playwright__browser_type",
      "mcp__plugin_playwright_playwright__browser_select_option",
      "mcp__plugin_playwright_playwright__browser_evaluate",
      "mcp__plugin_playwright_playwright__browser_resize",
      "mcp__plugin_playwright_playwright__browser_navigate_back",
      "mcp__plugin_playwright_playwright__browser_tabs",
      "mcp__plugin_playwright_playwright__browser_close",
      "mcp__plugin_playwright_playwright__browser_wait_for",
      "mcp__plugin_playwright_playwright__browser_run_code",
      "mcp__plugin_playwright_playwright__browser_console_messages",
      "mcp__plugin_playwright_playwright__browser_network_requests",
      "mcp__plugin_playwright_playwright__browser_file_upload",
      "mcp__plugin_playwright_playwright__browser_handle_dialog",
      "mcp__plugin_playwright_playwright__browser_drag",
      "mcp__plugin_playwright_playwright__browser_drop"
    ]
  },
  "enabledPlugins": {
    "superpowers@claude-plugins-official": true,
    "playwright@claude-plugins-official": true,
    "frontend-design@claude-plugins-official": true
  }
}
EOF
echo "Settings saved."paste entire block

Set Up Your CLAUDE.md

CLAUDE.md is the file that tells Claude who you are and how to work with you. It loads automatically at the start of every conversation.

Create It

mkdir -p ~/.claude
touch ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md
open ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md

This opens the file in TextEdit. Paste the template below and customize the bracketed parts:

# Context

## Who I Am
[Your name] — [your role]. [One sentence about what you do.]

## How to Work With Me
Be direct. [Add your preferences — terse vs detailed,
ask before acting vs move fast, etc.]

## Skill Check (EVERY TASK)
Before responding to any task, scan the available skills list.
If any skill's trigger matches — invoke it.

### Skill Routing
**Ecommerce / DTC / Ads:** Invoke the `ecommerce` router skill.
It dispatches to the right sub-skill(s).

## My Brand
- Brand: [your brand name]
- Product: [what you sell]
- Website: [your URL]
- Ad account: [Meta ad account name and ID if applicable]

## Key Rules
- [e.g., "never pause Meta campaigns without asking me first"]
- [e.g., "Meta token at ~/.claude/meta-token.txt"]customize this

Save the file (Cmd+S) and close TextEdit.

How to Use It

Start Claude Code

# Create a folder for your brand and start Claude there
mkdir -p ~/Documents/my-brand
cd ~/Documents/my-brand
claude

Your First Session: Analyze Your Store

Before generating any creative, copy, or ads — Claude needs to understand your brand. Start your very first session by having Claude study your website:

"Go to https://mystore.com and analyze everything.
Scrape the homepage, product pages, and about page.
I want you to understand my brand voice, product positioning,
pricing, ingredients/features, customer reviews, and current
design. Save what you learn so you remember it next session."customize URL

Claude will crawl your site, pull product details, pricing, reviews, founder story, and brand voice — then save it to memory so every future session starts with that context.

Load Your Story Codex (If You Have One)

If Steven built a Story Codex for your brand during coaching, feed it to Claude in your first session:

"Read the Story Codex at ~/Documents/my-brand/story-codex.md
and use it as the foundation for all copy and creative."adjust file path

The Story Codex contains your brand's core narrative — enemy, identity pain, belief gaps, transformation story, and proof points. With both the site analysis and the Story Codex loaded, Claude has everything it needs to write copy that actually sounds like your brand.

After setup, try these:

"Build a creative diversity matrix — 20 static ad concepts"
"Write a welcome email flow for new subscribers"
"Audit my Meta ad account"
"Build a landing page for my hero product"

Talk to It Like a Person

Don't write code or give technical instructions. Just say what you need:

"Generate 10 ad variations for my immune drops product"
"Write a welcome email flow for new subscribers"
"Audit my Meta ad account"
"Build a landing page for the summer sale"
"Create a Story Codex for my brand"
"Analyze last month's ad performance — here's the CSV"
"Write copy for a 3-bottle bundle offer"

The ecommerce router automatically dispatches to the right skill.

Useful Commands

Working With Files

Claude can read and work with files on your computer:

"Read the file at ~/Downloads/ad-report.csv and analyze it"
"Open the landing page at ~/Documents/brand/index.html"
"Edit the copy in that email template"

Working With the Browser

Claude can open a browser, navigate pages, take screenshots, and interact:

"Open my website and screenshot the homepage at mobile size"
"Navigate to my Shopify store and check the product page"
"Take a full-page screenshot of the landing page"

How Skills Work

Skills give Claude specialized knowledge for specific tasks. You don't need to call them manually — just describe what you need and the right skill activates.

The Router Pattern

The ecommerce skill is the main router. When you say anything related to ads, copy, landing pages, email, offers, or performance — it dispatches to the right sub-skill automatically.

You say:    "I need ad creative for my supplement"
Claude:     ecommerce trigger → creative-diversity-matrix
Result:     22-format ad gallery with your product

Skill Triggers

Memory Structure

If Steven sets up memory for your brand, Claude remembers context across sessions:

~/.claude/projects/[project]/memory/
  session-state.md              # What was worked on, what's next
  brand-states/brand.json       # Current phase, campaigns, blockers
  brand-states/proven-patterns.md  # What the market validated
  reflections.md                # Operational learnings
  MEMORY.md                     # Index of all memory files

Claude reads these at session start to pick up where you left off.

Connect Your Platforms

Claude can manage your Meta ads, Shopify store, and Klaviyo emails directly — but it needs API tokens to authenticate. Each one takes about 5 minutes to set up.

Meta Ads

Required for: ad performance analysis, campaign launching, account audits, creative uploads.

echo "YOUR_TOKEN" > ~/.claude/meta-token.txt
chmod 600 ~/.claude/meta-token.txt

## Meta Ads
- Ad account: act_XXXXXXXXX
- Page ID: XXXXXXXXX
- Token: ~/.claude/meta-token.txt

Shopify

Required for: theme edits, product updates, page creation, deployment.

npx shopify version

npx shopify auth login --store your-store.myshopify.com

It will open a browser window. Log in with your Shopify admin credentials and approve the access request.

npx shopify theme list --store your-store.myshopify.com

The one marked [live] is your active theme. Note the ID number.

## Shopify
- Store: your-store.myshopify.com
- Live theme ID: XXXXXXXXX
- Deploy command: npx shopify theme push --theme XXXXXXXXX
    --allow-live --store your-store.myshopify.com

Klaviyo

Required for: email flow creation, campaign sends, list management, subscriber data.

echo "YOUR_KLAVIYO_PRIVATE_KEY" > ~/.claude/klaviyo-token.txt
chmod 600 ~/.claude/klaviyo-token.txt

## Klaviyo
- Token: ~/.claude/klaviyo-token.txt
- API docs: developers.klaviyo.com/en/reference

Google / Gemini (AI Image Generation)

Required for: generating product images, lifestyle photos, ad backgrounds with AI.

echo "GOOGLE_API_KEY=your_key_here" > ~/.env.google
chmod 600 ~/.env.google

Troubleshooting

"Command not found: claude"

Node.js or npm isn't in your PATH. Try:

# Close Terminal completely (Cmd+Q) and reopen, then:
claude

# If still broken, run this to fix your PATH permanently:
echo 'export PATH="$PATH:/opt/homebrew/bin:$(npm bin -g)"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc
claude

"Permission denied" errors

Type y to allow once, or re-run the permissions block from Part 4.

Skills aren't showing up

ls ~/.claude/skills/

Each skill should be a folder containing a SKILL.md file.

Sign-in issues

Re-authenticate:

claude auth login

Claude is slow

Switch to a faster model by typing /model sonnet inside Claude Code. Opus is smartest but slower. Sonnet handles most tasks. Haiku is fastest for simple stuff.

Something broke — start fresh

Type /clear inside Claude Code. This wipes the conversation but keeps your skills and settings intact.

Claude Dashboard (Optional)

Claude Code runs in Terminal by default — one session at a time. Steven built an open-source desktop app called Claude Dashboard that lets you run multiple Claude Code sessions side-by-side in a tiled GUI.

Why Steven Uses It

Install It

# Clone the repo
cd ~/Documents
git clone https://github.com/entrepreneurshiphacks123/claude-dashboard.git
cd claude-dashboard

# Install dependencies and start
npm install
npm startcopy + paste

It opens as a desktop app. You can also build it as a standalone app with npm run build.