Understanding AI  ·  Lecture five

Use AI Agents
Like a Pro

Claude is a chef. Let him into your kitchen.
MOHAMED MASLOOH  ·  21 OCTOBER 2026
The idea  ·  Claude is a chef

What is an AI agent?

The chef sits on a chair with one book
Chatbot: answers

The chef on a chair, with one book.

“Answer me from this book only.”
it answers, then it waits
The chef works in the kitchen with his tools
Agent: does the work

The chef in your kitchen, with tools. He cooks.

Read
Plan
Make
Check
Uses tools
Checks its own result
You can interrupt
Claude Code Docs, “Best practices” and “How Claude Code works”; checked 19 Oct 2026
The loop  ·  the chef’s loop

How does an agent work?

Gather
context
Take
action
Check the
result
look
cook
taste, adjust
Your goal
Done
repeat
until done
Claudeworkingdone
Make the slides for Wednesday
  1. Reads your notes in Google DriveGather
  2. Searches the web for one missing factGather
  3. Writes slides.htmlAction
  4. Opens the slides to check slide 4 overflowsCheck
  5. Goes back: shortens slide 4Action
  6. Checks again every slide fitsCheck
  7. Done: slides.html is ready
Tools Web search Files Commands Connected apps
It can start other agentsRemember from last time: the agent team.
Second agentcheck every source
Sources
Claude Code Docs, “How Claude Code works” (the agentic loop); checked 19 Oct 2026
One Claude

What changed on 16 September?

Before: choose Chat or Cowork first Since 16 Sep 2026: one Claude
ChatCowork
Claude
Describe the job
+
Manual asks first / Auto
By default it asks before acting
Pro and Max, rolling out gradually
One chef, one kitchen door.
claude.com/blog  ·  Sep 16, 2026
Claude Cowork and chat are now one Claude
Anthropic, “Claude Cowork and chat are now one Claude,” 16 Sep 2026; Claude Help Center, “Claude Cowork and chat are one Claude”; checked 19 Oct 2026
Cowork and Code

Where does the agent work?

One chef at a kitchen counter on your computer, and the same chef at a counter on a cloud
Your computer
Claude Code reads, edits, creates files, runs commands in your folder
Cowork isolated sandbox, with a folder you connect Since 6 Oct, new Pro and Max tasks run in Anthropic’s cloud
Same chef, different kitchens. The same agent underneath; what differs is where it runs. Anthropic’s own words “the same agentic architecture that powers Claude Code”
Anthropic Help Center, “Claude Cowork architecture overview” and “Get started with Claude Cowork”; Anthropic Engineering, “How we contain Claude”; Claude Code Docs, “How Claude Code works”; checked 19 Oct 2026
Cowork and Code

What does Claude Code look like?

Summary of notes
Make a one-page summary of these notes
Read 3 files
Created summary.html

Done. The summary is one page with three sections: the main points, the numbers, and what to read next.

+Describe a task
Manualasks before each edit or command
Accept edits
Plan
Autoa second model checks each step
Bypass permissionsno checks at all: only in a sandbox
Auto Opus 5.5 Medium
1A tab in the Claude app
2You pick a folder
3You type, no terminal needed
4Checks each step first
Real examples  ·  dishes I made with this chef

What have I made with Claude Code?

The maslooh.com home page
maslooh.comMy website: lectures, work, contact
The Triviadox home page
TriviadoxA trivia and study website, Arabic and English
The Anis app after a transcription
AnisArabic‑first voice‑to‑text app
The Warid website
WaridOpen-source desktop app: voice to text
The staff-round poster for this lecture
Staff-round postersThis lecture’s poster
I wrote no code
Side by side

Cowork or Code?

Codethe chef in your own kitchen
Coworka cloud kitchen, only the ingredients you send
Made for Anthropic’s own words
software development
research, document editing, spreadsheet work
Where its commands run
on your own computer
in a cloud sandboxnew Pro and Max tasks, since 6 Oct
Your files
the folder you openand any other folder or command on your computer, if you allow it
only folders you connect, while the app is open
Claude Code Docs, “Claude Code Desktop” (Code tab compared with Cowork) and “Configure permissions” (working directories, checked 20 Oct 2026); Claude Help Center, “Claude Cowork architecture overview”; Claude Help Center, “Get started with Claude Cowork”; checked 19 Oct 2026
Tips and tricks  ·  start here

How should you talk to the chef?

“Like a coworker or friend.”
Anthropic’s own words

“We’ve found the best way to prompt Claude is by speaking to it like you would a coworker or friend.”

Performing for it

“Act as a world-class expert. You will now generate an optimal, comprehensive, high-quality summary of the following notes. Ensure maximum clarity.”

Talking as yourself

“I’m giving a talk on Wednesday, 30 minutes, to doctors who aren’t technical. Can you help me cut these notes down? I like short slides.”

Be yourself. Tell him your taste.
He cooks for you.
He keeps your taste in memory → later today
Anthropic Help Center, “How do I talk to Claude?”; Claude Docs, “Be clear and direct”; checked 20 Oct 2026
Tips and tricks  ·  the big idea

What doesn’t the chef know?

A finished jigsaw puzzle of the whole world of knowledge; every piece is in place except one, whose empty hole glows; a small orange character looks at it
your order

Give him your full order

  • Who you are
  • Who it’s for, and what it’s for
  • What you already have files, examples
  • What a good result looks like

Let him ask you first

“Before you start, ask me what you need.”
Claude Code Docs, “Best practices” (provide specific context in your prompts); checked 19 Oct 2026
Tips and tricks  ·  1 of 14

Ask it to ask you first

An agent holds up three option cards, the middle one glowing, under a question bubble
“Before you start, ask me what you need.”
“Give me options A, B, C.”
A
B
C
B
A good chef asks “Spicy? Any allergies?” and offers three tasting spoons. Answer with one letter.
Claude Code Docs, “Best practices” (Let Claude interview you); checked 19 Oct 2026
Tips and tricks  ·  2 of 14

What do you do when it gets it wrong?

Correct it early“Less salt” now, not after the meal: it builds on your feedback
Draft 1
Shorter.
Draft 2
Add the time.
Draft 3
Corrected twice, still wrong?“the context is cluttered with failed approaches”Anthropic’s own words
Draft 1
Shorter.
Draft 2
Still too long.
Draft 3
New plate, better order
Start fresh with a better prompt
+ ask “where are we?” first
DecidedDoneLeft
Claude Code Docs, “Best practices” (course-correct early and often; clear context between tasks); checked 19 Oct 2026
Tips and tricks  ·  3 of 14

Say exactly what you don’t like

In a text
Results

“These results prove the method works for everyone.”

This sentence is too strong. Say only what the data shows.
In a picture
The top of this lecture's staff-round poster
1
2
3
4
1 One line2 Bigger3 Remove4 Smaller
“The sauce is too salty,” not “I don’t like it.”
Point at the exact sentence, word or spot. Then say what’s wrong with it.
Tips and tricks  ·  4 of 14

Ask it to be critical

“Review my draft. Be critical: tell me what’s weak.”
Without it

“Great work! This is clear, well written and ready to submit.”

With it

“Three weak points:

  1. The aim is vague.
  2. The sample is small for this claim.
  3. The conclusion goes beyond the results.”
Ask for the honest critic, not the polite waiter.
Why it matters Models tend to give answers that match what you believe over the truthful answer. Anthropic’s own research
Anthropic, “Towards understanding sycophancy in language models”, 23 Oct 2023; checked 20 Oct 2026
Tips and tricks  ·  5 of 14

Let a second, fresh chat attack the first

One agent holds up a page; a second agent with glasses inspects it with a magnifying glass and finds three marked spots
A second chef tastes the dish.He didn’t cook it, so he isn’t attached to it.
Chat 1
Summarise this paper for me.
The answer
copy
Chat 2 (new)
Find what is wrong or missing.
1
2
3
Then check the facts yourself.
Claude Code Docs, “Best practices” (a fresh context reviews without bias toward what it just wrote); checked 19 Oct 2026
Tips and tricks  ·  6 of 14

Ask for an HTML page, not plain text

Chat
Compare these three laptops for me.

Here’s how the three compare:

1. Laptop A — the all-rounder (7.6/10)

  • Price: $899
  • Weight: 1.4 kg
  • Battery: about 11 hours

2. Laptop B — lightest, longest battery (9.1/10)

  • Price: $1,099
  • Weight: 1.2 kg
  • Battery: about 15 hours

3. Laptop C — the budget pick (6.4/10)

  • Price: $749
  • Weight: 1.8 kg
  • Battery: about 8 hours

Bottom line: if you carry it every day, go with B. If price matters most, C saves you $350.

Make it an HTML page with charts and pictures.
Same food,
better plating.
laptops.html
Laptop comparison3 models · price, weight, battery, overall score
Winner: Laptop B
Laptop A$899 1.4 kg · 11 h All-rounder
Best pick
Laptop B$1,099 1.2 kg · 15 h Lightest
Laptop C$749 1.8 kg · 8 h Cheapest
Battery life
11 hA
15 hB
8 hC
Overall score
9.1B 7.6A 6.4C
Price vs weight $1.1k$900$700 1 kg1.52 kg A B C light & long-lasting
My own habit; the three laptops and their numbers are a made-up example
Tips and tricks  ·  7 of 14

Day one: let it interview you

New chat
I’m a doctor, interested in AI. Ask me what you need to know about me, so you can help me exactly the way I want.
Claude

Happy to. A few quick questions:

  1. What’s your role and specialty?
  2. What do you want help with most?
  3. Arabic, English, or both?
  4. Short answers or detailed ones?
A good chef interviews a new regular first.
What Claude now knows about me
RoleDoctor, into AI
Main usesTeaching, writing, building tools
LanguageArabic and English
AnswersShort first, details if I ask
kept in memory
My own experience; the chat is a reconstruction, not the exact words. Memory: Claude Help Center, “Use Claude’s chat search and memory to build on previous context”; checked 19 Oct 2026
Tips and tricks  ·  8 of 14

Memory, and searching old chats

Settings GeneralProfileMemoryConnectorsPrivacy
Memory
MemoryClaude remembers useful details from your chats
See it, edit it, turn it off · on by default for Free, Pro, Max
Search past chatsClaude can look up earlier conversations
Paid plans
What Claude remembersNothing yetView and edit
Incognito chat not saved
A good chef remembers his regulars’ taste.
Projects remember from last timeEach project has its own memory.
Tips and tricks  ·  9 of 14

Make your own skills, and keep them few

The agent hemmed in by walls of instruction sheets
Too many rigid recipesEvery step spelled out: no room to use what he knows
The agent walking across an open field past one signpost
A few recipes of your ownSkills made from your own work: direction, not a cage
How to make one“Turn what we just did into a skill.”
“Claude is already very smart. Only add context Claude doesn’t already have.” Anthropic’s own words
Claude Docs, “Skill authoring best practices” (concise is key; degrees of freedom: narrow bridge or open field); checked 20 Oct 2026
Tips and tricks  ·  10 of 14

Claude inside your other apps

Chrome

Reads the page you’re on and works in it: clicks, fills forms, moves between tabs.

Extension · paid plans
PowerPoint

Builds a deck from your template, edits slides, turns bullets into charts.

Add-in · paid plans
Google Docs, Sheets, Slides

A Claude sidebar inside your file; it asks before it edits.

Sidebar · since 6 Oct · beta
The chef also cooks in kitchens you already use: no copy and paste between windows.
Claude Help Center, “Get started with Claude in Chrome”, “Use Claude for PowerPoint”, release notes (Google Workspace sidebar, 6 Oct 2026); checked 20 Oct 2026
Tips and tricks  ·  11 of 14

A browser inside Claude

Home page
Build the home page for the department website
Created index.html
Started the preview on localhost:3000

The home page is ready. Open the Browser to see it.

+ Describe a task <h1> titleMake it shorter
Auto Opus 5.5 Medium
Browser ⌘⇧B
Select an element ⌘⇧S
<h1> title
Claude Code Docs, “Claude Code Desktop” (browse external sites; keyboard shortcuts); checked 20 Oct 2026
Tips and tricks  ·  12 of 14

Remote Control: order from your phone

An agent character works on a laptop; a phone beside it is linked to the laptop by a glowing arc
The chef keeps cookingThe session runs on your computer.
You order from your phone
Send a message
Send a photo
Approve a step
Claude Code Docs, “Remote Control”; checked 19 Oct 2026
Tips and tricks  ·  13 of 14

Can sessions talk to each other?

ResearchDone
Searched 12 sources Created tips.md
Sent a message to Slides
SlidesWorking
Message from Research
Research done: 47 tips, saved in tips.md.

Got it. Adding the tips to slides 11 to 15.

+Describe a task
Like a kitchen brigade: pass on a finding, a decision, a status “instead of you copy-pasting between terminals” Anthropic’s own words
Plain text only
Can’t approve anything
Your permission prompts still apply
Claude Code Docs, “Message your other Claude Code sessions”; checked 20 Oct 2026
Tips and tricks  ·  14 of 14

Scheduled tasks

Every Sunday 8 pmremind me to prepare next week’s slide
Like breakfast ready every morning at 7: you ask once.
Tasks that need your local files or apps run only on your computer.
Describe it once
It runs on a schedule
Even when your computer is asleep
Paid plans
Claude Help Center, “Schedule recurring tasks in Claude Cowork”; checked 19 Oct 2026
Your takeaway

Take it home

6 tips for talking to it

  • Ask first, get options
  • Correct early, restart after 2
  • Say what you don’t like
  • Ask it to be critical
  • Fresh chat as critic
  • Ask for an HTML page

8 tips for what it can do

  • Let it interview you
  • Memory and chat search
  • Your own skills
  • Claude inside your apps
  • Built-in browser
  • Remote Control
  • Session messages
  • Scheduled tasks

Thank you

Missed Lecture 4?
Watch it here

maslooh.com/lectures/
how-this-lecture-was-made

maslooh.com

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