CRAFT Tutorials · Getting Started · 6 of 12
A recipe is a saved set of steps Claude runs for you. There’s nothing to install or open — you ask for it by name, in plain language. This is the one core skill everything else builds on.
Here’s a little secret: you’ve already run a recipe. Back in End a CRAFT session, “save a handoff” was a recipe — you named what you wanted, and Claude ran the steps. Let’s make that pattern explicit and try a few more on purpose.
The whole pattern
No menu to open, no command to memorize, no special syntax. You name what you want — by recipe name or just in plain words — and Claude runs the steps the recipe defines, the same reliable way each time.
Try one now
The easiest one to feel is the handoff. In the chat, say:
✓ You’ll know it worked when Claude carries out the steps and tells you what it did — without you having to spell out how. That’s a recipe running. You described the outcome; the recipe supplied the method.
Once that clicks, try a few more — all in plain language:
- “Back up this file before we change it.” — saves a safe copy first.
- “Validate this claim for me.” — checks something before you rely on it.
- “Plan this initiative.” — turns a fuzzy goal into a structured plan.
- “What is CRAFT?” — a one-minute, plain-English explainer.
You don’t need exact words — and you stay in control
You don’t have to phrase it perfectly. If your wording is close, Claude picks the right recipe; if it’s unsure, it asks — so you can’t really get it wrong. And recipes that change files will tell you what they’re about to do, and ask first where it matters. Nothing happens to your files by surprise.
Don’t worry about memorizing recipes. You don’t need to know what’s available to start — just describe what you want. The next post, Which recipes you get, and how to use them, covers what comes in the box and how to find any recipe when you want one.
That’s the core move. Everything else in CRAFT is built on it: say what you want, and Claude runs the recipe. Next up: Which recipes you get, and how to use them.