Nick Perry uses a contractor metaphor to explain Claude's core features: Claude.md as a project briefing that shapes how Claude works, Skills as trade manuals for repeatable tasks, MCPs as external connections to Gmail or Slack, and effort settings that control how much Claude thinks before acting. Adjust effort from quick fixes to thorough, detail-oriented work depending on what you need.
Chapters
Claude skills, MCPS, low effort, high effort, Ultra Giga Code, Max X workflow effort. Look, if you're like most people who are lost on all of this nerdy stuff, then watch this video. Because by the end, it's gonna make so much sense that you'll turn that into dollars. See, Claude is your contractor. Your Claude.md file is the briefing package. It tells your contractor how you work and gives the whole project its memory. Skills are the trade manuals. These are any tasks you'd have to explain over and over, like how to lay concrete. MCPs are your suppliers. In Claude, they're the connections like Gmail, Slack, and anything outside the job site that Claude needs to reach. And those effort settings from the start? That's just how hard you're telling your contractor to think before they pick up a tool. Low effort is a quick patch job, fast and good enough for the simple stuff. Max makes Claude slow down, measure twice, and sweat every detail on the big complicated builds. Give me a follow because you finally know exactly what does what.
