The questions students ask most
The same handful come up in nearly every lesson, so they are written down once here. Tap a question to open it.
Do I need to pay extra for an API key?
For normal use, no.
- Your Claude Pro or Max plan covers three surfaces: Claude.ai Chat, Cowork and Claude Code.
- An API key is only for a standalone webapp or tool that calls the Anthropic API directly. It is billed separately, per token.
- No web page can sign in to your personal plan.
Why did Claude stop or say it hit a limit?
Your plan has usage limits that reset over time, so waiting a while usually clears it.
Very long single sessions can also drift and get worse. If answers start going sideways, close the conversation and start a fresh one.
Is my private data safe? Is it reading my files?
It only reads what you point it at, nothing else on your computer.
As a habit, never paste passwords, keys, or other secrets into a chat.
Pro or Max, which do I need?
Start on Pro. It is plenty for learning and everyday work.
Move up to Max only if you keep hitting limits or you run heavy, long workloads regularly.
Do I need to know how to code?
No. That is the whole point. You describe what you want in plain English and the AI does the building.
It gave me a made-up or off-target answer. What now?
Treat it like a confident new hire: check important answers against a real source, and ask it to cite where its claim comes from.
For anything that matters, add a reviewer step. See /loops/ for how, and the receipts for the evidence that it works.
What is a token or a context window?
Tokens are the small chunks of text the AI reads and writes. The context window is how much it can hold in mind at once.
Match these and the rest of the core terms in the vocab gym.
Still deciding which surface to open? Read Chat vs Cowork → New to the whole thing? Start with Claude 101 →
Bring it to a free 30-minute chat and we will work through it together: calendly.com/seanmccloskey/30min.