Detailed content
📦 Install the skill
Installing OS Coach is simpler than it seems: you copy a folder to the place where Claude Code looks for your skills. One command, no build, no API keys, no dependencies. Once that's done, the command /os-coach is available in any folder on your machine.
🌱 New here?
A skill from the Claude Code (the terminal program that gives AI hands) is a folder with instructions that become a slash command, like /os-coach. O terminal is the little text screen where you type commands. cp -r means "copy an entire folder." And ~/.claude/skills/ is the drawer where Claude Code stores your account’s skills.
▶ Copy-run · install the OS Coach
Objective: leave the command /os-coach available on your machine. Run it in the terminal, starting from the folder where you downloaded/cloned the repository os-coach.
cp -r <caminho-onde-voce-baixou>/os-coach ~/.claude/skills/
Replace: <path-where-you-downloaded-it> along the actual path (e.g., ~/Downloads). If you're already inside the repo folder, use only cp -r os-coach ~/.claude/skills/.
How to verify: open Claude Code in any folder and type /os-coach help. If it explains the commands, the installation worked. (If the command doesn’t appear, check whether the folder os-coach went directly inside ~/.claude/skills/, with the SKILL.md in there.)
This is the only prerequisite for the entire learning path. From here on, everything happens inside Claude Code.
Why learn
Because it’s the entry point. Without copying the skill, nothing in this track runs. And the fact that it’s just one command reinforces the course's premise: an OS is simple plumbing, not heavy engineering. You're not installing a program; you're putting an instruction file in a drawer.
Key concepts
🧭 What the skill does
You run /os-coach inside any folder and states your goal. The skill then does the technical work for you, one layer at a time: it asks 2 to 3 questions in plain Portuguese, waits for you to answer, and only then creates the real files and folders—explaining what it did and why. The golden rule is clear: the skill builds; you decide.
✓ What the OS Coach DOES
- ✓Creates the files and folders for you with Write/Edit.
- ✓Asks a few questions, waits, and builds when you respond.
- ✓Grounds everything in your actual goal and what’s in the folder.
✗ What the OS Coach DOESN’T do
- ✗It doesn't sound like a manual or dump jargon.
- ✗It doesn't throw all 6 layers at you at once.
- ✗It doesn't decide for you — you're the one who chooses.
💡 Assume you’ve never opened a terminal
This is the turning point: the coach was designed for the person non-technical. When technical terminology is unavoidable, the coach defines it in one sentence with an everyday analogy. You answer simple questions; it handles the hard part.
Why learn
Because it defines the contract between you and the tool. Knowing that you decide, and it builds takes away the fear of “I need to know how to code” and also keeps you in control: the OS reflects the yours choices, not a generic template.
Key concepts
⌨️ The 6 commands
Everything you need to type in this track fits in six verbs. You don't need to memorize anything beyond this. Each one triggers a different skill workflow.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| start <goal> | Starts a new OS in the current folder. The value is your goal. |
| next | Moves to the next unfinished layer and coaches it. |
| layer <name> | Jump to a specific layer (identity, substrate, rules, skills, tools, agents). |
| status | Shows the progress map starting from memory. |
| audit | Scores the entire OS against the objective and gives you the next steps. |
| help | Explains what it does and lists the commands (plus its status, if available). |
🔎 The pair you use most
In practice, 90% of the track is just start once and next several times, with a audit from time to time. layer e status are shortcuts for when you want to skip ahead or just check where you are.
Why learn
Because every module in this track is, at its core, one of these commands in action. Knowing the six in advance gives you the map: 4.2 is the start, 4.3 to 4.5 are the next repeated, and 4.6 is the audit.
Key concepts
🧠 memory.md — memory between sessions
The heart of OS Coach is a text file: the memory.md. It stores your objective, a current layer, the state of each layer and the decisions you've been making. Every run reads it first and updates it finally.
Illustrative recreation — the memory.md skeleton
# OS Coach Memory **Goal:** nunca mais perder um prazo de entrega **Current layer:** substrate ## Layer status - Identity: solid # CLAUDE.md pronto - Substrate: in progress # compendium.md a destilar - Rules: not started ... ## Decisions (append, newest last) - 2026-06-29 objetivo capturado, identidade escrita
💡 Why this is liberating
You can stop midway through a layer, close everything, and return days later in a new session. The coach reads the memory.md, knows exactly where you stopped and continues from there. No "where was I?".
Why learn
Because it’s what turns a volatile conversation into a persistent project. Building an OS takes more than one sitting; the memory.md is what ensures progress survives between them. Persisting state is, in fact, a nonnegotiable golden rule of the skill (next topic).
Key concepts
📜 The 8 golden rules
The skill carries eight rules it never breaks. You don’t need to memorize them, but knowing them tells you what to expect — and when the coach is behaving correctly.
no jargon; defines things with an analogy when needed.
2-3 questions, then wait.
it creates the files, not you.
everything anchored to the goal and the folder.
updates the memory.md every turn.
"where you are" + the next step.
nowhere, neither in the chat nor in the files.
handle in place of the actual value.
💡 The rule that protects you the most
Rule 8 is the guardian of your data: if you mark a name, email, or amount as sensitive, that exact value never is written in a file in the folder. In its place, you use an identifier like "Client A." You’ll see this in action in module 4.2.
Why learn
Because they’re the coach’s character. When it stops and asks instead of guessing, or refuses to write a real name, that’s not a bug—it’s the rule working. Knowing the rules helps you trust the process and notice when something has gone off track.
Key concepts
🛡️ The Guards
Before running any workflow, the skill checks a few guards — safeguards that keep it from doing something foolish. They explain why the coach sometimes stop and ask instead of simply acting.
No memory + wrong command start
If you run next, status or audit in a folder without an OS, it doesn't guess: it says nothing has been started and asks for /os-coach start <objetivo>.
start with an existing OS
It never silently overwrites. It shows the current goal and layer, and asks whether you want to pick up where you left off or start from scratch.
All the layers already solid
It doesn’t invent a seventh layer. It congratulates you and suggests a audit or explore a layer in more depth with layer.
Layer that doesn’t apply to the objective
Instead of inventing work, mark not started with a one-line reason and moves on.
Why learn
Because guards are what make the coach safe to use incorrectly. You can't accidentally delete a finished OS or advance to a layer without a foundation. When it interrupts you, it's the right guard protecting you.
Key concepts
🔁 The Ask → Build → Persist → Next → Audit loop
Everything in the path revolves around the same five-step engine. You take just one small step per turn: the coach question, you answer, it builds the actual file, persists in memory.md, points to the next and—when you want— audits, feeding the cycle back.
How to read: the four amber steps rotate in a cycle, and they all go through the memory.md at the center (read first, write last). The audit in cyan is optional: it scores the OS and returns the result to the cycle. Each module in this track is one turn of that wheel.
▶ Copy-run · your first loop cycle
Objective: confirm that the skill is installed and see the commands in your own words. Open Claude Code in any folder and type:
/os-coach help
How to verify: the coach should respond in plain language, explaining what it does and listing the 6 commands. If you’ve already started an OS in that folder, it also shows your current status. That’s the green light to go to module 4.2 and run the start for real.
Note that help doesn’t create anything or need an OS — it’s safe to run at any time.
Why learn
Because the loop sets the pace for everything that follows. Internalizing “one small step per turn, always persisted” lets you relax: you don’t have to keep the whole plan in your head. The coach asks, you answer, it builds. Repeat.
Key concepts
✅ Module summary
Next module:
4.2 — start: the goal becomes Identity 🎯