5 Minutes: From Download to Your First AI Conversation (Claude Subscription Edition)

Short video (≤5 min) + illustrated guide | For academic users with zero technical background | Uses Claude Code + a Claude subscription

This guide walks you from "I just downloaded the installer" all the way to "the AI is answering my first academic question" — about 5 minutes total. It is the main tutorial for new users: just follow along, no command-line knowledge required.

First, make sure this is the right path for you: this guide uses Claude Code + a Claude subscription. If you haven't decided which AI to use yet, read P0-2 · Which AI Should I Choose? first. Users in mainland China typically cannot register a Claude subscription — they should follow P0-3 · Complete DeepSeek Setup instead.

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Prerequisites

• A Mac (anything that can run Scholardo).
• A Claude subscription account (any tier — Claude Pro, Max, etc.). Don't have one yet? Sign up and subscribe at claude.ai first — subscription sign-in uses your account and password, no API key needed. For prices and tiers, see the current page at anthropic.com.
• A network connection that can reach claude.ai (both the installer script and the sign-in authorization connect to claude.ai).

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Step-by-Step Walkthrough

Step 1 · Install Scholardo

1. Double-click the downloaded .dmg file; an install window pops up.
2. Drag the Scholardo icon into the Applications folder (there's an Applications shortcut right in the window — just drag it over).
3. Open "Finder › Applications", then right-click Scholardo → choose "Open". The first time, macOS will warn you it's "an app downloaded from the internet" — click "Open" to confirm.
   • Why right-click to open: double-clicking directly may get blocked by macOS Gatekeeper. Right-click → Open is the officially sanctioned way to let it through the first time — you only ever need to do this once.

🎬 Video narration: "Installing the app works exactly like any other Mac software — drag it into Applications, and right-click to open it the first time."

Step 2 · Meet the Welcome screen, create your first project

1. When Scholardo launches for the first time, it shows the Welcome screen.
2. Click New Project, give it a name (your paper's title, for example), and pick a location to store it.

🎬 Video narration: "In Scholardo, a project is a home for one paper — your PDFs, notes, drafts, and AI conversations all live inside this one folder. Let's create one now; we'll start putting things in it in a moment."

Step 3 · Pick an AI in the right panel (Choose an agent)

Once your project is created, look at the terminal area on the right. A card appears there, titled "Choose an agent" — this is where you pick an AI assistant.

1. Find the Claude Code row (its subtitle reads Sign in with your Claude subscription).
2. On the right side of that row there's an Install button — click it.

🎬 Video narration: "Scholardo doesn't bundle its own AI — it installs and connects the official AI tools for you. The first time you use Claude, you need to install Claude Code. One click is all it takes."

Step 4 · The install confirmation dialog (you'll see a command — don't panic)

After you click Install, a confirmation dialog appears:

• Title: Install Claude Code?
• Body: Runs the official installer from claude.ai: followed by a command line: curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash
• Two buttons: Install / Cancel

Click Install.

⚠️ Key callout: that curl ... | bash line in the body means "download and run the installer script from the official claude.ai site" — claude.ai is a trusted source, so it's safe to click Install. Seeing a command you don't understand is completely normal; you don't need to understand it.

Step 5 · Wait for it to finish (scrolling text is normal)

After you click Install, the terminal will scroll rapidly through many lines of text.

🎬 Video narration: "A wall of text flying past on screen is normal — that's the download and install happening. Just ignore it and wait for it to stop."

Once it finishes — here's a thoughtful touch Scholardo built in for you:

✅ A1 behavior: the moment the install completes, the "Choose an agent" card automatically reappears, with the Claude Code row ready to go. Just click that row to launch it — no need to open a new window or start over. If the row shows Retry (with a circular-arrow icon), the install didn't complete successfully — click Retry to try again, or check your network first (see Common Pitfalls at the end).

Step 6 · Claude Code's sign-in wizard (vendor UI — follow the red circles)

After you click the Claude Code row to launch it, the terminal enters Claude Code's own first-run sign-in wizard. This is Anthropic's (official Claude) interface, not Scholardo's — it guides you screen by screen.

1. Choose a sign-in method: the wizard asks how you want to sign in.

   • 🔴 The single most important callout: choose the option that says "sign in with your Claude subscription" (the one mentioning subscription / Claude account). Do NOT choose the option mentioning API / Console / usage billing — that path bills you per token, entirely separate from the subscription you've already paid for. Picking the wrong one means paying twice.

2. Browser authorization: the wizard opens your browser so you can sign in to your Claude account and click "Authorize/Allow". Once authorized, come back to Scholardo.
3. Trust this folder: the wizard asks whether to trust the current project folder — just press Enter to confirm as prompted (this gives Claude Code permission to read and write your project files).

🎬 Video narration: "Next comes Claude's official sign-in flow — just follow along. Remember the one and only trap: when choosing a sign-in method, pick 'sign in with your subscription', not the one mentioning API."

Step 7 · Type your first academic question

Once sign-in completes, an empty input box appears at the bottom of the terminal. Type whatever you want the AI to do, in plain everyday language. For example, first drag a PDF into your project's sources folder, then type:

Summarize the PDF in sources

Press Enter. After a moment, the AI's answer streams out line by line.

🎬 Video narration: "Just like sending a text message — type what you want it to do, in your own words, and press Enter. For your first try, ask it to summarize the PDF you just dropped in. That's your first conversation with the AI."

🎉 And that's it — you've gone from download to your first AI conversation.

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Shot list (video frames / screenshot checklist)

Filming ground rule: all vendor UI (the Claude Code sign-in wizard, the browser authorization page) must be captured as-is from real screen recordings — do not fabricate or redraw — those are Anthropic's own interfaces. Record Scholardo screens using the current release build. Capture the install confirmation dialog as-is.

Frame	Shot	UI source	Key callout / annotation
1	.dmg opened; dragging the Scholardo icon into Applications	Scholardo (installer)	Arrow pointing "drag it here"
2	Right-click Scholardo in Finder → "Open", plus the first-run Gatekeeper dialog	macOS system	Circle in red: "right-click → Open, only needed once"
3	Welcome screen + New Project	Scholardo	Caption: "a project = a home for one paper"
4	The "Choose an agent" card appears in the right-side terminal area; the Claude Code row with subtitle Sign in with your Claude subscription	Scholardo	Circle the Install button on the right of the Claude Code row
5	Install confirmation dialog: title Install Claude Code?, body Runs the official installer from claude.ai: + curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash, Install / Cancel	Scholardo	Circle claude.ai in red as the source; caption: "trusted source — it's normal not to understand the command"
6	Terminal scrolling through the install	Scholardo	Caption: "a wall of text is normal — wait for it to stop"
7	A1: after the install finishes, the "Choose an agent" card automatically reappears; click the Claude Code row to launch	Scholardo	Circle: "it came back on its own — click this row"; side note: on failure the row shows Retry
8	Claude Code sign-in wizard — the choose-sign-in-method screen	Vendor UI (Claude Code CLI, captured as-is)	🔴 Circle in red: "pick the 'sign in with your subscription' option"; red X over "the option mentioning API / Console / usage billing"
9	Browser authorization page: sign in to Claude and click authorize	Vendor UI (claude.ai, captured as-is)	Circle the "Authorize/Allow" button
10	The "trust this folder" prompt in the terminal + pressing Enter	Vendor UI (Claude Code CLI)	Circle "press Enter to confirm"
11	Empty input box at the bottom; typing Summarize the PDF in sources	Scholardo	Circle the input box; caption: "type it like a text message"
12	The AI's answer streaming out line by line	Scholardo	Caption: "that's your first AI conversation"

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Key callouts recap (for video annotations / bold text in the article)

1. Right-click → Open: the official way past Gatekeeper the first time — do it once and never again.
2. It's fine not to understand the install dialog: as long as the source is claude.ai, it's safe to click Install.
3. A1 auto-return: after the install, the chooser reappears on its own — click the row to launch; on failure it shows Retry.
4. 🔴 Choose "subscription" sign-in, not "API": the one and only trap in this entire guide that can make you pay twice — circle it in red.
5. Write your first prompt in plain language: treat the AI as an assistant that can read your files, and just tell it what to do.

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Common pitfalls (see the full P0-6 · Install & Sign-in FAQ)

• Install stuck / timed out: the Claude Code row will show Retry. Click it to try again; if it keeps failing, your connection to claude.ai is most likely blocked — check your network or proxy.
• "I already installed this before — why is it asking again?": usually the system couldn't find the claude command at its default path. Restart Scholardo and try again; advanced users can type which claude in a terminal to check.
• Browser authorization finished, but the terminal doesn't respond: go back to the Scholardo window and wait a few seconds; if still nothing, click the Claude Code row in the chooser once more to relaunch.
• Accidentally picked the API option during sign-in: quit the wizard, relaunch the agent, redo Step 6, and pick the "subscription" option this time.

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Data Privacy Disclosure

When you ask the AI in Scholardo to read, summarize, or polish your PDFs, notes, or drafts, your manuscript content is sent to your chosen AI provider (Anthropic) for processing. This guide uses Claude, so the relevant text is transmitted over the network to Anthropic's servers and handled under Anthropic's own privacy policy. Scholardo only sends the necessary content when you actively start an AI conversation — it never uploads your local files without your knowledge. If your research materials involve unpublished data, participant privacy, or confidentiality agreements, first confirm that sending them to a third-party AI service complies with your institution's requirements.