SKILL FILE

Vibe Coding Setup Helper with AI

Beginner-mode copy-paste prompts you drop into Cursor's AI chat or Claude Code. They inspect your laptop, diagnose what's broken (rogue API keys blocking /login, terminals that can't paste screenshots), and walk you through the fix one step at a time. No questions asked, no developer jargon, every command copy-paste ready.

Download Skill File ↓

What this skill file teaches Claude

Drop one markdown file into your repo. Claude Code learns how to run this entire workflow.

1

Beginner-mode by design

Every prompt tells the AI to inspect your machine itself rather than ask you questions. No 'what's your shell?' 'do you have Homebrew?' — the prompt makes the AI find out.

2

One step at a time

The AI is instructed to send a single copy-paste-ready command, wait for you to say 'done', then send the next. No 20-step walls of text. No skipped steps.

3

Copy-paste commands, no placeholders

Every command is ready to run as-is. No `<your-path-here>`, no 'edit this part' — the AI fills everything in based on what it found on your machine.

4

Tailored to YOUR machine

macOS vs Windows vs Linux, zsh vs bash vs PowerShell, Cursor vs VS Code vs plain terminal — the AI detects all of it before giving you any instructions, so you never get bash syntax on a PowerShell machine.

5

Pushes back when stuck

The prompts explicitly tell the AI not to give up or say 'this isn't possible' — they require it to keep diagnosing until it has a working fix.

Drop one of these into Cursor or Claude Code

Each prompt is self-contained. Pick the one that matches your problem, hit copy, paste it into Cursor's AI panel (Cmd+L on Mac, Ctrl+L on Windows) or a Claude Code terminal session. The AI takes it from there.

#1

Fix Claude Code login (API-key block)

You ran `claude` in your terminal and `/login` told you to set up an API key instead of letting you sign in with your Claude.ai account. Paste this into Cursor's AI chat OR a Claude Code terminal session.

PROMPT
I'm a beginner trying to set up Claude Code (Anthropic's CLI tool) and I'm stuck. When I run `claude` and try `/login`, it blocks me and says I need an API key instead of letting me sign in with my Claude.ai account. I've never intentionally set up an API key.

Don't ask me questions about my setup — inspect my machine yourself and figure it out. I'm a beginner and I won't know the answers reliably.

Run diagnostic commands on this device to determine:

1. My OS (macOS / Windows / Linux) and shell (bash / zsh / PowerShell)
2. Which terminal/IDE I'm running in — check env vars like TERM_PROGRAM, VSCODE_INJECTION, CURSOR_*, __CFBundleIdentifier
3. How Claude Code was installed — check `which claude`, look for it under npm global, Homebrew, or the official installer path (~/.local/bin/ or ~/.claude/local/)
4. Whether ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is set — check the current shell env AND grep my shell config files (~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc, ~/.bash_profile, ~/.zprofile, ~/.profile, ~/.config/fish/config.fish)
5. Whether my IDE is injecting a key — check VS Code/Cursor settings.json for `claude.*` or `anthropic.*` entries, and any `.env` files in my home dir or current project
6. Whether ~/.claude/settings.json or ~/.claude/.credentials.json has an API key configured
7. Whether the install is stale or broken — check `claude --version` against the latest, and look for duplicate installs on PATH

Once you've gathered the evidence, give me a step-by-step fix tailored to what you actually found — not generic advice. Format each step like this:

▎ Step N: [What this does in plain English]
▎ <one command I can copy-paste>
▎ [What I should see after running it]

Rules:
- One step at a time. Wait for me to confirm before moving on.
- Every command must be copy-paste ready for my shell (don't give me bash syntax if I'm on PowerShell).
- If you need to edit a config file, give me the exact command to open it (e.g. `open -e ~/.zshrc` on Mac) — don't assume I know how.
- The goal is a working `/login` browser flow so I can sign in with my Claude.ai account. No API key.
- If you find an ANTHROPIC_API_KEY somewhere, tell me exactly which file, which line, and the exact command to remove it.

Start by running the diagnostics. Don't ask me anything until you've inspected the machine.
#2

Enable screenshot paste (macOS)

You want to paste screenshots into Claude Code so the AI can see what's on your screen — but your current terminal blocks it. This installs iTerm2 3.5+ and flips the clipboard-access setting. Paste this into Cursor's AI chat OR any Claude Code terminal.

PROMPT
I want to install iTerm2 (version 3.5+) on my Mac and enable "Allow clipboard access" so I can paste screenshots into Claude Code. Don't ask me questions — inspect my machine yourself and figure it out. I'm a beginner, give me ONE step at a time, copy-paste ready commands, wait for me to confirm "done" before sending the next one.

Run diagnostic commands first to determine:
1. Confirm I'm on macOS (run: `sw_vers`)
2. Check if Homebrew is installed (run: `brew --version`) — if not, the first step should install it
3. Check if iTerm2 is already installed (run: `ls /Applications | grep -i iterm`)
4. If iTerm2 is installed, check the version (run: `defaults read /Applications/iTerm.app/Contents/Info.plist CFBundleShortVersionString`) and tell me whether I need to update

Then, based on what you found, give me a step-by-step plan:
- Install Homebrew if missing
- Install iTerm2 via `brew install --cask iterm2` (or upgrade if already installed but old)
- Enable clipboard access by running: `defaults write com.googlecode.iterm2 AllowClipboardAccess -bool true`
- Tell me to fully quit and reopen iTerm2 so the setting takes effect
- Walk me through the GUI confirmation: Settings → General → Selection → confirm "Applications in terminal may access clipboard" is checked

Format each step like this:

▎ Step N: [What this does in plain English]
▎ <one command I can copy-paste>
▎ [What I should see after running it]

Rules:
- ONE step at a time. Wait for me to say "done" before moving on.
- Every command must be copy-paste ready — no placeholders.
- If you need me to click something in iTerm2's GUI, tell me exactly which menu, in plain English ("click iTerm2 in the menu bar at top of screen, then Settings, then General tab, then Selection sub-tab").
- After everything is set up, give me a final "test it" step: take a screenshot with Cmd+Shift+4, paste with Cmd+V into a Claude Code prompt running inside iTerm2, and confirm the image appears.

If you find iTerm2 is already installed AND already version 3.5+ AND clipboard access is already enabled, just tell me and skip to the test step.

Don't tell me "this isn't possible" — figure it out. Start with the diagnostic commands now.

What you can build with this

First-time Claude Code install (Mac/Windows/Linux)

You've just installed Claude Code from the official installer or npm and want to log in, but `/login` is blocked. Paste Prompt 1, the AI finds the rogue API key and walks you through removing it. Average fix time: 5 minutes including the chat back-and-forth.

Migrating from API key → browser login

You were using an Anthropic API key for billing and want to switch to your Claude.ai Pro/Max subscription. Prompt 1 finds every place the key is stashed (shell rc, IDE settings, .env files, ~/.claude/) so you can remove all of them and switch cleanly.

Setting up Claude Code with screenshot context

You want to drag-and-drop or Cmd+V screenshots into your Claude Code conversations so the AI can see what's on your screen (errors, designs, diagrams). Prompt 2 installs the right terminal and flips the clipboard setting in one go.

Helping a non-technical friend get started

You've recommended Cursor + Claude Code to a friend and they're stuck. Send them the link to this page — they paste a prompt and the AI does the rest. No more 'just install Homebrew' conversations.

Get the full skill file

Everything above is 80% of the skill file. Download the complete version with full implementation details, agent prompts, and ready-to-run scripts.

Common questions

Two options: (1) Open Cursor, hit `Cmd+L` on Mac (or `Ctrl+L` on Windows) to open the AI panel on the right, paste the prompt. (2) If you already have Claude Code installed and working, run `claude` in any terminal and paste the prompt at the prompt cursor. Either way, the AI will inspect your machine and start walking you through the fix.
Yes — every command is shown to you before it runs, and the prompt explicitly tells the AI to send ONE command at a time and wait for your confirmation. You're never blindsided. You can also paste the prompt into a read-only chat first (just Cursor's AI panel without permissions) to see what the plan looks like before executing anything.
Tell the AI: 'before removing this, can you tell me what created it?' It can usually trace it back — installed via VS Code extension, set by a previous tutorial, leftover from an Anthropic dashboard playground, etc. If in doubt, comment the line out instead of deleting it so you can restore it if something stops working.
Prompt 1 (login fix) is OS-aware and works on macOS, Windows, and Linux — it detects your OS and shell before doing anything. Prompt 2 (iTerm2) is macOS-specific. Windows equivalent is Windows Terminal (already supports clipboard); Linux varies by distro. Open a request and we'll add a Windows / Linux version of Prompt 2.
In theory yes — the prompts are model-agnostic. In practice these are tuned for Claude (Sonnet 4.6+ / Opus 4.6+) which is best at running tool calls reliably. ChatGPT and Gemini can run the diagnostic commands but tend to ask more questions and skip the 'inspect first' rule. Stick with Claude for the smoothest experience.

Ready to automate?

SoloStack gives you every skill pre-installed — scraping, marketing, sales, CRM, and more. One repo. Every department.

Book a Call →