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Claude Code for Generalists:
The Meta-Prompt Vault

The exact thinking patterns and prompts behind a job board with 500K views, a talent service, programmatic SEO, and more – all built by a non-developer talking to AI in plain English.

500K+Page views

$300First hour

15+Meta-prompts

0Lines of code

Get the Vault – FreeFirst 50 free, then $10

The Story

I’m not a developer. I run a professional network for people with squiggly careers. And over the last few months I’ve shipped:

A job board with 500,000+ page views that made $300 in its first hour
A talent matching service that grew organically from people DMing me
My own custom link-in-bio page (goodbye Linktree)
Hundreds of auto-generated SEO pages
Social media banners, a sponsorship hub, and brand assets
Automated scouts that search the internet every morning while I sleep

All of it built by talking to Claude Code in plain English. Without writing a single line of code myself. No developer. No bootcamp.

“But here’s what I’ve learned: the prompts aren’t the magic. The thinking is. Anyone can type ‘build me a website.’ The reason my stuff actually works is how I frame the problem, how I describe what I want, and how I stack one thing on top of another.”

So I had Claude Code crawl through ALL of my files and projects to reverse-engineer my own process – and package the thinking into something you can use today.

What’s Inside

Thinking Frameworks

The mental models behind every project I’ve shipped. Not theory – the actual patterns I use.

15+

Meta-Prompts

Copy-paste ready, organised by category. Each one includes the thinking behind WHY it works.

Real Case Studies

Job board, talent service, Linktree replacement, programmatic SEO, sponsorship hub, brand assets.

Cheat Sheet

One-page reference card. The 6 rules I follow every time I build something with Claude Code.

The Thinking Framework

These are the 5 mental models behind everything I’ve built. The prompts only work because the thinking is right.

Framework 1

The Compounding File

There’s one file on my computer called CLAUDE.md. It contains everything Claude needs to know about my business – my tools, my database structure, my brand rules, and how everything connects. Every time I open Claude Code, it reads this file first.

This file compounds. After a few months, Claude knows my business better than any contractor I’ve ever hired.

Why this mattersWithout this file, every conversation starts from zero. With it, every conversation starts from full context. That’s the difference between Claude as a chatbot and Claude as a team member.

Framework 2

Describe Outcomes, Not Steps

I never tell Claude how to build things. I tell it what I want to exist. Claude is better at figuring out the “how” than you are. Your job is to be clear about the “what” and the “why.”

Bad vs GoodBad: “Write Python code that connects to the WordPress REST API using urllib…”

Good: “I want every job in my Notion database to automatically get its own page on my WordPress site.”

Framework 3

Stack, Don’t Start Over

Every project leads to the next one. The job board created demand for the talent service. The programmatic SEO pages came from realising the board could generate hundreds of keyword-targeted pages.

The questionWhen you finish building something, ask: “What does this make possible that wasn’t possible before?” That’s your next project.

Framework 4

Automate the Gathering, Keep the Decisions

My scheduled tasks don’t make decisions. They gather, sort, and present. Every morning Claude searches for jobs and puts them in my Notion. I make the final call.

The patternAutomate everything except the judgment. The judgment is the generalist skill. The gathering is the busy work.

Framework 5

Test in Hours, Not Months

Because shipping is so cheap and fast, I test ideas that would have taken months to validate. The talent service? Built in a day because the infrastructure already existed.

The meta-prompt“Can you build a quick version of [idea] using [existing thing] as the base? I want to test if people actually want this before building it properly.”

The Meta-Prompt Vault

15+ prompts across 6 categories. Each includes the thinking, the prompt, and a real example. Here’s a taste:

Category 1: The Compounding File

1.1 First-Time CLAUDE.md Setup

Creates the foundation file that makes everything else work.

The thinking: Most people skip this or write something vague. The key is being SPECIFIC about tools, IDs, and credentials – that’s what lets Claude actually do things, not just write about them.

I’m setting up this project folder for my business. Help me create a CLAUDE.md file.My business: [one sentence about what you do] My website: [platform] at [URL] My email tool: [e.g. Beehiiv/ConvertKit/Mailchimp] My database: [e.g. Notion/Airtable/Google Sheets] My payment tool: [e.g. Stripe/Gumroad]For each tool, I want you to tell me exactly what credentials, API keys, or IDs you’d need from me to be able to actually connect to them and do things (not just talk about them). Then create the CLAUDE.md with everything organised.

Why this worksYou’re not just describing your business – you’re asking Claude to tell you what it needs. Most people don’t know what an “API key” or “page ID” is. This prompt makes Claude do the work of figuring that out.

Category 2: Shipping Things

2.1 The “I Want This to Exist” Prompt

Turns a vague idea into a built thing.

The thinking: This is the most important prompt pattern. You describe the WHAT and WHO and WHY. You never describe the HOW.

I want to build [what it is] for [who it’s for].The problem it solves: [why someone would use this] Where it lives: [your website, a standalone page, Notion, etc.] What it connects to: [any existing tools or data]Here’s what a user would experience: [describe the journey from their perspective]Build it.

How I used this“I want to build a job board for people with non-linear careers. The problem it solves: generalists can never find jobs that actually want their range. It lives on my WordPress site at generalist.world/jobs. It connects to my Notion database where I track all jobs.”

Category 3: Automating the Boring Stuff

3.1 The “I Do This Every Week” Prompt

Turns a recurring manual task into an automated one.

The thinking: Don’t start with “what should I automate?” Start with “what am I doing every week that I wish would just happen?”

Every [frequency] I manually do this task: [describe exactly what you do]…

3.2 The “Scout” Prompt

Sets up Claude to search the internet for things on a schedule.

Category 4: Programmatic SEO

4.1 One Database, Hundreds of Pages

Turns a database into a network of SEO pages.

Category 5: Brand & Design Assets

5.1 The “On-Brand Everything” Prompt

Category 6: The Meta-Prompts

6.1 Crawl My Own Files

13 more prompts inside

Automation, programmatic SEO, brand assets, and meta-prompts – each with the thinking, the prompt, and real examples from my projects.

Get the Full Vault – FreeFirst 50 free, then $10

Bonus: The Cheat Sheet

A one-page reference card included in every download.

The Generalist’s Claude Code Cheat Sheet

1. Start here – Create a CLAUDE.md file. Put everything Claude needs to know about your business in it. This one file changes everything.

2. Describe outcomes, not steps – “I want a job board that connects Notion to WordPress” beats “write Python code that calls the REST API.”

3. Ship, then stack – Build one thing. Then ask: what does this make possible? Build that next.

4. Automate the gathering, keep the judgment – Let Claude search, sort, and present. You make the decisions.

5. Test in hours – When building costs a conversation instead of a contractor, you can test anything. Validate with quick builds, not months of planning.

6. The compounding file – Every time you learn something Claude needs to know, add it to CLAUDE.md.

Claude Code for Generalists:The Meta-Prompt Vault