Claude Code Is Now 100% Free – Here’s How — Transcript

Today, I'll show you how to use Claude Code 100% free, so you have no excuse not to build your project or your business today. Here I am in VS Code with a new empty project. The idea is super simple. Please follow up. I will go and create a new folder and call it .Claude. That's it. Then create a new file and call it settings.json.local.

super simple. Please follow up. I will go and create a new folder and call it dot Claude. That's it. Then create a new file and call it settings.json.local.

This way, we can update and edit the configuration of Claude Code locally in this project, and we can use Claude Code for free as you will see right now. In this file, I'll paste this configuration. So, the next step is to open your browser and go to openrouter.ai and create an account. In my case, I already did. So, simply go here to Personal and then to Settings and then API Keys and create a new API key called whatever you want, like Claude Code Free, for example, and click on Create, then copy this key, go back to the project settings, and paste the authentication token here and save. That's number one.

open your browser and go to openrouter.ai and create an account. In my case, I already did. So, simply go here to personnel and then to settings and then API keys and create a new API key called whatever you want like Claude code free

Number two is we need to get a free model. So, go here and then go to Models and simply search for free, and you will see OpenRouter provides a lot of free models like this one from Nvidia, which is good for coding. And if you go down, we have a lot of models, and we have MiniMax M2.5, which is a new model from MiniMax. I will copy this one and use it.

Number two is we need to get a free model. So, go here and then go to models and simply search for free and you will see OpenRouter provides a lot of free models like this one from Nvidia, which

Go here and simply paste in these fields. And number three, we need to set the base URL, which is simply this one here. Don't worry about any of these fields. I'll give you everything by the end of this video, so you can copy and paste directly. Just follow up, understand the concept first. So, now we configured Claude Code, and I will go now to test this. Terminal, new terminal, and just go here down, and I will run the Claude, and you will see here if I go to Model, you will see that we have now MiniMax Free installed. I will select this one, and now I simply say hi. And I got this reply. If I go back here to OpenRouter, go to Activity, then go here to Logs, you will see MiniMax here, and the cost is $0. But we are not done yet. You need to understand three critical things to build real projects with this setup. Just yesterday, I built this application in about an hour. It's called CardioFlow, a full cardio workout generator with many features. And if you want to try it, I'll leave a link in the description. You can check it out. But here's how I did it. I didn't open Claude Code and say, "Build me a fitness app." Of course not. Tip number one is to keep your app structure modular. This is a secret for building and scaling real applications online.

Go here and simply paste in these fields. And number three, we need to set the base URL, which is simply this one here. Don't worry about any of these fields. I'll give you everything by end of this video, so you can copy and paste

Look at this. This is the source code of my main website learnwithhasan.com. And if you look at the file structure, you'll see small focused files, each one doing one thing. Why does this matter?

model, you will see that we have now MiniMax free is installed. I will select this one and now I simply say Hi. And I got this reply. If I go back here to OpenRouter, go to activity, then go here

Because simply AI works with a context window. If you dump everything into one giant file, the AI loses track, it starts hallucinating and breaking things you already fixed before. So, simply keep your files small, like less than 600 lines of code, then AI can understand easier files, connect them together, and build and scale your application easily. And as a pro tip, add this rule in your prompts or better, add it to the Claude MD file. So, you don't have to repeat anything when building your application. The second tip is understanding the building blocks of your application before prompting the AI. Here's an example. Let's say you're building an app where multiple users can update the same data at the same time.

called CardioFlow, a full cardio workout generator with many features. And if you want to try it, I'll leave a link in the description. You can check it out. But, here's how I did it. I didn't open Claude code and said, "Build me a

If you don't know what a race condition is, you won't even think to mention it in your prompts. And this way, you'll build applications that work perfectly until you share it with multiple users and they click save at the same moment, and data will disappear. The AI will not protect you from problems you don't know. Your job isn't to write every line of code, it's to know what to ask for. Memorize this. And this is exactly what I teach in my Solo Builder course. I take you from blind vibe coding to understanding how real applications work, so you can build real scalable applications. All this in 12 days. And with the free setup I showed you today, you can follow up totally for free. I'll leave the link in the description below. Tip number three, which is also super important, one task per session. Test, then push to GitHub.

Look at this. This is the source code of my main website learnwithhasan.com. And if you look at the file structure, you'll see small focused files, each one doing one thing. Why this matters?

Before I wrote any single prompt for CardioFlow, I created this plan markdown file. Every feature broken to small tiny tasks. Then, I worked through them one by one. One task per session. I finish it, test it manually, everything is fine, I push to GitHub. Because in case the AI breaks anything later, you can simply re-win. So, you have a backup of every step of every feature you created.

understand easier files, connect them together and build and scale your application easily. And as a pro tip, add this rule in your prompts or better, add it to the Claude MD file. So, you don't have to repeat anything when

And this is especially important with the free or smaller models like the ones you are using today in this free setup. Now, everything we mentioned with the five prompts I used to build the CardioFlow application are in the description below, so you can go now, grab them, and try building your application today, totally for free.

If you don't know what is a race condition, you won't even think to mention it in your prompts. And this way, you'll build applications that works perfectly until you share it with multiple users and they click save at

the same moment and data will disappear. The AI will not protect you from problems you don't know. Your job isn't to write every line of code, it's to know what to ask for. Memorize this. And this is exactly what I teach in my solo

builder course. I take you from blind vibe coding to understand how real applications work, so you can build real scalable applications. All this in 12 days. And with the free setup I showed you today, you can follow up totally for

free. I'll leave the link in the description below. Tip number three, which is also super important, one task per session. Test, then push to GitHub.

Before I wrote any single prompt for CardioFlow, I created this plan markdown file. Every feature broken to small tiny tasks. Then, I worked through them one by one. One task per session. I finish it, test it manually, everything is

fine, I push to GitHub. Because in case the AI breaks anything later, you can simply re-win. So, you have a backup of every step of every feature you created.

And this is specially important with the free or smaller models like the ones you are using today in this free setup. Now, everything we mentioned with the five prompts I used to build the CardioFlow application are in the description

below, so you can go now, grab them and try building your application today, totally for free.