Carl's Product OS

A Personal Operating System for Claude Code

Introduction

The biggest question I get after people finish my Claude Code for PMs or for Everyone courses: "How should I set up my space?"

Claude Code is infinitely flexible. There's no single right way to organize it, which is both liberating and paralyzing. This repo shows how I personally use Claude Code day-to-day, plus the principles behind each decision.

This setup is battle-tested across content creation, product work, and running a small business. But it's not gospel. Try things, break things, and see what actually works for your workflow.

Structure Overview

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Folder/File	Purpose
CLAUDE.md	Entry point. Claude reads this automatically on every conversation.
GOALS.md	Your identity, what you own, and current goals.
Tasks/	Simple backlog → active → archive flow.
Projects/	Discrete work with its own context, research, and outputs.
Workflows/	Repeatable processes. Mini-workspaces you run again and again.
Meetings/	Notes organized by meeting type.
Knowledge/	Persistent reference material that spans projects.
Templates/	Document structures for consistent outputs.
.claude/skills/	Slash commands. Type /skillname to trigger.
Tools/	Scripts, utilities, and automations.
_Registry/	System reference and documentation.
_temp/	Drop zone for files in transit.

Key Concepts

Projects vs Workflows

• Projects are one-off. They have a clear end state. When done, they're archived.
• Workflows are repeatable. They're processes you run many times with different inputs.

Example: "Launch newsletter" is a project. "Write weekly newsletter" is a workflow.

Templates vs Workflows

• Templates provide structure. They're the skeleton of a document.
• Workflows provide process. They're instructions for Claude to follow.

A template says what the output looks like. A workflow says how to create it.

Knowledge vs Project Research

• Knowledge is persistent. It's reference material useful across many projects.
• Project research is scoped. It lives inside the project folder and gets archived with it.

Your company's brand guidelines go in Knowledge. Competitor research for a specific launch goes in the project.

Getting Started

1. Browse EXAMPLE-OS/ — See a working example with real content
2. Copy BLANK-OS/ — Rename it to your workspace name
3. Start with CLAUDE.md + GOALS.md — These two files give you 80% of the value
4. Add workflows and skills as you repeat things — Don't over-engineer upfront

You don't need everything on day one. Start minimal, add structure when friction appears.

FAQ

Where does planning go?

Depends on scope:

• High-level goals and priorities → GOALS.md
• Planning for a specific deliverable → Inside that Project/
• Planning that's part of a repeatable process → Inside that Workflow/

When do I create a template vs a workflow?

• If you just need consistent document structure → Template
• If you need Claude to follow steps, do research, or make decisions → Workflow
• Often you'll have both: a workflow that uses a template for its output

What goes in .claude/skills/ vs Workflows/?

• Skills are quick commands triggered with /skillname
• Workflows are fuller processes, often with their own context files
• Start with workflows. Promote to skills when you want faster access.

About

Built by Carl Vellotti as part of teaching product managers to use Claude Code effectively.

• Course: Claude Code for PMs
• Twitter/X: @carlvellotti
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/carlvellotti