Lesson 2: Four Places to Start an Artifact

Where this lesson fits

Level 1 covered what an artifact is and the five family members: Design, Slides, Docs, Dashboards (beta) and Motion (beta). This level shows the four places you can start one and how to find it again afterwards.

Think of the four entry points as four doors into the same workshop. The door you pick changes how you begin. Whatever you make is saved in your Artifacts tab.

Entry point 1: Ask in a conversation

Use this when you already have a chat open with the material in it, such as notes, a pasted brief or an uploaded file.

1. Open any conversation in Claude on the web or in Claude Desktop.
2. Name the type of output you want. Example: "Make a slide deck that introduces our spring product launch to the sales team."
3. Optional: select Output in the message box and choose a template. This removes any doubt about which type you get.
4. Send the message. The artifact opens beside the conversation.

Do this now: ask for a one-page design or a short deck on a topic you know well. Name the type in your first sentence.

If you do not name a type, Claude decides for itself whether the reply should be an artifact or ordinary chat text. Naming the type, or using Output, puts you in control.

Entry point 2: Choose a template in the Artifacts tab

Use this when you are starting from a blank page and already know what kind of thing you need.

1. Open the Artifacts tab in the Claude sidebar.
2. Pick a template. Which ones you see depends on your plan:
   • Docs, Slides, Design: every plan, including Free.
   • Dashboards (beta): Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise.
   • Motion (beta): Team and Enterprise only.
3. Describe what you want and send.

If a template is missing, check two things:

• Your plan. A Free account will not show Dashboards or Motion.
• Your organisation's settings. On Team and Enterprise plans, an admin chooses which templates are switched on. Dashboards and Motion stay off until an admin enables them. Ask your admin before assuming something is broken.

Entry point 3: Claude Code

Claude Code is Anthropic's tool for software work. It runs in a terminal and in the Claude desktop app. You do not need to write code to understand what it adds:

• It publishes its work as an artifact. Claude Code can turn the output of a working session into a live, interactive page at a private web address, so nobody has to read terminal text.
• It starts Slides and Design artifacts. A person in a Claude Code session can type /slides or /design followed by a short brief, or describe the deck or design in plain language.
• It can draft a document in Claude Docs when Docs is connected to the session.

Limits to know:

• Artifacts in Claude Code need a Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise plan. Free is not included.
• Anthropic's Claude Code documentation labels these template features as beta there. Expect details to change.

When this fits you: a developer or analyst colleague already works in Claude Code and needs to show you something. Ask for a link to an artifact. You open it in a browser like any other. A later level covers the opposite direction: handing your design to Claude Code to build.

Entry point 4: The mobile app

Claude for iOS and Claude for Android let you:

• Ask for a design, a deck or a doc in any chat.
• View the result in the Artifacts tab.
• Edit the artifact.

The mobile app does not let you change sharing settings. Do that on the web or in Claude Desktop.

Anthropic's help page describes mobile as a place to ask in a chat. It does not confirm starting from a template on a phone, so plan to do template starts on the web or desktop.

When this fits you: you want to capture an idea on the move and finish it at a desk later. A large design may take a while to appear. Send the request, then check the Artifacts tab afterwards.

Which door to use

• Material is already in a chat: ask in that conversation.
• Blank page, known type: Artifacts tab template.
• The work lives in a developer's session: Claude Code.
• Away from your desk: mobile app, then finish on the web.

Find a saved artifact and confirm its type

Everything you make is saved to the Artifacts tab, whichever door you used.

1. Open the Artifacts tab in the sidebar.
2. Locate the artifact you made earlier and open it.
3. Confirm the type by what you see:
   • Slides: a sequence of slides you can present.
   • Design: one or more artboards on a canvas.
   • Docs: a written document.
4. If the type is wrong, for example a document when you wanted a deck, start again and name the type or use Output.

Check your work: you should now have at least one artifact you can reopen from the Artifacts tab without going back to the original chat, and you can state its type aloud.

Key takeaways

• There are four entry points: a conversation, the Artifacts tab, Claude Code and the mobile app.
• In a conversation, name the type or use Output in the message box to choose a template.
• Templates depend on plan: Docs, Slides and Design on every plan; Dashboards (beta) on paid plans; Motion (beta) on Team and Enterprise. Admins can switch templates on or off.
• Claude Code publishes session output as a private live page and starts decks and designs with /slides and /design. It needs a paid plan.
• Mobile can request, view and edit a design, deck or doc. It cannot change sharing settings.
• All artifacts are saved in the Artifacts tab. Open one and check what it shows to confirm its type.