13:25Duncan Rogoff | Learn Claude Code · Review
Claude Just Changed: The 10 Big Updates You Need to Know
A 13-minute walkthrough of every Claude launch from one month, with a verdict on who should try each one and who can skip it.
October 21stThe argument in one line.
Claude is shifting from one chat you talk to into a team of chats you manage, so the skill that matters now is running several sessions without burning through your usage limit.
Read if. Skip if.
READ IF YOU ARE…
- You use the Claude desktop app daily for content or client work and want to know which of the new features are worth your time this week.
- You run several Claude chats at once and keep losing track of which one is waiting on you.
- You've never written code by hand but want to use Claude Code features like nested sessions without learning a terminal.
SKIP IF…
- You only use Claude through the API or a terminal workflow and never open the desktop app.
- You're on a Team or Enterprise plan and need rollout details, since several features are described for Pro, Max and Ultra.
The full version, fast.
The Claude desktop app, nicknamed Claude 2.0, added seven features, and the presenter ranks them by usefulness. Mods, projects and artifacts are worth trying later or selectively. Split view, side chats, nested sessions and a master session are worth using today. The last two run several chats at once, so they draw down one shared plan limit quickly. Watch the usage ring, trim unused skills with skill doctor, and use the advisor command to pair a main model with a stronger one at key moments. Start with two chats and see how fast the ring moves.
Free for members
Chat with this breakdown — free.
Sign in and you get 23 free chat messages on us — ask for the hook, quote a framework, find the exact transcript moment, generate a markdown action plan. Bring your own key when you want unlimited.
Create a free account →Where the time goes.
00:00 – 00:21
01 · Intro and promise
Seven updates, four worth your time, ranked.
00:21 – 01:28
02 · 7: Mods
Add-ons that change Claude's look and behavior. Verdict: skip for now.
01:28 – 02:45
03 · 6: Projects
Long jobs that run in Anthropic's cloud. Public beta, uses limits faster. Try later.
02:45 – 04:16
04 · 5: Artifacts
Docs, Slides, Design, Dashboards and Motion built beside the chat. Start with Slides.
04:16 – 04:41
05 · 4: Split view
Two chats on one screen. Use it today.
04:41 – 05:33
06 · 3: Side chats
Ask about a running job with slash BTW. Not saved to disk.
05:33 – 06:07
07 · Managing your usage limit
Usage ring, skill doctor and the advisor command.
06:07 – 07:01
08 · 2: Nested sessions
One message spawns separate working chats in the sidebar.
07:01 – 07:50
09 · 1: Master session
A chat that reads your other chats and reports which are waiting on you.
07:50 – 08:13
10 · Wrap-up
Claude is now a small team of chats you manage.
Lines worth screenshotting.
- A mod changes how Claude looks and works, and you build one by describing it to Claude, but a mod runs with your permissions so only install ones from people you trust.
- Projects keep working in Anthropic's cloud after you close your laptop, but they use up plan limits faster than normal chats.
- Docs, Slides and Design are all artifacts: things Claude builds in a panel beside the chat that you keep editing by talking to it.
- Split view puts two chats on one screen, which ends the habit of clicking away and losing your place.
- A side chat opened with slash BTW can read the whole main thread without interrupting the job, but side chats aren't saved to disk.
- Every chat you run draws from the same plan usage limit, so a team of chats can burn through it fast.
- A nested session is a real chat in your sidebar that you can open and steer, unlike a subagent that only returns a result.
- Nested sessions run on your computer, so you have to keep it awake while they work.
- A master session is just a chat you tell to look at your other chats, and by default it sees the 20 most recently active ones.
- A master session can't see chats started from the terminal or VS Code, or chats running in Anthropic's cloud.
- Asking which of your chats are waiting on a decision replaces clicking through a dozen chats to find the stuck one.
Manage a team of chats, not one
WHAT TO LEARN
Skip the novelty features, use split view, side chats, nested sessions and a master session today, and watch your shared usage limit as you add chats.
- A mod doesn't make Claude write better, so treat it as optional tinkering and only install mods from people you trust.
- Projects can keep working after you close the laptop, but they're in public beta, upload files to Anthropic servers and use limits faster.
- When you need a deck, start with Slides: presenting without leaving Claude is the quickest win among the artifact types.
- Split view takes ten seconds to learn and stops you losing your place between a script chat and a research chat.
- Use a side chat to check on a long job without interrupting it, but don't rely on it tomorrow since it isn't saved.
- Every chat draws from one plan limit, so check the usage ring, trim unused skills with skill doctor, and pair a main model with an advisor.
- Ask for several deliverables in one message and let nested sessions work in parallel instead of copying between chats yourself.
- Pick one chat as a master session and ask which chats are waiting on you, remembering it can't see terminal, VS Code or cloud chats.
Terms worth knowing.
- Mod
- An add-on for the Claude desktop app that changes how it looks and works, such as a new panel, loading animation or command.
- Artifact
- Something Claude builds in a panel next to your chat, like a doc, slide deck or design, that you keep editing together.
- Side chat
- A temporary chat opened beside your main one that can read the main thread so you can ask questions without interrupting the job.
- Nested session
- A separate chat that Claude starts from your main chat, shown underneath it in the sidebar and reporting back when finished.
- Master session
- The presenter's nickname for a chat you ask to review your other chats and report which need your attention. It is not an Anthropic term.
- Skill doctor
- A command that shows how much of Claude's memory each skill takes up and how often you use it, so you can switch off unused ones.
Things they pointed at.
01:10productClaude Code Club
06:40productClaude desktop app
Lines you could clip.
08:10
“Cloud used to be one chat you talk to. Now it's a small team of chats that you manage.”
Word for word.
Read-along
Don't just watch it. Burn it in.
See every word as it's spoken — crank it to 2× and still catch all of it. The same dual-channel trick behind Amazon's Kindle + Audible.
There are seven new updates in the Cloud desktop app, which people are calling Cloud 2 .0, and only four of the seven are worth your time this week. I'm going to rank all seven of the newest features, tell you which ones are worth trying and which aren't, and of course, save the best for last. I'm Duncan, I worked on brand teams at Apple, PlayStation, and Nissan, and I have never written a line of code by hand.
Now, I use Cloud to help with... all of my content. So this is for you if you use Claude and want to stay ahead on all the latest updates.
So number seven is mods. You've had the same Claude window for months. Same colors, same loading animation, same empty space beside the chat.
A mod changes that. A mod is an add -on that changes how Claude looks and works. It's like a new panel, a new loading animation, or a new command.
Anthropic's own video shows one. A live bar above your prompt that tracks how full Claude's memory is in real time. You don't have to write a single line of code to make these, you just describe the mod to Claude and Claude will build it.
To install someone else's mod, just type slash plugin install. Mods work in the code tab of the desktop app, so make sure the app is updated first. The catch is that a mod runs with your permission, so only install mods from people you trust.
The verdict is skip this for now because a mod won't make Cloud write any better. Just come back to it if you feel like tinkering. If you want to master Cloud Code in 45 days and get access to all my resources, I co -founded the Cloud Code Club.
That's where we build stuff like this together, and the link's in the description. Number six is... projects.
If you ask Claude for a month of video outlines, it's going to take a while. It's six in the evening and you need to close your laptop. Normally the job stops the second your laptop goes to sleep.
A project is a job you hand to Claude that usually runs in Anthropix Cloud so it can keep working after you close the lid. Anthropix pitch is simple. Tell Claude what needs to get done and Claude manages the work.
Behind that, a coordinator hands pieces of the job to helper chats and those helpers share one memory. So you upload your last 10 scripts, ask for a month of outlines in your style, close the laptop, and go to dinner.
When you come back, each project has an overview page, and a group called Waiting on You shows what needs your decision. So here's what to know before you try it. Projects is a public beta on Pro, Max, and Ultra plans, and it's rolling out gradually, so it's not on Team or Enterprise yet.
If you don't see projects in your sidebar, check under More, and if it's not there either, there's a waitlist form. Anything you upload goes to Anthropic servers, so choose which files you put in. And Anthropix docs say a project uses up your plan's limits faster than your other chats.
So try it later the first time you have a job big enough to walk away from. Number five is artifacts. A client wants a report by Friday morning.
So Claude writes the text, you copy it into slides, and then you spend forever fixing fonts. Now, you just ask Claude for the report as a deck, and the slides build right in front of you in a panel next to the chat. You edit them just by talking to Claude, then hit the present button.
This is Anthropic's answer to Google Docs, Google Slides, and Canva all inside Claude, and they're called Docs, Slides, and Design. They're on every plan, and Anthropic calls each one an artifact, something Claude builds in a panel next to your chat, which you keep editing together. Slides exports to PowerPoint, PDF, or Google Slides.
Now, say you need - a set of social posts for the launch. Design builds social posts, pages, and anything visual, and when a design is ready, you can hand it off to Cloud Code so it can take it from there.
If you use the old standalone cloud design site, it closes on December 14th, and you can move your design systems over from the artifacts page. But your chats and comments don't carry over. Then it gets wilder.
Say you want to know how the business is doing without opening a single spreadsheet. Dashboards connect to live data tools like Salesforce, so the numbers update every time you open the link. Every chart shows the query behind it so you can see exactly where each number came from.
Dashboards are in beta on paid plans. And then there's Clawed Motion. It takes your text, charts, and images, writes the code, and turns them into an animation you can download as an MP4.
In Anthropic's own demo, a dashboard turns into an animated video. Motion is only on Team and Enterprise right now, so on Pro or Max, you won't see it yet. So try it the next time you need a deck and start with slides because presenting without ever leaving Claude is the part worth trying first.
Number four is split view. You're writing a script in one chat and you need a fact from another. So you click away, lose your place and click back.
Split view puts both on one screen, your script on the left, your research on the right. On a Mac, hold option and click a chat in the sidebar or right click it and choose open in, then split view. To leave, press command, control and W.
Use it today. It takes 10 seconds and you stop losing your place. Number three is side chats.
Claude is 40 minutes into writing your client report. You want to know how far along it is. But if you ask in the main chat, you interrupt the job.
A side chat lets you ask anything without touching the job. Type slash BTW or press command and semicolon. A new chat opens beside your main one and it can read everything in the main thread up to that point.
So you ask it, what has this chat done so far? Anytime you lose the thread slash recap gives you a one -line summary of where a chat is up to. Anthropic's desktop docs say side chats aren't saved to disk, so don't expect them to be there tomorrow.
So use it today to check on a long job, but not for anything you'll need tomorrow. One warning before the top two. The top two both run several chats at once.
Everything you run in Claw draws from the same usage limit on your plan, so a whole team of chats can eat through it fast. Here are three ways to keep that under control. So the ring under your message box shows how much of your plan you've used, so check it before you start a second chat.
A skill is a saved set of instructions Claw can use. The skill doctor command shows how much of Claw's memory each skill takes up and how often you use it, so you can switch off the ones you've never touched. The advisor command lets Claude consult a stronger model at key moments, and you pick which one.
Right now, my main model is Sonnet and my advisor... is Opus. Start with two chats and watch how fast that ring moves.
Number two is Nested Sessions. You need a video script, a thumbnail brief, and a description with chapters. Until now, that meant three chats, three rounds of copying and pasting, and you as the delivery person between them.
Now you ask for all three in one message and tell Claude to start a separate chat for each one, all working at the same time. Each new chat shows up underneath your main chat in the sidebar and reports back to it when it's done. Anthropic calls these nested sessions.
That's different from a subagent, which is a helper Claude sends off to do one job and only hands you back a result. A nested session is a real chat in your sidebar, so you can click into the thumbnail chat, see everything it did, and steer it yourself. Nested sessions run on your computer, so turn on the setting that keeps it awake while Claude works.
Use it today so you can stop being the delivery person. And number one is master session. Now you have six chats going.
One of them has been sitting there for 20 minutes waiting for you to say yes, and you have no idea which one. So pick one chat and tell it, this is my master session. Master session is my nickname for it, not an anthropic term.
That works because Claude can see your other chats. By default, it sees the 20 most recently active ones, and it skips archived ones unless you ask for them. Then ask it, which of my other chats are waiting on a decision from me?
Cloud reads through your chats and hands you the answer, so you stop clicking through 12 chats to find the one that's stuck. You can also group your chats into sections in the sidebar, one section per client. Sections is the new name for custom groups.
Your master session can't see chats you started from the terminal or VS Code, and it can't see chats running in Anthropix Cloud. Use it today and make it the chat you open first. Cloud used to be one chat you talk to.
Now it's a small team of chats that you manage. And the first thing to learn is how many you can afford. If you want to master cloud code in 45 days, check the link in the description.
If you want to see how I turn cloud code into my video editor to create videos like the one you just watched, check out this video right here. I'll see you over there.
The Hook
The bait, then the rug-pull.
Seven new features landed in the Claude desktop app, and Duncan Rogoff ranks them from least to most useful. Only four earn a recommendation, and the best two change how you work with several chats at once.
Named ideas worth stealing.
00:21list
Seven new Claude features ranked
- 7 Mods
- 6 Projects
- 5 Artifacts
- 4 Split view
- 3 Side chats
- 2 Nested sessions
- 1 Master session
Ranking by practical value this week, with the top four recommended for use now.
Steal forany product-update roundup
How they asked for the click.
VERBAL ASK
01:15product
“If you want to master Claude Code in 45 days and get access to all my resources, I co-founded the Claude Code Club.”
A mid-video plug placed right after the first verdict, repeated at the end.
Visual structure at a glance.
