# Claude is a (ridiculously) genius with the lights off. These 7 settings switc...
Canonical: https://social-archive.org/yena/yOEslkpf8U
Original URL: https://x.com/rubenhassid/status/2070387485096706217
Author: Ruben Hassid
Platform: x
## Content
Claude is a (ridiculously) genius with the lights off. These 7 settings switches turn them on: 1. The model dropdown. Bottom-right of the box. Most people never touch it. Switch free model to Opus 4.8 (paid, but worth it). Same screen, completely different brain. 2. Effort: High. One click, right next to the model. It tells Claude to actually think instead of blurting. Same question, but better answer. Free upgrade. 3. Thinking, turned ON. The toggle people leave off because they don't know what it does. It's Claude reasoning before it answers, not after you complain. The single highest-leverage switch on this page. 4. Connectors. Customize → Connectors. Claude reads your Gmail, your calendar, your notes. It stops being a chatbot & starts being something that knows you. my favourite connectors are Gamma, Granola, Gmail & Calendar. 5. Skills. Customize → Skills. Save a prompt with /skill-creator. Type /yourskill forever. Stop re-explaining yourself every single chat. A skill ends that. Build it once, ship forever. 6. The Cowork tab. Claude desktop app, In between "Chat" & "Code." The browser hands you text to copy-paste. Cowork builds the real file - the actual PDF, Excel - and drops it in your folder. Not a copy of the thing. 7. Bypass permissions. In Claude Code (the scary one). Everyone leaves it off. All it means is: Go. I trust you. It stops Claude asking permission at every step so it can actually finish the job. Off = it asks 40 times. On = it's done. The ones who open Claude right now and flip all 7 just passed everybody who didn't. Want the exact setup I use, with exact Claude skills? It's right here → http://how-to-ai.guide. Reply to the welcome email. Don't pay anything. Open the Notion link in the second email. Go to the "setup" folder and grab the checklist. ♻️ Repost this so your network stops using a genius with the lights off.