What you need to start.

This method asks for less than most beginners expect. You do not need new equipment, a paid account or any technical background. You do need a proper computer, an hour here and there, and whatever family material is already sitting in a drawer.

Equipment.

A laptop or desktop running Mac or Windows will do everything this site describes. An iPad with a keyboard case also works, because it runs a full browser.

A phone alone will not. Claude’s Skills feature, which runs the method taught here, works on the web and desktop apps. Anthropic’s own skills guide describes uploading a skill through those apps and does not offer a mobile route. Read guides and plan searches on your phone if you like. Do the actual research, and any conversation where you upload the skill, on a computer or a keyboard-equipped tablet.

If you only own a phone, borrow a computer for the first session, or use a library computer. Our free-records guide also mentions library access; the same visit can often cover both.

Accounts.

You need a Claude account and an email address to create one. Claude has a free tier, which is enough to try the skill and ask your first questions.

To use a skill, open Settings, then Capabilities, and turn on “Code execution and file creation”. This lets Claude run small pieces of code and create files inside a private, sandboxed space. That is how the skill keeps your research notes organised.

When you turn the setting on, Claude shows a caution about it. In principle, a malicious file or website could try to trick Claude into running bad code, or sending your data somewhere it should not go. That risk is real for files and links you do not trust. It is not a reason to avoid a skill you downloaded from this site, provided you read what a skill does before installing it. Our privacy guide walks through that check.

What you already have.

Look before you buy or search anything. Most beginners already hold useful sources without realising it, and the rule for this stage is that nothing is too much information. A document that looks irrelevant today can turn out to matter later, so the habit worth building is to capture everything you can find, not to pre-judge it:

• Certificates kept in a drawer or a folder, even a single marriage certificate.
• Photographs, especially ones with names or dates written on the back.
• Letters, formal or personal.
• Newspaper clippings. A short death notice or a passing mention in a local paper can show where someone was living or what their job was, sometimes long before any official record confirms it.
• Orders of service from a wedding or a funeral.
• A relative’s memory. Write down what they say and who said it, even before you check it against a record. Our guide on AI and invented ancestors explains how to label a memory honestly.

A single photograph with a name on the back can start a real research thread. Treat what you already own as your first source, not your last resort. Capture it now, and let the archive sort out what matters later.

Time.

An hour a week is enough to make progress. Over a month, four sessions like that typically get one person researched properly. You would end with a handful of records checked, one contradiction noticed and recorded, and a short written note you could hand to a relative. That pace feels slow next to an AI-generated family tree produced in a minute. It also produces something you can trust, which the instant version usually does not.

You do not need to book a long weekend. A single hour, once a week, beats an ambitious Saturday that never gets scheduled. If a session runs short, stop at a clean point and write down the next question, so the following week starts with a task rather than a blank page.

What you do not need.

• A DNA test. This site never recommends one; see why AI invents ancestors for the kind of invented certainty this method is built to avoid.
• A paid subscription on day one. Start with the free-records route in tracing your family for free and add a subscription later, only if a specific question needs it.
• Any technical skill beyond sending an email and using a web browser. If you can do online banking, you can do this.

Sources.

• Use Skills in Claude, Claude Help Center. Checked 19/09/2026.
• Create and edit files with Claude, Claude Help Center. Checked 19/09/2026.