The assessment asks 20 questions and then writes you a personal read on where you are and what to do next. This guide covers the setup, the questions, and what to do with the results.
What you need before you start
The assessment calls Anthropic's Claude API directly from your browser, so you need your own API key. I don't run a server for it, and I never see your key or your answers.
Go to console.anthropic.com and sign in or create an account.
Set up billing. Anthropic charges for API use by the token, so check the current pricing on their site before you run a lot of assessments.
Create an API key and copy it. Keys begin with sk-ant-.
Treat the key like a password. If you ever paste it somewhere you don't trust, revoke it in the Anthropic console and make a new one.
Connect your API key and pick a model
Open the assessment and find the Connect to Anthropic panel at the top.
Paste the key into the API key box. The model list loads as soon as you leave the box.
Pick a model from the dropdown. The list comes straight from Anthropic, so newer models show up without any change to the tool. Sonnet is a good default for this. Larger models can write more carefully, at a higher price.
Remember the key only on your own computer. Tick "Remember this key in this browser" if it's your machine and nobody else uses it. On a shared computer, leave it unticked. The key then lasts only until you close the page.
Refresh the model list any time you want to check for new models.
Forget key clears the key from this browser.
If the live model list can't load, the dropdown falls back to a short built-in list and tells you why. The assessment still runs with those models.
Answer the questions
There are 20 questions in five groups: about you, gear and technical, your work, your practice, and money and goals. The progress bar at the top counts your answers out of 20.
Required fields are your name, your favorite subject, and what you want from photography. You can skip the rest, but the more specific you are, the more useful the assessment becomes. The assessment only knows what you tell it.
A few answers that matter most
Subject matter (Q8 and Q9). "Landscape" tells the assessment nothing. "Desert washes near Tucson at first light" gives it something to work with.
Weakest part (Q15). Be honest here. This is the answer the assessment uses most.
Six-month goal (Q19). Write something you could check in six months. "Get better at light" can't be checked. "Shoot twelve finished portrait sessions and print five of them" can.
Dream shoot (Q20). Describe the place, the light, the subject, and why it matters to you. The assessment reads this for what you actually care about.
Read your assessment
The assessment streams in as it's written, so you can start reading before it finishes. It has six sections: where you actually are, what your answers tell you, the one thing holding you back, three concrete next steps, a response to your six-month goal, and one question to sit with.
Read it once through, then go back to the sections that stung a little. Those are usually the useful ones.
Below the assessment you can:
Copy Assessment to paste it into a note or email.
Create PDF to make a printable copy with your logo (section 6).
Download JSON to keep the answers and the assessment as a file.
Regenerate to run the same answers again for a fresh take.
Edit Answers to go back to the form with everything still filled in.
Start Over to clear the form and begin a new assessment.
Save, import, regenerate, and compare
The browser keeps your last three assessments under Saved assessments. Each one can be opened, downloaded as a JSON file, or removed.
Why the JSON files matter
Your saved list lives in this browser only. Clearing your browser data, switching browsers, or switching computers removes it. Download the JSON for anything you want to keep.
Import a file to tweak it
Click Import JSON and choose a file the assessment saved. The answers load back into the form, so you can change a word, a goal, or a whole section, and then run it again. If the file includes an assessment, that assessment is added to your saved list so you can compare the two.
Compare two assessments
When you have two or more saved assessments, the Compare panel appears. Pick any two to see them side by side, with a list of which answers changed between them. Use it to see whether the advice moved as the answers did. Three months from now, that's a strong way to check progress.
The list holds three. Running a new assessment, regenerating, or importing a file with an assessment pushes the oldest one off. Download anything you want to keep before you do.
Create a PDF with your logo
Create PDF makes a clean, printable copy of the assessment. It uses your browser's print dialog, so nothing gets installed and nothing gets uploaded.
In the PDF panel, upload your logo. PNG with a transparent background works best. Keep it under 500 KB. Use "Remove logo" to take it off.
Run an assessment and click Create PDF. A new window opens and the print dialog appears.
Choose Save as PDF as the destination.
Turn off Headers and footers in the dialog. Otherwise the browser adds the page address and the date to the page.
If nothing happens, your browser probably blocked the pop-up window. Allow pop-ups for this page and click the button again.
Don't want the button at all? Untick "Show the Create PDF button in results" in the PDF panel.
Where your information lives
Your API key is kept only in this browser, and only if you ticked the box. It goes straight from your browser to Anthropic.
Your answers and assessments are saved in this browser's storage. They are not sent to me or to any server I run.
Your logo is saved in this browser too, and it only appears in PDFs you make here.
Anthropic receives the questions and answers you submit, as part of writing the assessment. Read Anthropic's privacy and data terms for how they handle that.
The page file itself contains no key, no answers, and no logo. You can send it to someone, and each person runs it with their own key.
When something goes wrong
"Could not load the live list" or "HTTP 401." The API key is wrong, expired, or revoked. Check it in the Anthropic console and paste it again.
An error about credits or billing. Your Anthropic account needs a payment method or more credit.
"Empty response" or a cut-off assessment. Try again, or pick a different model. Regenerate uses the same answers.
The progress bar says 19 / 20. One question is still open. Question 18 only counts after you answer Question 17 with "Yes" and pick a year-over-year answer, or with "No."
The saved list is empty after a restart. Your browser may be set to clear site data when it closes, or you may be in a private window. Download the JSON to keep your work.
Import says it came from a different tool. Use a file downloaded from this assessment. Other JSON files won't load.