Setup

Install Claude Code

One page that figures out your system and hands you the right commands. For the conceptual walkthrough, use the tutorials.

Detecting your system…

Windows

Windows 10 and 11 ship with winget, the Windows Package Manager. One command installs everything.

1. Open PowerShell (or Windows Terminal)

Press Win, type powershell, hit Enter.

2. Install Git, Node.js, and VS Code

winget install --id Git.Git -e ; winget install --id OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS -e ; winget install --id Microsoft.VisualStudioCode -e

Each one will ask you to accept the license once. Say yes.

3. Close and reopen PowerShell

This picks up the new PATH so Node and Git work.

4. Install Claude Code

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

5. Launch and log in

claude

On first run it opens your browser to log in with your Claude subscription. After that it's tied to your account.

Don't have winget? You're on Windows older than the 2020 update. Install App Installer from the Microsoft Store first — that's what ships winget.

Mac

macOS uses Homebrew as its package manager. If you don't have it yet, install that first.

1. Open Terminal

Cmd + Space, type terminal, hit Enter.

2. Install Homebrew (skip if already installed)

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

To check if you already have it: brew --version. If that prints a version, skip this step.

3. Install Git, Node.js, and VS Code

brew install git node && brew install --cask visual-studio-code

4. Install Claude Code

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

5. Launch and log in

claude

On first run it opens your browser to log in with your Claude subscription. After that it's tied to your account.

Linux

On Debian / Ubuntu use apt. On Fedora / RHEL use dnf. VS Code is separate — install from code.visualstudio.com or your distro's package repo.

Debian / Ubuntu

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y git nodejs npm

Fedora / RHEL

sudo dnf install -y git nodejs npm

Install Claude Code

sudo npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Launch and log in

claude

Old Node on your distro? If node --version prints below 20, install a newer one via nvm before running npm install -g.

Can't detect your system

Use one of the cards below. If you're on a Chromebook or phone, Claude Code won't run directly — you'd need a full desktop OS or a dev environment like GitHub Codespaces.

After install

You'll want a project folder. Pick a spot and make one:

mkdir C:\dev\MyFirstProject && cd C:\dev\MyFirstProject && claude

(On Mac/Linux: mkdir ~/dev/MyFirstProject && cd ~/dev/MyFirstProject && claude)

When the claude prompt comes up, try something small — "Create a file called hello.txt with the words 'hello world' in it." — and watch it work.

Then jump into the tutorials to build something real.