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Claude Code Basics Lesson 15 of 46

Installing Claude Code

In short
  • The path this course takes: the desktop app. You download and install it like any other program, zero commands.
  • Inside the app, Claude Code is the Code tab: if it asks you to switch to a subscription, it's the plan that's missing.
  • The alternative: the terminal, with a single command. You launch it by typing claude in the folder you want to work on.
  • If something's off, there's a command that runs the diagnosis for you.

The path this course takes — the desktop app

This is the one we'll use from here on, and it's the same as installing any other program. Three steps:

  • Download the app from the official page, where you'll find versions for Mac, Windows and Linux. Then install it like you would any other program.

  • Open the app and log in with your Claude account. You only log in once.

  • Go to the Code tab, at the top. Remember the three tabs — Chat, Cowork, Code? Claude Code is the third one. If clicking it offers to move you to a subscription, that's not a bug: it's the plan we talked about in the last lesson.

Done. You don't need to install anything else: the app already carries Claude Code inside it.

The alternative — the terminal

If you already use the terminal, or if you want to have the claude command available alongside the app, it installs separately. It's not an alternative to the app: you can keep both, and they share the same settings.

On Mac and Linux, open the terminal and paste this:

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

On Windows, open PowerShell and paste this:

irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex

These are the official instructions, and they do one thing: download Claude Code and put it in the right place on your computer. It takes less than a minute.

Launching it the first time

From the terminal, go into the folder you want to work on and type:

claude

A session opens. The first time, it asks you to log in: your browser opens, you sign in with your Claude account, you come back to the terminal and you're in. You only log in once.

Checking that everything's in order

In the desktop app the check is visual: if the Code tab opens and asks you to pick a folder, everything's fine.

From the terminal, the fastest check is asking for the version:

claude --version

If a number comes back, the installation is there. If something's off instead — it can't be found, login doesn't work, it's acting strange — there's a command that runs its own diagnosis and tells you what's wrong:

claude doctor

It doesn't open any session and doesn't touch anything: it looks and reports.

What's next

It's installed. Before giving it your first task, though, there's one thing to understand, and getting it wrong is first-days mistake number one: where you open it decides what it works on.

Did you get it?

Two minutes, no grade. Trying to answer — even getting it wrong — cements the concepts far more than rereading. Not in the mood? Skip it: the lesson still counts as complete.

You've installed it and want to check everything's in order. What do you do?

In the desktop app, where does Claude Code live?

Course Claude Code Basics

  1. Chapter 1 Introduction

    1. 1 The Claude Ecosystem and Where Claude Code Fits
    2. 2 What Claude Code Is: The Collaborator Who Walks Into Your Studio
    3. 3 How an Agent Works: The Loop

  2. Chapter 2 What's Underneath

    1. 4 Claude Code in Action: The Loop, for Real
    2. 5 The Model Has No Memory: It Starts Over Every Time
    3. 6 The Harness: The Engine and the Gear Around It
    4. 7 The Map: Four Buckets

  3. Chapter 3 You Choose the Engine

    1. 8 There's No Single Claude: The Model Lineup
    2. 9 Which Model for Which Job
    3. 10 Effort: How Hard It Should Think
    4. 11 Model or Effort? The Question That Trips Everyone Up
    5. 12 The Bill: Why Saving Money Can Cost You More

  4. Chapter 4 First Time at the Controls

    1. 13 Where to Run It: Four Doors In
    2. 14 What You Need Before You Start
    3. 15 Installing Claude Code
    4. 16 The Folder: Where You Open It Decides What It Works On
    5. 17 Choosing the Engine, in Practice
    6. 18 Your First Task: Small, Yours, and It Works

  5. Chapter 5 What You Let It Touch

    1. 19 Why It Asks for Permission
    2. 20 The Rules: Always Yes, Ask Me, Never
    3. 21 The Modes: How Much Leash You Give It
    4. 22 Plan Mode: Get the Plan Before the Work
    5. 23 Verification in the Loop: Give It a Yardstick
    6. 24 Example: Putting the Bucket Together

  6. Chapter 6 What It Knows About You

    1. 25 CLAUDE.md: The Notes It Reads the Moment It Walks In
    2. 26 How to Write a CLAUDE.md That Actually Works
    3. 27 The Context Window: How Much It Can Hold at Once
    4. 28 Cleaning Up: Compact and Clear
    5. 29 Automatic Memory
    6. 30 Example: From Repeating Yourself to Never Again

  7. Chapter 7 Skills

    1. 31 What a Skill Is: A Procedure Written Once
    2. 32 Creating Your First Skill
    3. 33 The Description Decides Whether It Gets Used
    4. 34 Example: A Skill That Saves You the Week

  8. Chapter 8 How Many You Put to Work

    1. 35 The Subagent: A Helper With Its Own Desk
    2. 36 When a Helper Is Worth It (and What It Costs)
    3. 37 Teams: When Agents Talk to Each Other
    4. 38 Example: Searching Without Cluttering the Desk

  9. Chapter 9 What It's Connected To

    1. 39 MCP: The Standard Plug Into Your Tools
    2. 40 Plugins: Packaging Up and Borrowing
    3. 41 Example: When You Stop Copying and Pasting

  10. Chapter 10 Automating the Setup

    1. 42 Hooks: The Thing That Always Happens
    2. 43 Where It Fires and What It Can Do
    3. 44 When You Actually Need One (and When It's Too Much)

  11. Chapter 11 Wrap-Up

    1. 45 The Project: Your Expense Tracker
    2. 46 Wrap-Up: What You're Taking Home
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