Install & setup in 5 minutes

Install Claude Code in 5 minutes

This works on Mac, Windows, and Linux.

Step 1: Open your terminal

On Mac: Press Cmd + Space, type "Terminal", hit Enter.

On Windows: Press Win + R, type cmd, hit Enter. (Or search for "Terminal" in the Start menu.) You'll also need Git for Windows installed — grab that first if you don't have it.

On Linux: You already know how to do this.

You should see a window with a cursor. That's your terminal. Everything we do happens here.

Step 2: Install Claude Code

Copy-paste this one-liner into your terminal and hit Enter:

Mac / Linux / WSL:

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

Windows PowerShell:

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

That's the whole install. It downloads and sets up everything automatically — about 30 seconds.

Alternative methods: You can also install via Homebrew (brew install --cask claude-code) on Mac, or WinGet (winget install Anthropic.ClaudeCode) on Windows. The native install above is recommended because it auto-updates.

Step 3: Verify it worked

Type:

claude --version

You should see a version number. That means it's installed.

Step 4: Sign in

Type:

claude

The first time you run it, you'll be prompted to log in. You can use:

• Claude Pro, Max, Teams, or Enterprise (recommended) — sign in with your Claude account
• Claude Console — if you have API credits
• Amazon Bedrock or Google Vertex AI — for enterprise cloud setups

Follow the prompts; depending on the option you select, a browser window may open for you to authenticate. Once done, your credentials will be saved so you won't need to log in again.

You're done

Claude Code is installed. In the next episode, we'll give it a real task.

Claude Code auto-updates in the background when installed via the native method. You'll always have the latest version.