Install Claude Code: setup on Mac, Windows and Linux

Claude Code is 1 program you install once. After that you start it in any project folder by typing claude.

Check you can run it

Claude Code needs a computer with:

• macOS 13 or later, Windows 10 (version 1809) or later, or Linux: Ubuntu 20.04, Debian 10, Alpine 3.19 or later.
• 4 GB of memory or more, and an internet connection. Your requests go to Claude's servers.
• A paid plan. Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise include Claude Code, and so does a Claude Console account, which is billed per token. The free claude.ai plan does not.

You also need a terminal: Terminal on a Mac, PowerShell on Windows. If you would rather not use one, the Claude Desktop app runs the same agent behind a window, and VS Code and JetBrains have extensions. This guide uses the terminal, because every other way runs the same engine and the terminal shows the most.

Install with one command

Open a terminal and run the line for your system.

On a Mac, Linux or WSL:

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

In Windows PowerShell:

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

The installer prints nothing while it downloads, so give it a minute. You do not need administrator rights.

If you use a package manager instead, brew install --cask claude-code on a Mac and winget install Anthropic.ClaudeCode on Windows do the same job. There is also an npm package, @anthropic-ai/claude-code, which needs Node.js 22 or later. The native installer is the one Anthropic recommends, and the only one that updates itself.

On Windows you choose between running natively or inside WSL. Native suits Windows projects. Install Git for Windows as well if you can: Claude Code then runs commands in Git Bash, and without it uses PowerShell. Pick WSL 2 if your project lives in Linux, or if you want the sandbox, which limits the files and websites its shell commands can reach. It does not run on native Windows.

Check it works

Open a new terminal window, so it picks up the new program, and run:

claude --version

A version number means it is installed. command not found almost always means the install folder is not on your PATH yet; a new terminal window fixes most cases. For a fuller check, claude doctor reports the install, your settings files and the last update without starting a session.

Sign in

Go to a project folder and start it:

cd ~/code/my-project
claude

The first time, it opens your browser to sign in. Use the claude.ai account that holds your plan, or your Console account. If the browser cannot hand the login back to the terminal, which happens over SSH and in containers, it shows a code to paste into the terminal instead. You sign in once; the login is kept in your Mac's Keychain, or in a file only your user can read on Linux and Windows.

2 things that catch people:

• An API key in your environment wins. If ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is set and you approve it when asked, Claude Code bills that key, not your plan. Run /status inside a session to see which one is in use.
• 2 accounts need 2 folders. To keep a work login and a personal one, start one of them with CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=~/.claude-work claude. Each folder keeps its own login, settings and history.

/logout signs you out, and /login switches account without leaving.

Keep it up to date

The native install checks for updates when it starts and while it runs, downloads them in the background, and uses the new version the next time you open it. claude update updates at once.

If you would rather not be first, set the release channel to stable. It runs about a week behind and skips releases with major problems. Choose Auto-update channel in /config, or put this in your settings file:

{
  "autoUpdatesChannel": "stable"
}

Homebrew and WinGet installs do not update on their own: run brew upgrade claude-code or winget upgrade Anthropic.ClaudeCode now and then. With Homebrew, the claude-code cask follows stable and claude-code@latest follows the newest release.

Where to go next

With it installed, run a first session on a real project, then read how it works so its behaviour makes sense. Before you let it run for long, set what it may do on its own in permissions.