Same agent as the last session, different window. This one lives in a terminal, installs with one pasted line, and is the only surface that scripts, schedules, and listens to your voice. It is also what the rest of this academy assumes.
Never paste a command into a terminal because a page told you to, including this one. Paste the line into a second AI chat and ask what it does. Then check the domain with your own eyes. It has to be claude dot ai.
Copy only the line for your system, paste it, and wait for the scrolling to stop. Then close the terminal completely and open a brand new one, because the installer changed your path and this window has not heard about it yet.
There is no login command to find. Run claude, and your browser opens for you to approve. Come back to the terminal and you are signed in. If the login page throws an error, check your plan before you check anything else.
Make one small folder and work only there. The folder you are standing in when you type claude is the folder the agent works in, so do not start your first session in your home directory. Make it, go there, start it.
Three prompts, one at a time. Explain this folder without changing anything. Create a file. Then change it and show the change first. Approve the write when it asks. These are the same three prompts every other path uses.
Open pick-test in Finder or File Explorer. hello dot t x t is sitting there with two lines in it, and you typed neither of them. That is the moment this stops being a demo and starts being a tool you own.
This is the surface that listens. Slash voice turns on dictation, in hold or tap mode, and your speech appears in the prompt. Native installs update themselves in the background. And unlike every other path here, uninstall is documented.
You have the install that every other session in this academy builds on, plus a dictation command most tools still do not offer. Next session is Codex inside the ChatGPT desktop app, which is the shortest path of all if you already subscribe.
Same agent as the last session, different window. This one lives in a terminal, installs with one pasted line, and is the surface that scripts, schedules, and listens to your voice. It is also the surface the rest of this academy assumes you have.
The first three prompts are identical to every other path in this course, so you can run this one and the desktop one back to back and decide with evidence.
Claude Code is Anthropic's coding agent, run from a command line. You type claude in a folder, it opens an interactive session, and it reads, writes, and edits files in that folder with your permission.
Suits you if: you want the fastest surface, you want to speak prompts instead of typing them, you want the agent inside a script or a nightly job, or you want the setup every other session in this academy is written against. Not for you if a blinking cursor still makes your stomach drop. Go do Path A first and come back.
What you will use
Mac: press Command + Space, type Terminal, press Enter. A window opens with a blinking cursor; lines usually start with % or $.
Windows: click Start, type PowerShell, and open Windows PowerShell. Anthropic's own tell for which shell you are in: "Your prompt shows PS C:\ when you're in PowerShell and C:\ without the PS when you're in CMD." Both work, but they take different install commands, so know which one you are looking at.
Caution: never paste a command into a terminal because a page told you to, including this page.
Do this now: copy the install line for your system from Step 3, paste it into a second AI chat (not the terminal), and ask "what does this command do, and what domain does it download from?" The answer should be that it fetches a script from claude.ai and runs it. Then check the domain with your own eyes. Every install command in this academy points at claude.ai, chatgpt.com, or x.ai. Nowhere else.
Thirty seconds. It is the habit, not the install, that protects you for the next ten years.
Copy only the line for your system. Paste, press Enter, and wait for the scrolling to stop.
macOS, Linux, WSL:
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash
Windows PowerShell:
irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex
Windows CMD:
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.cmd -o install.cmd && install.cmd && del install.cmd
Two documented alternatives, if you already live in a package manager:
brew install --cask claude-code
winget install Anthropic.ClaudeCode
All of the above are from code.claude.com/docs/en/setup.
On native Windows, Git for Windows is optional but recommended: with it, Claude Code uses Git Bash for its Bash tool; without it, it uses PowerShell instead.
Now close the terminal window completely and open a fresh one. Then:
claude --version
A working install "prints a version number such as 2.1.211 (Claude Code)." If the new window says the command is not found, you almost certainly opened it before the installer finished editing your PATH. Open another one. For a fuller check, there is a documented diagnostic:
claude doctor
There is no separate login step to hunt for. "After installing, log in by running claude and following the browser prompts."
Your browser opens, you approve, you come back to the terminal. Claude Code requires a Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise, or Console account, so if the login page throws an error, the plan is the first thing to check.
Make one small folder and work only there.
Mac:
mkdir ~/Desktop/pick-test
cd ~/Desktop/pick-test
Windows:
mkdir $HOME\Desktop\pick-test
cd $HOME\Desktop\pick-test
Then start the session:
claude
Caution: whatever folder you are standing in when you type claude is the folder the agent works in. Do not start it in your home directory on day one.
Type these one at a time, pressing Enter after each. Approve the file write when it asks. These are the same three prompts used in every path of this course.
Prompt 1
Explain what is in this folder in plain English. Do not change anything.
Prompt 2
Create a file named hello.txt in this folder. The file should contain the sentence: I am set up.
Prompt 3
Add a second line to hello.txt that says: I can change files too. Show me the change before you save it.
Open pick-test in Finder or File Explorer. hello.txt is there, with two lines. You did not type either of them.
This is the surface that listens. Run:
/voice
Anthropic's documentation: "Speak your prompts instead of typing them in the Claude Code CLI. Your speech is transcribed live into the prompt input, so you can mix voice and typing in the same message. Enable dictation with /voice, then either hold a key while you speak or tap once to start and again to send."
Two modes, both documented: /voice hold is push-to-talk, hold Space while you speak. /voice tap starts on one tap and sends on the next. /voice off turns it back off.
The requirements are specific and worth reading before you plan around it: a Claude.ai account (not an API key, not Bedrock, not Foundry), a local microphone, and, on WSL, WSLg. "Transcription does not consume Claude messages or tokens." Full page: code.claude.com/docs/en/voice-dictation
Caution: your recorded audio is streamed to Anthropic's servers for transcription. It is not processed on your machine. That is fine for "refactor the auth middleware" and not fine for reading a client's bank details out loud.
~/.local/bin/claude, a symlink into ~/.local/share/claude/versions/~/.claude/ and ~/.claude.json.claude and .mcp.json inside the project folderCLAUDE.md in the project, shared with the desktop appSource: code.claude.com/docs/en/setup
Native installs update themselves: "Native installations automatically update in the background to keep you on the latest version." To pull one immediately:
claude update
If you installed through a package manager, updates are manual:
brew upgrade claude-code
winget upgrade Anthropic.ClaudeCode
Native install, macOS, Linux, or WSL:
rm -f ~/.local/bin/claude
rm -rf ~/.local/share/claude
Native install, Windows PowerShell:
Remove-Item -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.local\bin\claude.exe" -Force
Remove-Item -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.local\share\claude" -Recurse -Force
Homebrew: brew uninstall --cask claude-code. WinGet: winget uninstall Anthropic.ClaudeCode. All from code.claude.com/docs/en/setup.
To also remove settings and history, rm -rf ~/.claude and rm ~/.claude.json. Caution: that wipes settings, allowed tools, MCP configuration, and session history, and the docs warn the folder comes back if the desktop app, the VS Code extension, or the JetBrains plugin is still installed.
Switch to the desktop app when you want to see a diff before it lands, when you are reviewing a large change and want it file by file with Accept and Reject buttons, or when you want the integrated terminal, file editor, and app preview in one window.
The move costs nothing. Run /desktop in the terminal: "Claude saves your session and opens it in the desktop app, then exits the CLI." Available on macOS and x64 Windows with a Claude subscription. And you can simply run both: they share ~/.claude/settings.json, ~/.claude.json, and your project's CLAUDE.md. (code.claude.com/docs/en/desktop)
A fresh terminal window, cd into pick-test, claude, and a reply. hello.txt on disk with two lines. /voice enabled at least once so you know what it feels like. That is the install every other session in this academy builds on.
Template included: Members get a one-page Claude Code CLI card: install commands for macOS, PowerShell, and CMD, the verify-before-you-paste check, the three comparison prompts, the
/voicemodes, and the update and uninstall commands. Find it in your member dashboard under Templates.
Short on time? Agentic Quarks will implement this end to end, wired into your stack, and hand you the keys.
One full walkthrough per tool and per surface, so you install the right one once
5 sessions, 100 minutes, 5 free.
One payment, no subscription, and a 14-day money back you trigger yourself from your account page.