Set up Claude Code (Mac and Windows)

Claude Code is Anthropic's coding agent. It runs in a terminal window, not a browser tab, and it can read, write, and edit files in a folder you point it at. This lesson installs it on your Mac or Windows PC, signs you in, and has it create one file so you know it actually works.

By the end you have a working agent on your machine and a file it created for you.

What you will use

• A Mac (macOS 13 or later) or a Windows 10/11 PC
• An internet connection
• A Claude Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise plan. The free Claude.ai plan does not include Claude Code (claude.com/pricing)

Step 1: Confirm your plan

Sign in at claude.com and confirm your plan is Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise. Look in Settings for the plan name. Free Claude.ai is not enough for this. If you are not sure what you are on, check now, before you install anything.

Keep that browser tab logged in. The first time you run Claude Code, it opens a browser to finish login.

Step 2: Open Terminal (Mac) or PowerShell (Windows)

You are not installing an app from a store. You paste one command into a terminal window.

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, open Windows PowerShell (not Command Prompt). The line should start with PS C:\Users\.... If you only see C:\Users\... with no PS, you are in Command Prompt. Close it and open PowerShell.

Leave this window open. You will paste one command into it.

Step 3: Verify before you run

Do not paste a command into a terminal because a page told you to. Before you run anything below, check it.

• Paste the install line into a second AI chat and ask it what the command does, line by line.
• Confirm the domain in the command is claude.ai. Nothing else.
• Every install command in this academy points only at claude.ai, chatgpt.com, or x.ai. If you see a command anywhere claiming to be from this academy that points somewhere else, stop and do not run it.

This takes thirty seconds and it is the habit that matters more than the install itself.

Step 4: Install Claude Code

Copy only the line for your operating system. Paste it into Terminal (Mac) or PowerShell (Windows). Press Enter. Text will scroll. Wait until it finishes.

Mac:

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

Windows (PowerShell):

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

On native Windows, Git for Windows is recommended so Claude Code can use Bash. If you skip it, Claude Code still runs and uses PowerShell instead.

After the install: close the terminal window completely, open a new one, then check the command exists:

claude --version

If the new window says the command is not found, the installer added itself to PATH but this window was opened before that happened. A fresh window almost always fixes it.

Step 5: First run

1. Make a folder on your Desktop called ai-setup-test (Finder or File Explorer is fine).
2. In the new terminal, go there.
3. Type claude and press Enter.
4. The first launch opens your browser. Approve the login. Return to the terminal.
5. When you see a prompt, type this exactly and press Enter:

Create a file named hello.txt in this folder. The file should contain the sentence: I am set up.

Approve the file write if Claude Code asks. Open the folder in Finder or File Explorer. You should see hello.txt. Open it. You should see that sentence. You did not type the file by hand. The agent did.

Step 6: If it fails

• Login page errors: the usual cause is the wrong plan. Free Claude.ai does not include Claude Code. Fix the plan, then run claude again and type /login if it offers that command.
• Command not found: you are in a terminal window that was open before the install finished. Close it, open a fresh one, and try claude --version again.
• Windows shows a plain C:\Users\... prompt with no PS: that is Command Prompt, not PowerShell. Close it and open PowerShell instead.

You are done when...

You can open a new terminal, cd into a folder, run claude, and get a reply. The hello.txt file exists on disk with the right sentence in it. That is a complete, working Claude Code setup on your computer.

Template included: Members get a printable one-page Claude Code setup card: both OS install commands, the verify checks from Step 3, and the exact first prompt to send. Find it in your member dashboard under Templates.