Installation & Setup

Everything you need to install Claude Code on macOS, Windows, or Linux and get authenticated in under five minutes.

Prerequisites

Before you install Claude Code, make sure you have the following:

A Claude Pro, Max, or Team subscription — Claude Code requires an active Anthropic subscription. The free tier does not include CLI access. You can sign up at claude.ai.
Node.js 18 or newer — Claude Code is installed via npm, the Node.js package manager. If you do not have Node.js yet, Step 1 below will walk you through it.
A terminal application — Every operating system ships with one. On macOS, open Terminal (search for it in Spotlight). On Windows, use PowerShell or Windows Terminal. On Linux, open your default terminal emulator.

Subscription required

Claude Code is only available with a paid Claude subscription (Pro, Max, or Team plan). If you try to authenticate without one, you will see an error. Head to claude.ai to upgrade your account before continuing.

Installation steps

Install Node.js (if you don't have it)

Open your terminal and check whether Node.js is already installed:

node --version

If you see a version number like v18.17.0 or higher, you are good to go — skip to Step 2.

If the command is not recognized, download and install Node.js from nodejs.org. Choose the LTS (Long Term Support) version — it is the most stable.

After installing, close and reopen your terminal, then run node --version again to confirm it works.

Install Claude Code via npm

With Node.js in place, run this single command to install Claude Code globally on your system:

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

The -g flag installs it globally, meaning you can run the claude command from any directory. The download is about 50 MB and should finish in under a minute on most connections.

Permission errors on macOS / Linux

If you see an EACCES error, you may need to prefix the command with sudo:

sudo npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Alternatively, you can configure npm to install globally without sudo, which is the recommended long-term fix.

Authenticate with your Anthropic account

Now launch Claude Code for the first time:

claude

On first run, Claude Code will open a browser window asking you to log in to your Anthropic account. Sign in with the account that has your Pro, Max, or Team subscription, then authorize the CLI.

Once you approve, the terminal will display a confirmation message and drop you into an interactive prompt. That means you are authenticated and ready to go.

Info

Authentication tokens are stored locally on your machine. You will not need to log in again unless you explicitly sign out or switch accounts.

Verify the installation

Run the following command to confirm everything is working:

claude --version

You should see the current version number printed. If you do, congratulations — Claude Code is installed and authenticated.

You can also run claude --help to see a summary of all available flags and options. Do not worry about memorizing them — we will cover the important ones throughout this guide.

Platform-specific notes

macOS

macOS is the most straightforward platform. Use the built-in Terminal app (found in Applications > Utilities) or a third-party terminal like iTerm2. If you use Homebrew, you can install Node.js with brew install node instead of downloading it manually.

Windows

Claude Code works on Windows through WSL 2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux). This gives you a full Linux environment inside Windows. To set it up:

Open PowerShell as Administrator and run wsl --install.
Restart your computer when prompted.
Open the newly installed Ubuntu app from the Start menu, set up a username and password, then follow the Linux instructions below.

Info

While there are ways to run Claude Code natively on Windows with PowerShell, the WSL 2 approach is officially recommended and provides the most reliable experience.

Linux

On Ubuntu, Debian, and similar distributions, you may need to install Node.js through NodeSource or use a version manager like nvm, since the default system packages often ship an outdated version. Once Node.js 18+ is installed, the npm install -g command works identically to macOS.

Troubleshooting common issues

“claude: command not found”

This means the global npm bin directory is not on your system PATH. First, find where npm installs global packages:

npm config get prefix

Then add the resulting path (with /bin appended) to your shell profile. For example, on macOS with zsh:

# Add to ~/.zshrc
export PATH="$(npm config get prefix)/bin:$PATH"

Then run source ~/.zshrc or open a new terminal window.

Authentication fails or browser does not open

If the browser window does not appear (common on headless servers or WSL), Claude Code will print a URL in the terminal. Copy that URL and paste it into any browser where you are logged in to your Anthropic account. After authorizing, the terminal session will pick up the token automatically.

Node.js version too old

If you see an error about an unsupported Node.js version, upgrade to the latest LTS release. The fastest way is to use nvm:

nvm install --lts
nvm use --lts

Updating Claude Code

Claude Code receives frequent updates. To upgrade to the latest version, run:

npm update -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

You can also check for updates inside Claude Code by running the /update slash command during a session.

Tip

Bookmark this page. The troubleshooting section covers the most common issues, but if you run into something else, the Quick Reference has a more extensive list.

What is Claude Code?

Your First Session