Claude Code Guide

An agent that works with project files and commands through terminal, IDE, desktop and web surfaces.

Last verified: 2026-09-21 · How we verify

Coding agentAnthropicmacOSWindowsLinuxWeb

Suitable workflows

Developers who want an agent alongside their preferred editor.

Choose between subscription and provider billing deliberately; the editor is a separate choice.

Agent workflowCLI surfaceMCPSkillsHooks

This is an evidence-based shortlist, not an exhaustive feature inventory. Omitted capabilities have not been checked for this record.

See official pricing

Claude subscription or provider usage billing. The cost of metered usage or an external agent can be separate from the subscription.

Anthropic subscription, Console or supported third-party provider.

Verified families: Claude.

Use the native installer for your operating system; Windows has separate PowerShell instructions.

Installation command · macOS / Linux

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

Open your project folder in a terminal, then run:

claude

Start claude and follow the account login flow, or configure a supported provider.

CLAUDE.md supplies project context. Skills, hooks and MCP add reusable procedures and external tools.

Explain a failing test, propose a focused correction, and review the resulting diff.

This example asks for a project summary. Tool permissions still apply; a prompt is not a sandbox.

claude -p "Summarize the project structure without modifying files."

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Open a small, familiar project and confirm that your essential language tooling works.
Give the agent one bounded change with an observable acceptance criterion.
Review the diff, run the project’s checks and compare the result with your current workflow.
Inspect usage after the task. Estimate a month of similar work, including any separate model or agent bill.