The Claude Code Setup.Read the first three chapters.

Chapter 1

What Claude Code is, in plain words

The Claude you know answers in a chat window. Claude Code is the same model with hands: it works inside a folder on your computer. It reads your files, creates new ones, runs commands and checks the result, and it asks your permission before it acts.

That changes what you can ask for. Not "write me the code for a website" but "build the website in this folder, open it, and fix what looks wrong". You describe the result; it does the steps.

You do not need to know how to code. You do need to be able to say clearly what you want and to read what it proposes before you say yes.

What you need

• A paid Claude plan. Claude Code is included from the Pro plan up. It does not run on the free plan. Check the current price on claude.com/pricing before you subscribe.
• A computer. Mac, Windows or Linux.
• An empty folder to practise in. Never your client files on day one.

Where it runs

• The desktop app, in its Code tab. The easiest start: no terminal.
• The terminal. The original version, and the one most guides show.
• The web, at claude.ai/code, where it works in a machine in the cloud instead of on yours.
• It also exists inside code editors such as VS Code. You can ignore that for now.

Chapter 2

Install it and say hello, in ten minutes

The easy way: the desktop app. Download Claude from claude.com/download, sign in, open the Code tab and choose your practice folder. You are ready.

The terminal way. Open Terminal on a Mac, or PowerShell on Windows, paste the line for your system and press Enter. Nothing moves on screen while it downloads; wait for it to finish.

# Mac or Linux: paste this in the Terminal app
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

# Windows: paste this in PowerShell
irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex

# Then, in a new window, check it worked
claude --version

If it prints a version number, it is installed. If it says "claude not found", close the window, open a new one and try again.

Now start it inside your practice folder. The first time, it opens your browser so you can sign in.

mkdir claude-practice
cd claude-practice
claude

Your first request, to see it act rather than talk:

Create a file called hello.html: a simple page that says "It works" in big letters on a dark background.
Then open it in my browser and tell me what you did.

It will ask before it creates the file and before it opens the browser. Read each request, then accept. That habit is the whole of chapter 5.

Chapter 3

The file that changes everything: CLAUDE.md

Claude Code starts every session knowing nothing about you. It reads one file first, every time: CLAUDE.md, at the top of your folder. What you write there, you never have to repeat.

It is the difference between an assistant you brief every morning and one who already knows how you work. Most people skip it, and then complain that Claude forgets.

Copy this template into a file named CLAUDE.md in your folder and fill in the brackets. Five minutes.

# About this project
[One sentence: what this folder is for.]

# About me
- I am [your job]. I am not a developer: explain in plain words.
- Reply in [language], short, the result first.

# Rules (always follow)
- Do exactly what I ask, nothing more.
- Before a big change, show me the plan and wait for my OK.
- Never delete a file without asking.
- Never put passwords or API keys in a file. If you need one, tell me where to put it.
- After a change, check that it works and tell me how you checked.

# How this project is organised
- [folder]: [what goes in it]
- [folder]: [what goes in it]

# What I ask for often
- "[a request you repeat]": [how you want it done]

# Things you got wrong before (do not repeat)
- [add a line each time you have to correct the same thing twice]

Four rules for a good one

1. Keep it short. One screen. It is read at every session, and a long file gets followed less well.
2. Write rules, not wishes. "Never delete a file without asking" works. "Be careful" does not.
3. Add a line when you correct it twice. The last section of the template is the one that pays off over time.
4. Let it write its own. In a folder that already has files, type /init and it drafts a CLAUDE.md from what it finds. Then edit it.

You can also have one personal file for all your projects, in the .claude folder of your home directory. Put there what is true everywhere: your language, your tone, your rules.