What You Need Before You Install

Two commands tell you in about ten seconds whether your machine is ready.

node --version
npm --version

If version numbers appear, you are closer than you think. Write both down. If an error appears instead, that is fine, and fixing it takes about five minutes.

What each one is

The rest of the requirements

Your operating system should be reasonably current, meaning macOS 13 or later, Windows 10 or later, or a recent Linux distribution like Ubuntu 20.04 or newer. You want at least four gigabytes of RAM and an internet connection.

You also need a Claude account on a paid plan, because the free plan does not include Claude Code. The cheapest one that works is Pro. Nothing in the installation itself requires authentication, so you can follow every install step now and sign in later when your account is active.

If the terminal is new to you

Claude Code runs in the terminal because that is where it can read your files, run commands, and create new files directly. A code editor sits on top of those operations and gives you buttons for them. The terminal is the layer underneath, where the operations actually happen, and that direct access is what makes the whole thing work.

You type an instruction, press enter, and the terminal responds with text. That is the entire interaction model, and it is the same one every command-line tool uses.

One word you will meet during installation is PATH. It is the list of folders your shell searches when you type a command. So when something says "add this to your PATH", all it means is teaching your shell where to look.

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