Lesson 1 / 7 · ~10 minutes
Setup in 10 minutes
What you'll need
- A computer — Windows, Mac or Linux, nothing special.
- A Claude account with a subscription (Pro or Max) — create one at claude.ai.
- A terminal — the black window you type text into. Sounds scary, but you'll only ever type one thing into it: plain sentences in English.
Installation in three steps
- Open the official page claude.com/claude-code and follow the install instructions for your system. Always take the current steps from there — they change more often than this course.
- Create a new empty folder for your first project
(e.g.
Documents/my-first-website) and open a terminal in it. On Windows: right-click in the folder → "Open in Terminal". - Type
claudeand press Enter. On first run it walks you through signing in to your Claude account.
A tip that saves you headaches: one project = one folder.
Claude Code works with the files where you launch it — in an empty folder,
there's nothing it can break.
The first session, live
This is what the very first conversation looks like — no shortcuts, no editing. Click through it with the Next button.
Checklist: do it now
The best time to try this is right now. Tick items off — your progress is saved.
Summary
- Install: official steps at claude.com/claude-code, then the
claudecommand. - One project = one folder. Always.
- Write plain sentences — the way you speak.