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

  1. Open the official page claude.com/claude-code and follow the install instructions for your system. Always take the current steps from there, since they change more often than this course.
  2. 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”.
  3. Type claude and 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: a condensed replay of a real session. Click through it with the Next button.

Checklist: do it now

The best time to try this is right now. Tick items off and your progress is saved.

Summary

  • Install: official steps at claude.com/claude-code, then the claude command.
  • One project = one folder. Always.
  • Write plain sentences, the way you speak.
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