Quick Start: For the Impatient

Skip the theory? Here’s your 5-minute path to building something:

Step 1: Open Terminal

# On Mac: Press Cmd+Space, type "terminal", hit Enter

You’ll see: A window with text (might say your username and a $ or % symbol)

If nothing happens: Make sure you fully typed “terminal” and pressed Enter (not just clicked away)

Step 2: Install Claude Code

# Copy-paste this whole line:
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

Want to inspect the installer first? Download it, skim it, then run:

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

You’ll see: Text scrolling as it downloads and installs (takes 30-60 seconds)

Troubleshooting:

“curl: command not found” → Your Mac should prompt you to install developer tools. Click “Install” and wait (this is a one-time thing, takes 5-10 min)
“Permission denied” → This is normal! The installer will handle it. If it asks for your Mac password, enter it (you won’t see dots/stars as you type - that’s normal security)
Installation seems stuck → Wait at least 2 minutes. If still stuck, press Ctrl+C, close Terminal, reopen it, and try again

Step 3: Create a project folder

mkdir ~/my-first-project && cd ~/my-first-project

You’ll see: Nothing! (In Terminal, silence means success)

What this did:

Created a folder called “my-first-project” in your home directory
Moved you into that folder (your “working directory”)

Troubleshooting:

“File exists” → You already have a folder with that name. Try mkdir ~/my-first-project-2 && cd ~/my-first-project-2 instead

Step 4: Launch Claude Code

claude

You’ll see: A welcome screen that looks something like:

┌─ Welcome to Claude Code ─────────────────┐
│                                          │
│ Current directory: ~/my-first-project    │
│                                          │
│ What would you like to build?           │
│ >                                        │
└──────────────────────────────────────────┘

Troubleshooting:

“command not found: claude” →
```
    - Close Terminal completely (Cmd+Q)

    - Reopen Terminal

    - Try `claude` again (installation needs a fresh Terminal session)

    - Still not working? Run `which claude` - if it shows nothing, reinstall (Step 2)
```
- “Authentication required” → You need to log in. The terminal will show a link - click it or copy-paste into your browser, then log in with your Claude account
- Terminal just returns to the prompt → Something went wrong. Try claude --version to see if it’s installed. If you see a version number, try claude again

Step 5: Tell it what to build

Make me a simple timer with start, stop, and reset buttons

(Type this at the > prompt and press Enter)

You’ll see: Claude thinking, then creating files. It will show you:

What files it’s creating (like index.html, script.js, styles.css)
What code it’s writing
When it’s done

Then open your creation:

open index.html

You’ll see: Your browser opens with a working timer! You built that.

Troubleshooting:

Nothing opens → Check if index.html exists: type ls and press Enter. You should see index.html in the list. If not, Claude might have used a different filename - ask it “What files did you create?”
“The file couldn’t be opened” → Make sure you’re in the right folder. Type pwd to check - you should see something ending in my-first-project
Browser shows code instead of a timer → The file extension might be wrong. Right-click the file in Finder → Get Info → Open with: Safari (or Chrome)

What happens next

Want changes? Just ask Claude! Type your request at the > prompt:

Make the buttons bigger and add a dark mode toggle

To exit Claude Code: Press Ctrl+D or type exit

Come back to this doc when you want to understand what just happened, or jump to Terminal Basics to learn what all those commands meant.

Prefer clicking over typing? Download Claude Desktop from claude.com/download — same coding powers, visual interface.