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Two tools the website needs
Two quick installs, and it is worth knowing what each one is actually for. Node is the engine your website runs on — Claude Code doesn’t need it, but the site you are about to build does. Git is your undo button and your backup, and on Windows Claude Code genuinely will not work without it.
Node.js — the engine
Runs your website on your own computer so you can look at it, click through it, and fix it before anyone else ever sees it.
Git — the undo button
Saves a snapshot of every version, so anything can be rolled back — and on Windows, Claude Code needs it to run at all.
Install Node.js
- Go to
nodejs.org/en/download. - Near the top you will see a heading like Get Node.js® v24 LTS. The version number changes over time; that is fine. What matters is that LTS is the selected option and not Current. (LTS means “long-term support” — the stable one.)
- Choose your computer (macOS or Windows), download the installer, and click Next/Continue through the defaults. When it finishes you are done — you will never open Node yourself; your website uses it in the background.
Install Git
- Windows: go to
git-scm.com/download/win, run the installer, and click Next through every screen, accepting all the defaults. - Mac: open the Terminal app, type
git --versionand press Return. If it offers to install “command line developer tools,” click Install. Most Macs already have it.
On Windows, once Git has finished installing, fully close and reopen the Claude app. Programs only notice newly-installed tools when they restart, and this is the single most common reason the Code tab refuses to start. (On a Mac you can skip this.)
Check both landed
You do not have to do this — but if you want to be certain before moving on, open Terminal on a Mac or PowerShell on Windows and type these two lines, one at a time:
Type or paste this
git --version node --version
Node lets your website run on your own machine so you can look at it privately before it exists anywhere public. Git lets Claude save snapshots of your work, which is what makes it safe to experiment — anything can be undone. Both sit quietly in the background. There is nothing to open, learn, or maintain.
On Windows, if a security pop-up appears during either install, click Yes or Allow — that is expected behavior for official installers.
Also on Windows: if the Code tab will not start a session on your own computer, Git either is not installed yet or the app cannot see it. Install it, then close and reopen the Claude app.
Both commands print a version number — something like git version 2.54.0 and v24.15.0. The exact numbers do not matter. Numbers instead of an error is the whole test.
More learning resources
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