Start here
Install Claude Code
Now install the software. By the end of this lesson the Claude app will be open on the Code tab with Vercel’s plugin added. We strongly recommend the desktop app, because you drive everything from a normal window and almost never touch a terminal. The terminal installer is further down if you’d rather have that.
Desktop app — recommended
- One download, sign in, and you're in
- A chat window instead of a terminal
- Can open your site's preview and click through it
- What this course assumes throughout
Terminal
- A one-line installer
- The classic developer setup
- Only if you already like terminals
The easy way: the desktop app
- Go to
claude.com/download. - Click Download for macOS or Download for Windows and install it like any other program. If your Windows computer has an ARM chip (a chip type in some newer laptops, such as a Surface or one with a Snapdragon chip), pick the Windows (arm64) link instead. If you don’t know, pick the standard download.
- Open it and sign in with your Claude account, the one you just put on Pro. Approve the pop-up that opens in your browser.
- At the top center of the window, click the Code tab. That tab is Claude Code. If it asks you to upgrade instead, your Pro plan hasn’t come through yet; check which account you signed in with.
The program you just installed is called Claude, and it may open on the Chat tab. Claude Code is not a separate download. It is the Code tab, along the top next to Chat and Cowork. You can ignore Cowork for this course.
Add the Vercel plugin
Vercel is the service that will put your site on the internet in Module 8. A plugin is an add-on that teaches Claude how to use a particular service. Vercel’s plugin installs from the official plugin list of Anthropic (the company that makes Claude), so you’re not downloading anything from an unknown source.
- On the Code tab, click the + button next to the message box.
- Choose Plugins.
- Find vercel in the list and install it.
Or type this into Claude’s message box and press Enter:
Claude's message box
/plugin install vercel@claude-plugins-official
The part after the @ is the name of that official list. You should see Claude confirm that the vercel plugin is installed; check what your screen says, because the wording varies.
Some versions of the app ask you to choose a folder before they show a message box. If yours does, skip the plugin for now. You make your project folder two lessons from now, and the end of that lesson reminds you to come back to this step.
The Claude app opens, you’re signed in, the Code tab is showing, and vercel appears as installed when you open + and then Plugins. Everyone: two more installs in the next lesson, Node and Git, before you start building.
The alternative: the terminal
Only if you actively prefer it. Otherwise skip straight to the next lesson; nothing below is required. A terminal is the text window where you type commands instead of clicking.
Each line below downloads Anthropic’s official installer and runs it.
Mac: open the Terminal app and paste:
Mac — Terminal
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash
Windows: open PowerShell (Windows’ built-in command window) and paste:
Windows — PowerShell
irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex
You should see the installer print a few lines of progress and finish with a message that the install worked, then give you back a fresh line to type on.
Windows has two similar-looking black windows, and this command only works in one of them. You’re in the right one if the line you type on begins with PS C:\. If it just says C:\, search your Start menu for “PowerShell” and open that instead.
Check it worked:
Type or paste this
claude --version
You should see a version number. The exact number doesn’t matter.
Then start it any time with:
Type or paste this
claude
Claude Code opens inside the terminal window. The first time, it walks you through signing in with your Claude account; check what your screen says.
Claude Code installed this way keeps itself up to date in the background, so you won’t need to come back and repeat this lesson.
It walks through installing and signing in, end to end. Two things to know first. It was filmed before the permission screen (where Claude asks before acting) changed, so follow the written steps in this module for that part. And one of its demo pages is generated with testimonials. That’s fine for a product demo, but this course doesn’t put testimonials on a therapy practice’s site, and Module 6 explains why.
Your computer won’t open the installer. On Windows, if a blue “Windows protected your PC” window appears, click More info, then Run anyway, but only for a file you downloaded from claude.com/download. On a Mac, open System Settings, then Privacy & Security, and click Open Anyway next to the Claude message.
The Code tab asks you to upgrade. You’re signed in on a different account from the one you put on Pro. Sign out, then sign back in with the right email.
The plugin command isn’t recognized, or there’s no Plugins option. Your app is out of date. On Windows click Help, then Check for Updates; on a Mac click Claude, then Check for Updates. Restart the app and try again.
In the terminal, claude --version says “command not found.” Close that window completely and open a fresh one so it notices the new program. Still stuck? Type claude doctor: it prints a plain checkup you can paste into the desktop app’s Chat tab to have it explained. Or use the desktop app, which avoids all of this.
- Use the desktop app. Claude Code is its Code tab, next to Chat and Cowork.
- An upgrade prompt on the Code tab means you’re signed in on the wrong account.
- The Vercel plugin comes from Anthropic’s official plugin list: +, then Plugins.
- When something in the app seems missing, check for updates before anything else.
Watch this step
Prefer to watch the whole setup before you try it? This walkthrough covers installing and signing in end to end. Two things to know first. It was filmed in April 2026, so the permission screen looks different now; follow the written steps above for that part. And one of its demo pages is generated "with testimonials". That is fine for a product demo and never fine for a therapy practice website; Module 6 explains why. It’s from an independent creator — credited below, so go give them a follow.
Full Claude Code Tutorial for Non-Technical Beginners in 2026 (step-by-step)
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