You do not need a terminal to install Claude Code. Anthropic ships it inside the Claude desktop app for Windows and Mac, so the install is a download, a sign-in, and one click on a tab. The terminal route is optional. Before you download anything: Claude Code needs a paid Claude plan. Anthropic’s setup page says the free plan does not include it, so if you sign in with a free account, the Code tab asks you to upgrade. Every step below was checked against Anthropic’s documentation today.
Install it as a normal app, no terminal needed
This is the path Anthropic recommends to first-time terminal users, and the one I would pick if you are coming from Lovable or Base44.
- Go to claude.com/download and download the Claude desktop app. Windows has a standard download and a separate one for ARM processors.
- Run it like any other app: on a Mac, move Claude into Applications and open it; on Windows, run the setup file and open Claude from the Start menu.
- Sign in with your Claude account, the same one you use for the chat app.
- Click the Code tab at the top center. If it asks you to upgrade, your account is on the free plan. If it asks you to sign in online, finish that and restart the app.
- Choose Local, click Select folder, and pick a folder for your project. Type what you want in the box at the bottom and press Enter.
The app includes Claude Code, so there is nothing else to install. On Windows there is one extra step: the Code tab needs a free program called Git for Windows before it can start a session. Download it from git-scm.com, click Next through the installer, then quit and reopen Claude. Most Macs already have Git.
By default the app asks before it edits a file or runs a command, and shows what changed with accept and reject buttons. Nothing touches your files until you say yes.
If you would rather use the terminal on a Mac
A terminal is a window where you type commands instead of clicking. Claude Code runs there as plain text, and needs macOS 13 or newer.
- Press Cmd and Space together, type Terminal, and press Enter. A window with a blinking cursor opens.
- Copy this line, paste it into that window, and press Enter:
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash - Text scrolls, then a line says Claude Code was successfully installed.
- Type
claudeand press Enter. A browser window opens for you to sign in with your Claude account. - Back in the terminal, type what you want and press Enter. It asks before creating or changing any file, and Enter means yes.
There is no mouse in the terminal: arrow keys move you around, Esc interrupts Claude, and exit leaves. To work on a specific project later, open the terminal inside that folder and type claude.
If you would rather use the terminal on Windows
Windows has two terminals that look alike and take different commands. You want PowerShell. Its prompt starts with PS C:\. If the line starts with C:\ and no PS, you are in CMD. Claude Code needs Windows 10 version 1809 or newer.
- Optional but recommended: install Git for Windows from git-scm.com, accepting every default. You never have to use Git yourself.
- Press the Windows key and X together, and pick Windows PowerShell, or Terminal, from the menu.
- Copy this line, paste it with Ctrl and V, and press Enter:
irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex - When it says Claude Code was successfully installed, type
claudeand press Enter. A browser opens for sign-in. - Type what you want and press Enter. It asks before touching a file.
If the window says it does not recognize irm, you are in CMD. Close it and open PowerShell instead.
It says command not found, or claude is not recognized
This is the most common first error, and it does not mean the install failed. Each terminal window keeps a list of folders to search when you type a command, and the installer added Claude Code’s folder for future windows, not the one already open. So the first fix is the boring one: close the window, open a new one, and type claude again.
If a new window still says not found, the folder was not added to the list. On a Mac, scroll up in the install output to the Setup notes near the end: the installer prints the exact line to paste there. Paste it, press Enter, and open a new window. On Windows, Anthropic’s terminal guide has a two-line PowerShell command under the heading “claude is not recognized” that adds the folder. Paste both lines, then open a new PowerShell window. Or skip this and install the desktop app, which does not depend on that list.
To confirm an install worked, type claude --version: a version number means it is there.
Check for an API key already on your computer, or it bills you twice
This trap catches people who have pasted an API key before. An API key is a password-like code that lets a program use Claude’s pay-per-use service, and some tools ask you to save one on your computer as a setting called ANTHROPIC_API_KEY. Anthropic’s help center is explicit: if that setting exists, Claude Code uses the key instead of your subscription, and you get API charges on top of the plan you already pay for.
On first start in the terminal, Claude Code asks once whether to use the key it found instead of opening the browser to sign in. Decline. Later, type /status inside Claude Code: an API key row appears only when a key is in use. To remove the key for good, delete the line that sets it from your shell’s settings file on a Mac, or from your user environment variables on Windows. The desktop app sidesteps this: it signs in through your account and does not read that setting.
You can learn more, and get the full prompts and the decision tables, in our course, starting from You’ve Outgrown Lovable. The first lesson is free, no card.
In the next ten minutes: check which plan your Claude account is on, download the desktop app, sign in, and click Code. Make an empty folder on your Desktop, select it, and describe something small in one sentence. Watch it ask before it touches the folder. That is the whole difference between this and the builder you came from.