How to Install Claude Code on macOS, Windows & Linux

Requirements

macOS 13.0+ (Ventura or later), Ubuntu 20.04+ / Debian 10+, or Windows 10+ with WSL or Git for Windows. 4GB RAM minimum, 8GB recommended. An active internet connection. A paid Anthropic account — Claude Pro ($20/month), Max ($100-200/month), Teams, Enterprise, or Console (API) with credits. The free Claude.ai plan does not include Claude Code access. No GPU needed — all AI processing happens on Anthropic's servers.

Install with the Native Installer (Recommended)

On macOS or Linux: curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash. On Windows PowerShell: Invoke-WebRequest -UseBasicParsing https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | Invoke-Expression. The native installer requires no Node.js, auto-updates in background, and is the primary method Anthropic tests and supports. Verify with claude --version.

Install with npm (Legacy)

If you need version pinning or npm is standard in your workflow: npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code. Requires Node.js 18+. Do not use sudo — if you get permission errors, fix npm's directory permissions or use nvm.

Windows-Specific Setup

Windows supports both native install (PowerShell + Git Bash) and WSL. For native: install Git for Windows first — Claude Code uses Git Bash internally. For WSL: install inside the WSL environment, not Windows. A common mistake is having Node.js on Windows but not inside WSL.

Authenticate

Run claude in any project directory. On first launch, it opens your browser for OAuth. Log in with your Anthropic account. For headless servers, set your API key: export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-your-key and add it to your shell profile.

First Session

Navigate to any project and run claude. Try: 'summarize this project' or 'find bugs in this codebase'. If Claude responds with a coherent analysis of your project, it's working. Use /help to see available commands.