How to set up Claude Code the right way

What you're setting up 🧰

Claude Code is Claude that lives in your code editor and can actually build things: apps, websites, automations, whole projects, writing all the code for you. You don't need to type a single line yourself. The setup is four small steps, and then one extra step that's the real difference between "I installed it" and "it works like it knows me".

Before you start ✅

Step 1, make your Claude account 🌐

Go to claude.ai, create an account, and upgrade to Pro ($20/month). That's the plan that unlocks Claude Code and Claude Cowork. Worth every dollar, and no, nobody's paying me to say that.

Step 2, get a code editor 📝

Download a free editor (called an IDE). VS Code is the most popular and works on Mac and Windows; Google's Antigravity is another free option. Either is fine. This is just the window Claude Code will live inside.

Step 3, install the official Claude extension 🧩

1. 🧱 Open your editor and click the Extensions icon in the left sidebar
2. 🔎 Search Claude
3. ✅ Install the official one, published by Anthropic (check the publisher name so you don't grab a copycat)

Prefer the terminal? You can also install Claude Code directly with one command: curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash (Mac/Linux) or irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex in Windows PowerShell. The extension is the friendlier path for beginners.

Step 4, log in and you're live 🚀

Click the Claude icon that now appears in your editor, log into your Claude account, and the chat panel opens. That's it, you have full Claude Code access and can start building anything you describe.

The part most people miss: give it your context 🧠

The install is not where the power is. A fresh Claude Code starts every project knowing nothing about you, so it makes generic choices and you re-explain yourself constantly. The fix is a single file.

In your project folder, create a file called CLAUDE.md and write a few plain-English lines about who you are and how you work:

# About me and this project

I run [your business / brand]. My audience is [who].
Voice: [how you like things written].
Rules: [e.g. no em dashes, always sentence case, use British spelling].
Tools I use: [e.g. Netlify to deploy, my brand colours are #...].
When in doubt, ask before making big changes.

Claude Code automatically reads CLAUDE.md at the start of every session, so from then on it already knows your brand, your rules, and your preferences, no re-explaining. Think of it as a tiny employee handbook. It's the difference between a tool you fight with and one that feels like it already gets you.

The recap 🎯

1. Pro account at claude.ai
2. A free IDE (VS Code or Antigravity)
3. The official Anthropic Claude extension
4. Log in
5. Add a CLAUDE.md so it knows your context

3 things to build this week 🛠

The fastest way to actually learn this is to ship something small. Pick the one that matches where you're at:

• 🌱 Beginner: a one-page site you actually put online. "Build me a simple one-page site about me with my links and a photo, then help me deploy it free." You'll do the whole loop (build, see it, publish) in an afternoon, and end with a real URL you can share. That first "it's live on the internet" moment is the one that hooks you.
• 🌿 Intermediate: a script that kills a chore. Point Claude at a messy folder and say "write me a script that renames these photos by date" or "merge these CSVs and flag duplicates." You hand it the annoying task, it writes and runs the code, you keep the hours. This is where Claude Code stops being a toy and starts saving you time.
• 🌳 Power user: a small app with a brain. "Build a little app that takes my saved links and sorts them by topic," or one that calls a free API (weather, currency, your own data). Add a CLAUDE.md so it knows your style, and you've built something with real logic, not just a page.

Level up: beginner → intermediate → power user 🎚

🌱 Beginner, the mindset shifts that matter most:

• 🗣️ Describe outcomes, not code. "Make the button bigger and move it to the top" works. You never need the technical words.
• 🔁 The error loop is your superpower. Copy the whole error, paste it back, ask it to explain. You'll fix things you don't understand yet, and understand them by the third time.
• 🧑‍🏫 Ask it to teach as it goes. "Explain what you just did in plain terms" turns every build into a lesson.

🌿 Intermediate, work cleaner and faster:

🌳 Power user, where the real leverage is:

The links 🔗

🤖 Claude: claude.ai (Pro plan unlocks Claude Code)
📝 VS Code: code.visualstudio.com · Antigravity: antigravity.google
📚 The docs: code.claude.com/docs