Installing Claude Code

Your team lead just sent you a Slack message: “We’re standardizing on Claude Code for AI-assisted development. Get it installed by standup tomorrow.” You open the docs, see three different installation methods, and wonder which one actually works without breaking your Node setup or polluting your global packages.

This guide cuts through the options and gets you to a working claude command in under 10 minutes, regardless of your operating system.

What You’ll Walk Away With

• Claude Code CLI installed and available on your PATH
• Auto-updates configured so you never fall behind on versions
• A verified installation that responds to claude --version
• Knowledge of which installation method to pick and why

System Requirements

Before installing, confirm your system meets these minimums:

Requirement	Details
Operating System	macOS 10.15+, Ubuntu 20.04+ / Debian 10+, Windows 10+ (native or WSL)
RAM	4 GB minimum
Network	Internet connection required for authentication and API calls
Shell	Bash, Zsh, Fish, or PowerShell
Location	Must be in an Anthropic-supported country

Note

Node.js is no longer required for the native installer. The standalone binary ships its own runtime. If you use the npm method, you still need Node.js 18+.

Choose Your Installation Method

Native Install (Recommended)

The native installer is the recommended method. It downloads a standalone binary, adds it to your PATH, and configures automatic background updates.

macOS and Linux:

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

Windows PowerShell:

irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex

Windows CMD:

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.cmd -o install.cmd && install.cmd && del install.cmd

After installation, open a new terminal window (or run source ~/.zshrc / source ~/.bashrc) and verify:

claude --version

The native installer auto-updates in the background. You will always be on the latest version without running any upgrade commands.

Homebrew (macOS)

If you prefer managing packages through Homebrew:

brew install --cask claude-code

Verify the installation:

claude --version

Caution

Homebrew installations do not auto-update. You need to run brew upgrade claude-code periodically to get new features and security fixes. The native installer is preferred for this reason.

WinGet (Windows)

On Windows, you can also use WinGet:

winget install Anthropic.ClaudeCode

Verify:

claude --version

Like Homebrew, WinGet does not auto-update. Run winget upgrade Anthropic.ClaudeCode manually.

Post-Installation Verification

Run these three commands to confirm everything is working:

# 1. Check the version
claude --version

# 2. Check that the binary is on your PATH
which claude

# 3. Start a session (will prompt for auth on first run)
claude

If which claude returns nothing, your PATH needs updating. The native installer adds the binary to ~/.claude/bin/ and updates your shell profile. If you see errors, open a fresh terminal window — your current session may have stale PATH variables.

Tip

Copy-paste diagnostic command:

echo "PATH: $(which claude)" && claude --version && echo "Installation OK"

If this prints the path, version, and “Installation OK”, you are ready to proceed to authentication.

Updating Claude Code

How you update depends on how you installed:

Method	Update Command	Auto-Update?
Native installer	Automatic	Yes
Homebrew	brew upgrade claude-code	No
WinGet	winget upgrade Anthropic.ClaudeCode	No

For the native installer, you can control the update channel:

// In ~/.claude/settings.json
{
  "autoUpdatesChannel": "stable"
}

The "stable" channel gives you versions that are about a week old and skip releases with known regressions. The default "latest" channel gives you the most recent release immediately.

Uninstalling

If you need to remove Claude Code:

Native Install

claude uninstall

This removes the binary and cleans up PATH entries.

Homebrew

brew uninstall claude-code

WinGet

winget uninstall Anthropic.ClaudeCode

To also remove all configuration and session data:

rm -rf ~/.claude
rm -rf ~/.claude.json

When This Breaks

“Permission denied” during installation — Do not use sudo with any installation method. The native installer writes to ~/.claude/bin/ which does not require elevated privileges. If you previously installed with sudo npm install -g, uninstall first and reinstall without sudo.

“command not found: claude” after installation — Open a new terminal window. The installer modifies your shell profile (.zshrc, .bashrc, or .profile), but the changes only take effect in new sessions. If it still fails, check that ~/.claude/bin is in your PATH: echo $PATH | tr ':' '\n' | grep claude.

“EACCES error” on npm install — This means your global npm directory has permission issues. Switch to the native installer instead, or fix npm permissions with npm config set prefix ~/.npm-global and add ~/.npm-global/bin to your PATH.

Installation succeeds but claude hangs — Check your network connection. Claude Code needs to reach api.anthropic.com on startup. If you are behind a corporate proxy, set HTTP_PROXY and HTTPS_PROXY environment variables.

Windows-specific: “execution of scripts is disabled” — Run PowerShell as administrator and execute Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned, then retry the installation.

What’s Next

With Claude Code installed, the next step is authentication — connecting the CLI to your Anthropic account so it can make API calls.

Authentication Connect with API key, Max subscription, or SSO

Configuration Set up permissions, models, and auto-approve rules