Four little steps to get you to the front door. Once you're through it, the fun starts. Don't overthink a single one of these.
Go to claude.ai and sign up, or sign in if you already have one. Grab the Pro plan. It's about $20 a month and it's plenty to start. This is the engine everything runs on.
Head to claude.ai/download, grab the app for your computer, and install it like anything else. Open it and sign in. This friendly chat window is your helper for Step 3.
This is the one fiddly bit, so we make Claude do it. In the app, type this word for word:
Help me install Claude Code on my computer. I'm not technical. Walk me through every step and wait for me each time.It'll walk you through the install, step by step. Just follow along. Getting stuck here is normal. That IS the process.
Once it's installed, open your terminal (Terminal on Mac, PowerShell on Windows), type claude and log in when it asks. When it's ready, just type:
HiWhen Claude says hi back, that's the finish line. 🎉
I wrote a second page for exactly this moment: the basics, your first real project, and how to talk to Claude so it does what you want. Read the first-hour guide →