Terminal guide · macOS

Install Claude Code on your Mac — the complete guide

Never used a terminal? No problem. This guide walks you through every step — from opening a terminal window to running your first command with Claude Code — in plain, clear language.

zsh — Terminal
~ %curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash
Downloading Claude Code…
Installing to ~/.local/bin…
✓ Claude Code successfully installed!
~ %claude
Start installation ↓ What can Claude do?

Before you begin

System requirements

Make sure your Mac meets these requirements before installing Claude Code.

macOS version
12 Monterey or later
Architecture
Apple Silicon or Intel
Account
Free claude.ai account
Not sure which macOS you have?

Click the Apple logo in the top-left corner of your screen, then choose About This Mac. The version number is listed there.

Step by step

Complete installation guide

Follow these steps in order. Each one builds on the last.

  • 1

    Open Terminal on your Mac

    The Terminal is a text-based way to control your Mac. It comes pre-installed — you don't need to download anything first.

    How to open it: Press Cmd + Space to open Spotlight Search. Type Terminal, then press Enter. A window will appear with a line of text ending in % — this is called the prompt, and it means the terminal is ready for your input.

    Alternative method

    Open Finder → Applications → Utilities → Terminal. Or use Launchpad and search for "Terminal" there.

  • 2

    Check your internet connection

    The installer downloads files from the internet, so you'll need a working connection. You can quickly verify your connection is active by typing the following and pressing Enter:

    ping -c 3 claude.ai

    If you see responses with times (e.g. 64 bytes from ...), your connection is working. Press Ctrl + C to stop the ping. If you see errors, check your Wi-Fi and try again.

  • 3

    Run the installation command

    Copy the entire command below, paste it into your terminal with Cmd + V, and press Enter.

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

    What each part does:

    • curl — downloads the installer script from the internet
    • -fsSL — flags that tell curl to be silent, follow redirects, and show errors
    • | bash — passes the downloaded script to bash to run it

    You'll see text scrolling as it installs. This is normal — it's showing you what it's doing. The process usually takes under 30 seconds.

    What to expect

    Your Mac may ask for your password during installation. Type it (you won't see characters — this is normal) and press Enter.

  • 4

    Verify the installation succeeded

    After the installer finishes, check that Claude Code is available by typing:

    claude --version

    You should see something like Claude Code 1.x.x. If you see command not found, see the troubleshooting section below.

  • 5

    Start Claude Code for the first time

    Type the following and press Enter:

    claude

    Claude Code will launch and prompt you to sign in with your Anthropic account. A browser window will open automatically for authentication. If it doesn't open, look for a login URL printed in your terminal — copy and paste it into your browser.

    No account yet?

    Visit claude.ai and create a free account first. It only takes a minute.

  • 6

    Navigate the terminal interface

    Claude Code is entirely text-based. Here are the essentials for getting around:

    • Type your question or request and press Enter to send it
    • Press ↑ / ↓ arrow keys to scroll through previous commands
    • Press Esc to interrupt Claude if it's working on something
    • Type /help to see a list of available slash commands
    • Type /clear to clear the current conversation context
    • Press Ctrl + C to quit at any time
  • 7

    Open Claude Code in a project folder

    Claude Code works best when it knows which folder you're working in. Navigate to your project folder before launching:

    # Navigate to your project
cd ~/Desktop/my-project

# Then start Claude Code
claude

    Now Claude can read, create, and edit files in that folder. You can also open a folder in Finder and drag it onto the Terminal window — it'll type the path for you automatically.

  • 8

    Keep Claude Code up to date

    Anthropic releases updates regularly. To update Claude Code at any time, run the same install command again — it will upgrade to the latest version:

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

    Or check your current version and compare it to the latest release:

    claude --version

Get started

Things to try first

You don't need to know how to code — describe what you want in plain English and Claude will handle the rest.

build

Create a simple webpage

Claude writes all the code and puts it in a file you can open in your browser.

make me a simple webpage that says hello world
edit

Fix a bug in your code

Paste in the error message and Claude will diagnose and fix the problem.

I'm getting this error: TypeError: cannot read property of undefined
explain

Understand a piece of code

Share any code snippet and Claude will walk you through exactly what it does.

explain what this function does and how I could improve it
automate

Write a script for a task

Claude can write shell scripts and small programs to automate repetitive work.

write a script to rename all the photos on my Desktop by date

If something goes wrong

Troubleshooting

The most common issues and how to fix them.

command not found: claude

This means your terminal doesn't know where Claude Code was installed. Close the terminal window entirely, open a new one, and try again. This alone fixes the issue most of the time.

If it still doesn't work, you need to add the install directory to your PATH:

# For Zsh (default on macOS Catalina and later)
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc && source ~/.zshrc

# For Bash (older Macs)
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bash_profile && source ~/.bash_profile

Then type claude again.

Permission denied error during install

This happens when the installer can't write to the installation directory. Try running the install command with sudo:

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

You'll be asked for your Mac login password. Type it and press Enter — you won't see any characters appear as you type, which is normal.

curl: command not found

curl is built into macOS and should always be available. If it's missing, try installing Xcode Command Line Tools first:

xcode-select --install

A dialog will appear — click Install. Once it's done, try the Claude Code install command again.

Installer runs but no browser window opens for login

Look carefully in your terminal — there should be a URL printed that looks like https://claude.ai/auth/.... Copy that URL and paste it into your browser manually.

If no URL appears at all, try quitting Claude Code with Ctrl + C and running claude again.

Claude Code is slow to respond

Response time depends on your internet connection and the complexity of your request. If it's consistently slow:

  • Check that your internet connection is stable
  • Try a shorter, more specific request to test the speed
  • Check status.anthropic.com to see if there's a service issue
How do I uninstall Claude Code?

To remove Claude Code, delete the binary from where it was installed:

rm ~/.local/bin/claude

If you installed it with sudo to a system directory, use:

sudo rm /usr/local/bin/claude

That's all — no other files to remove.