What you will have at the end
You will have Claude Code installed and signed in, a first change made in your own repository from either the terminal or VS Code, reviewed and tested, and a working habit for checking what it does. Steps follow Anthropic's Claude Code quickstart and VS Code documentation, read on November 3, 2026.
Before you start
Check these before installing.
- A paid Claude subscription (Pro, Max, Ultra, Team or Enterprise) or a Claude Console account; the Free plan does not include Claude Code.
- A project in a git repository, so you can see and undo every change.
- For the extension: VS Code 1.94.0 or later.
- For third-party providers such as Amazon Bedrock, follow Anthropic's provider setup instead of signing in.
1. Install the CLI
Open a terminal and run the native installer. On macOS, Linux or WSL: curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash. In Windows PowerShell: irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex. Homebrew and WinGet installs are also documented.
Then go to your project folder and run claude. On first launch it asks you to sign in in the browser.
2. Or install the VS Code extension
In VS Code, open the Extensions view with Cmd+Shift+X on Mac or Ctrl+Shift+X on Windows and Linux, search for Claude Code and click Install. Anthropic publishes it on the Visual Studio Marketplace and Open VSX. Open a file and click the Spark icon in the editor toolbar, or click Claude Code in the status bar, then sign in.
The extension bundles its own CLI for the chat panel. To run claude in VS Code's integrated terminal as well, install the standalone CLI from step 1.
3. Run a first small task
Start by asking Claude to explain the project, then give it one bounded change. In VS Code, selected text is shared automatically, and Option+K or Alt+K inserts an @-mention of the file and lines into your prompt.
4. Review every change
Check the permission mode at the bottom of the prompt box. In Manual mode, Claude shows a side-by-side diff and asks before editing a file; you can accept, reject or tell it what to do instead, and from v2.1.275 accept or reject individual changes. In Auto or Edit automatically mode it edits most files without asking, so keep Manual until you trust it on your codebase.
5. Check the result
Before you commit, confirm the change does what you asked and nothing more.
- The test passes and the rest of the suite still runs.
- git diff shows only the files you expected.
- The explanation matches the change.
- Run /usage to see how much the task used.
Common problems and fixes
Not logged in, please run /login: the extension reopens the sign-in screen; if not, run Developer: Reload Window from the Command Palette. You set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY but still see a sign-in prompt: VS Code did not inherit your shell environment, so start it from a terminal with code . or sign in with your Claude account.
The Spark icon is missing: it appears in the editor toolbar only when a file is open; use the Activity Bar icon or the status bar instead. Your editor cannot install the extension: run the CLI in its integrated terminal. Install extensions only from the official marketplaces, and keep versions current.
Go to the source
Sources & further reading
Based on the official documentation below. Features and access can change; check the provider before making a decision.
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