Install Claude Code

Claude Code ships a native installer that bundles its own runtime, so you don't need Node.js first. Native installs update themselves in the background.

System requirements

macOS

Run this in a terminal:

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

Homebrew works too:

brew install --cask claude-code

There are two casks: claude-code follows the stable channel (about a week behind, skipping releases with major regressions), and claude-code@latest follows the latest channel. Homebrew installs don't auto-update — run brew upgrade claude-code yourself.

Windows

In PowerShell:

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

In CMD:

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

Or use WinGet (also no auto-updates — run winget upgrade Anthropic.ClaudeCode yourself):

winget install Anthropic.ClaudeCode

Linux

Run this in a terminal:

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

Debian, Fedora, RHEL, and Alpine can also install from Anthropic's signed apt / dnf / apk repositories — see the official setup docs for the commands. Those installs don't auto-update either; updates arrive through your normal system upgrades.

Alpine and other musl-based distributions need their dependencies installed first, plus the built-in ripgrep turned off:

apk add bash curl libgcc libstdc++ ripgrep

Then add "env": { "USE_BUILTIN_RIPGREP": "0" } to ~/.claude/settings.json.

Install with npm

If you already have a stable Node.js setup, or the native installer is blocked on your machine, npm is still an officially supported path:

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

As of v2.1.198 the npm package declares Node.js 22 as its required version. On anything older, npm prints an EBADENGINE warning but usually still completes the install — upgrade Node.js if you hit trouble. It installs the same native binary, which doesn't use Node.js at runtime. Don't use sudo npm install -g — it leads to permission and security problems. Upgrade with npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code@latest, not npm update -g, which respects the semver range from the original install and may not move you to the newest release.

Verify the installation

Run this in a terminal:

claude --version

A version number such as 2.1.211 (Claude Code) means it worked. If you get command not found, open a new terminal first — the installer updates PATH, and sessions opened earlier still hold the old value.

Claude Code still talks to Anthropic at this point. Continue to Configure a model provider to switch it to HopsAPI.

Editor extensions

Claude Code also runs inside your editor, sharing the same configuration as the CLI.

• VS Code / Cursor — install the Claude Code extension, or search "Claude Code" in the extensions panel (Cmd+Shift+X / Ctrl+Shift+X). It adds inline diffs, @-mentioning files, and plan review.
• JetBrains IDEs — install the Claude Code plugin from the JetBrains Marketplace and restart the IDE. Works with IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, and others.

Troubleshooting