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Get Claude Code running
Install Claude Code, sign in, add your free credits, and check you're on the right account. There are steps for Mac and Windows, plus fixes for the things that usually trip people up.
Too technical? We'll do it with you
If the terminal isn't your world, that's completely fine. Bring your laptop, come find us, and we'll get you set up together. Plenty of people arrive having never opened one.
What your machine needs
- macOS
- macOS 13 or later · 4 GB RAM · Apple Silicon or Intel
- Windows
- Windows 10 (1809) or later · 4 GB RAM · 64-bit only
1. Install the CLI
Pick your machine. Both do the same thing, and neither needs admin rights or any other software installed first.
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Run the installer in Terminal
This is the method Anthropic recommends, and the only one that updates itself in the background. It drops the binary in ~/.local/bin/claude.
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bashPrefer Homebrew? This works too — but the cask tracks the stable channel, roughly a week behind, and never auto-updates. Upgrade it with brew upgrade claude-code; claude update will only tell you you're already current.
brew install --cask claude-code - 2
Open a new Terminal window, then check it
A new window matters: the one you installed from is still holding the old PATH. Expect a version number followed by (Claude Code).
claude --versionGetting zsh: command not found: claude? The install worked, the folder just isn't on your PATH yet:
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc && source ~/.zshrc - 3
Optional: run the health check
claude doctor prints installation and settings diagnostics without starting a session — including whether it can reach your macOS Keychain, which is where your login gets stored.
claude doctor
2. First run and sign-in
You only do this once. Claude Code remembers you afterwards.
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Start it inside a project folder
cd into any project — an empty folder is fine — and run claude. It opens an interactive session and asks you to log in.
claude - 2
Finish the login in your browser
A browser window opens for you to sign in. If it doesn't open, press c to copy the URL and paste it in yourself. If the browser shows you a code instead of bouncing back to the terminal — normal over WSL, SSH or in a container — paste that code at the prompt.
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Sign in with your Console account
Choose Anthropic Console at the prompt — that's the account you'll be working from. If you happen to already have a Claude Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise subscription, signing in with that instead works exactly the same way.
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Confirm which credential is actually live
Worth thirty seconds, because a leftover ANTHROPIC_API_KEY in your shell profile silently outranks your subscription — and if that key's organization is out of credits you'll get a 403 while swearing your Pro plan is fine. Inside a session, /status shows the same thing.
claude auth status --textFound a stale key? Clear it for this shell, then delete the export line from ~/.zshrc so it doesn't come back. In PowerShell it's Remove-Item Env:ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, and check your $PROFILE.
unset ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
3. Set up your account on platform.claude.com
This is the account you'll be working from today, and it's where your free credits go. It's separate from the Claude app you might already pay for — a Claude subscription doesn't cover this, and these credits don't pay for that.
Your API credits come from us
Nothing to buy: every attendee gets $100 in Anthropic API credits. The credits page tells you how to claim them on the day.
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Sign in at platform.claude.com
Continue with Google, or Continue with email for a magic link — there's no password step, so the link doubles as your email verification. Keep a phone that can receive SMS nearby: account creation asks for a number, and VoIP or Google Voice numbers get rejected.
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Complete your organization under Settings → Organization
The organization is what actually holds your members, billing and API keys — an individual account can't invite anyone. Expect to fill in some details about the organization and what you plan to use it for; API access is gated on that.
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Give each team its own workspace
Settings → Workspaces → Create workspace. This is the load-bearing step for a hackathon: you cannot set limits on the Default Workspace, so a key minted there is capped only by the whole organization. A named workspace gets both a Spend limits and a Rate limits tab, and each can only be set lower than the organization's. Anyone who signs in to Claude Code with a Console account rather than using a key lands in the Claude Code workspace Anthropic creates automatically — cap that one separately.
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Invite the team under Settings → Members
Hit + Invite, paste in the addresses, and pick a role — Claude Code for people who only need the CLI, Developer for anyone who has to mint arbitrary API keys. Invitations expire after three weeks. Read the actual role dropdown rather than trusting a written list: Anthropic's own pages don't agree on it.
- 5
Create an API key under Settings → API keys
Create key, name it, and scope it to your team's workspace rather than leaving it in the default one. Choose an expiry of a day or a week — it's fixed at creation and can't be changed afterwards, so the three-hour preset means a key that dies before the demos.
The key starts with sk-ant- and the Console shows it exactly once. Copy it right then: a lost key can't be recovered, only replaced.
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Hand the key to Claude Code
With the variable set, Claude Code skips the browser login entirely and asks once to approve the key instead. It remembers your answer, and you can change it later from the 'Use custom API key' toggle in /config.
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."In PowerShell:
$env:ANTHROPIC_API_KEY = 'sk-ant-...'
console.anthropic.com now redirects to platform.claude.com, and the Claude Code docs have moved to code.claude.com. Old links and screenshots still work — they are just no longer the canonical address.
4. Claim your $100 of free credits
Everyone here gets $100 of Anthropic API credit. You claim it through a link we share on the day — it only works on the day, so don't go looking for it beforehand. Read step 2 before you start: it's the one thing that trips almost everyone up.
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Sign in at console.anthropic.com
Use the link we give you on the day — it's on the QR poster in the room, or ask a host. Sign in, or create an account if you don't have one.
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Make sure you're in an Organization, not your personal account
This is the one that catches people. Credits attach to an Organization, so create one or pick an existing one before you redeem. An Organization is something you set up in the Console — it is not the same thing as your personal Claude.ai login.
Redeeming against a personal account doesn't just fail politely — it trips a fraud check and the code stops working. Worth thirty seconds to get right.
- 3
Open the redemption link
Use the link that comes with your credit code, with your Organization selected. That's what actually moves the $100 onto your account.
- 4
Create an API key
In the Console, create a key for today's session. This is what lets Claude Code spend the credit.
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Check Billing, then Credits
Your balance should show the $100. That's it — you're ready to build.
Code won't apply? Almost always it's being redeemed against a personal account instead of an Organization. Switch to the Organization and try again, or grab a host.
When it doesn't work
Nine times out of ten it's one of these. Come find us if none of them fit.
- command not found: claude, or 'claude' is not recognized
- Almost always PATH, not a failed install — and most often just the terminal window that ran the installer. Close it, open a fresh one, try again. Still nothing: add ~/.local/bin (macOS) or %USERPROFILE%\.local\bin (Windows) to your PATH.
- A 403, or 'This organization has been disabled', despite a live Pro or Max plan
- An old ANTHROPIC_API_KEY in your environment is outranking your subscription. Unset it and start again — this check tells you which credential is in play:
claude auth status --text - syntax error near unexpected token `<', or the installer prints HTML at you
- Something between you and Anthropic served a web page instead of the script — usually a captive portal you haven't logged into yet, or a corporate filter. Get properly onto the network and retry, or install via Homebrew or winget instead.
- 'Failed to fetch version from downloads.claude.ai'
- The download host is blocked. Test it directly — on Windows spell it curl.exe, because PowerShell aliases curl to something else. Behind a proxy, set HTTP_PROXY and HTTPS_PROXY before installing.
curl -sI https://downloads.claude.ai/claude-code-releases/latest - 'Claude Code does not support 32-bit Windows' on a 64-bit machine
- You're in the Windows PowerShell (x86) window. Close it, open the plain 'Windows PowerShell' entry, and install again.
- 'cannot execute binary file: Exec format error' in WSL
- That distribution is on WSL 1. Move it across from PowerShell — WSL 2 is also the only one that supports the sandboxed Bash tool.
wsl --set-version <DistroName> 2 - macOS keeps asking you to log in again after a successful browser sign-in
- Your login keychain is locked, or its password is out of sync, so credentials never get stored. Run claude doctor first, then unlock it by hand:
security unlock-keychain ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain-db - You've lost twenty minutes and you'd rather just build
- Stop debugging and take the Desktop app — it runs Claude Code without a terminal at all, on macOS and Windows. Grab it from claude.com/download and sort the CLI out another day.
Straight from the source
This page is a shortcut. If it ever disagrees with Anthropic's own guides, trust theirs.
Every install method, release channels, uninstall.
code.claude.com/docs/en/setup
Install, log in, first prompts.
code.claude.com/docs/en/quickstart
The full error-to-fix table. Deeper than the one above.
code.claude.com/docs/en/troubleshoot-install
Account types, where credentials are stored, which one wins.
code.claude.com/docs/en/authentication
Create a key in the Console, scope it, and store it.
platform.claude.com/docs/en/get-api-key
Claude Code without the terminal, if the CLI fights you.
claude.com/download
Set up and signed in?
Then wire up the build day MCP server too — it lets you register your demo without leaving Claude.
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