DEVELOPER DOCS

Claude Code: Mastering the Terminal-Based AI Agent

Beyond the chatbot: How Claude Code brings direct, autonomous action to your development environment.

Official Docs
Claude Code Documentation →

Read the official integration guide from Anthropic.

NPM Package
@anthropic-ai/claude-code →

View the latest CLI versions and installation stats.

What is Claude Code?

Claude Code is a command-line interface (CLI) tool that enables Claude to interact directly with your local development environment. Unlike the web-based Claude.ai, Claude Code can read files, run terminal commands, and fix bugs autonomously.

Core Capabilities

  • ●
    Autonomous Refactoring: Ask Claude to "update all exports to named exports," and it will traverse your tree and apply changes.
  • ●
    Self-Healing Tests: Claude Code can run your test suite, analyze failures, and write code to fix the issues.
  • ●
    MCP Connectivity: Use Model Context Protocol servers to give Claude Code access to your databases and specialized tools.

Claude Code Setup & Requirements

To begin using Claude Code for agentic tasks, you need:

Technical Prereqs

  • Node.js 18+
  • macOS or Linux environment
  • Anthropic API Key (Max Plan)

Command Basics

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

Claude Code vs. Claude AI Cowork

While they share the same reasoning engine, their delivery differs:

  • Claude Code: Terminal-first, focused on engineering and CLI-heavy tasks.
  • Cowork AI: GUI-based (Desktop), focused on knowledge work, documents, and cross-app workflows.

FAQ

Is Claude Code replacing Cursor?

No. Cursor is an IDE that provides a visual "flow." Claude Code is an agent that provides "autonomy." Many developers use them together.

Does it work on Windows?

Official support is focused on macOS and Linux. Windows users typically run it via WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux).