How to Install Claude Code on Mac, Windows, and Linux

Claude Code reached 403,712 public GitHub commits in a single day by May 2026, and the average developer using the tool now spends 20 hours per week with it, according to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei at the Code with Claude conference. That adoption happened fast, partly because installation takes a single terminal command. But developers still stumble when they pick the wrong method for their platform, mix up PowerShell and CMD on Windows, or hit WSL1 compatibility issues that the official docs bury three pages deep.

Before you install, check three things.

Account

You need a paid Claude subscription (Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise), an Anthropic Console account with pre-paid credits, or access through Amazon Bedrock, Google Vertex AI, or Microsoft Foundry. The free Claude.ai chat plan does not include Claude Code.

Operating system

• macOS 13.0 or later
• Windows 10 (build 1809+) or Windows 11
• Ubuntu 20.04+, Debian 10+, Fedora, RHEL, or Alpine Linux 3.19+

Hardware

4 GB RAM minimum and a 64-bit processor (x64 or ARM64). An internet connection is required for both installation and usage.

You do not need Node.js unless you specifically choose the npm installation method. The native installer, Homebrew, and WinGet all install a standalone binary with zero runtime dependencies.

The native installer is the fast path. It downloads a standalone binary, adds it to your PATH, and enables automatic background updates.

Open Terminal and run:

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

The binary installs to ~/.local/bin/claude and auto-updates whenever a new version ships. No Homebrew tap, no npm, no runtime dependency.

Homebrew Alternative

If you prefer managing packages through Homebrew, two casks are available:

brew install --cask claude-code

The claude-code cask tracks the stable release channel, which runs about one week behind the latest and skips releases with known regressions. For the newest version the day it ships:

brew install --cask claude-code@latest

Homebrew installations do not auto-update. Run brew upgrade claude-code or brew upgrade claude-code@latest periodically to stay current.

Verify the Installation

claude --version

If this prints a version number, you are ready to authenticate. If you see zsh: command not found: claude, add ~/.local/bin to your PATH:

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

Windows gives you three paths: native PowerShell, native CMD, and WinGet. Pick the one that matches your terminal.

PowerShell (Recommended)

Open PowerShell (not the x86 version) and run:

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

CMD

If you work in Command Prompt instead of PowerShell:

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

A common mistake: running the PowerShell command in CMD or the CMD command in PowerShell. Your prompt shows PS C:\ in PowerShell and C:\ without the PS in CMD. If you see 'irm' is not recognized, you are in CMD and should use the CMD command. If you see The token '&&' is not a valid statement separator, you are in PowerShell and should use the PowerShell command.

WinGet

winget install Anthropic.ClaudeCode

WinGet installations do not auto-update. Run winget upgrade Anthropic.ClaudeCode to get newer versions.

Git for Windows

Installing Git for Windows is optional but recommended. It gives Claude Code access to the Bash tool, which handles shell commands more reliably than PowerShell for most development workflows. Without Git for Windows, Claude Code falls back to PowerShell as its shell tool.

Install Inside WSL2

If your projects live inside a WSL2 distribution, install Claude Code inside WSL using the Linux native installer:

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

WSL2 provides full Linux binary compatibility and sandboxing support. WSL1 has a known regression that causes cannot execute binary file: Exec format error with the native binary. Check your WSL version in PowerShell:

wsl --list --verbose

The VERSION column shows 1 or 2 for each distribution. To convert from WSL1 to WSL2:

wsl --set-version <DistroName> 2

When authenticating from WSL2, the browser often cannot redirect back to Claude Code's local callback server. If the browser shows a login code after sign-in instead of redirecting, paste that code into the terminal prompt. If the browser does not open at all, set the BROWSER variable to your Windows browser path:

export BROWSER="/mnt/c/Program Files/Google/Chrome/Application/chrome.exe"

Give your Claude Code agent persistent storage

A shared workspace with MCP access. Upload project files, query them with AI, and share outputs with your team. Starts with a 14-day free trial.

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The native installer works on all supported distributions:

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

For teams that manage software through system package managers, Claude Code publishes signed repositories for apt, dnf, and apk. Each offers both a stable channel (about one week behind, skips broken releases) and a latest channel.

Debian and Ubuntu (apt)

sudo install -d -m 0755 /etc/apt/keyrings
sudo curl -fsSL https://downloads.claude.ai/keys/claude-code.asc \
  -o /etc/apt/keyrings/claude-code.asc
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/claude-code.asc] https://downloads.claude.ai/claude-code/apt/stable stable main" \
  | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/claude-code.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install claude-code

Upgrade later with sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade claude-code.

Fedora and RHEL (dnf)

sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/claude-code.repo <<'EOF'
[claude-code]
name=Claude Code
baseurl=https://downloads.claude.ai/claude-code/rpm/stable
enabled=1
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=https://downloads.claude.ai/keys/claude-code.asc
EOF
sudo dnf install claude-code

Upgrade later with sudo dnf upgrade claude-code.

Alpine Linux (apk)

wget -O /etc/apk/keys/claude-code.rsa.pub \
  https://downloads.claude.ai/keys/claude-code.rsa.pub
echo "https://downloads.claude.ai/claude-code/apk/stable" >> /etc/apk/repositories
apk add claude-code

Alpine and other musl-based distributions require extra dependencies:

apk add libgcc libstdc++ ripgrep

Then set USE_BUILTIN_RIPGREP to 0 in your Claude Code settings file.

npm (All Platforms)

If you already have Node.js 18+ installed, the npm package works on macOS, Windows, and Linux:

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

The npm package installs the same native binary as other methods. Do not use sudo with this command since it creates permission issues. To update, run npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code@latest rather than npm update -g, which respects the semver range from the original install and may not move you to the newest release.

After installation, start an interactive session:

claude

On first launch, Claude Code prompts you to log in. Follow the browser prompts to authenticate with your Claude subscription or Console account. Your credentials are stored locally after the first login, so you only authenticate once. If you need to switch accounts later, type /login inside a running session.

To verify everything works:

claude --version

For a deeper diagnostic check that inspects your PATH, binary integrity, and authentication status:

claude doctor

Keep Claude Code Updated

Native installations auto-update in the background. You can control which releases you receive through the autoUpdatesChannel setting:

• latest (default): new features ship as soon as they are released
• stable: versions about one week old that skip releases with known regressions

To force an immediate update rather than waiting for the background check:

claude update

Homebrew users run brew upgrade claude-code. WinGet users run winget upgrade Anthropic.ClaudeCode. Linux package manager users run the standard upgrade command for their distribution (apt upgrade, dnf upgrade, or apk upgrade).

Connect to a Persistent Workspace

Local files work fine for solo projects. Teams that share Claude Code output between agents and humans often need a shared storage layer. Options range from Git repositories and S3 buckets to purpose-built agent workspaces like Fast.io, which provides persistent storage with a built-in MCP server that Claude Code can connect to directly. Fast.io auto-indexes uploaded files for semantic search through its Intelligence Mode, so agents can query project context without managing a separate vector database. Every org starts with a 14-day free trial.

Most installation failures fall into a handful of categories. Run claude doctor first for automated diagnostics, then check the specific error below.

command not found After Installation The binary installed but your shell cannot locate it. Add ~/.local/bin to your PATH.

On macOS (Zsh):

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

On Linux (Bash):

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

On Windows, add %USERPROFILE%\.local\bin to your User PATH through System Settings > Environment Variables, then restart your terminal.

Conflicting Installations

If claude --version shows an unexpected version, you may have both a native install and an npm install. Check with:

which -a claude

Keep only one. The native install at ~/.local/bin/claude is recommended. Remove an npm install with:

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

Remove a legacy local install with rm -rf ~/.claude/local. Remove a Homebrew install with brew uninstall --cask claude-code.

WSL1 Exec Format Error WSL1 cannot run the current native binary due to a program header change. The cleanest fix is converting to WSL2 from PowerShell:

wsl --set-version <DistroName> 2

If you need to stay on WSL1, add a wrapper function to ~/.bashrc:

claude() {
  /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 "$(readlink -f "$HOME/.local/bin/claude")" "$@"
}

Then run source ~/.bashrc and retry.

TLS and SSL Errors

Corporate proxies that perform TLS inspection can block the installer. Set your proxy variables before installing:

export HTTPS_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:8080
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

If you see unable to get local issuer certificate after installation, point Claude Code at your corporate CA bundle:

export NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS=/path/to/corporate-ca.pem

Installation Killed on Low-Memory Servers

The Linux OOM killer terminates the process when available RAM drops below 4 GB. Add swap space and retry:

sudo fallocate -l 2G /swapfile
sudo chmod 600 /swapfile
sudo mkswap /swapfile
sudo swapon /swapfile
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

For any issue not covered here, check the Claude Code GitHub repository for known issues or run /feedback inside a Claude Code session to report a problem.