Claude Code Basics — Set Up in 10 Minutes (lesson deck)

Claude Code Basics · your first 10 minutes

The friendly way: the VS Code extension

No terminal needed. Claude Code lives in a panel inside VS Code — approve changes with buttons and see every edit side-by-side.

1

Get a Claude plan

Claude Code needs a paid claude.ai subscription — no free tier. Pro $20/mo or Max $100/mo.

2

Get the VS Code link from Claude

Ask claude.ai for the official VS Code download link — don't web-search it (fake sites exist).

3

Let Claude match your machine

Tell it your laptop's chip & OS (or upload your specs) so it picks the right download.

4

Install VS Code

Open the installer (the .dmg on Mac) and install it.

5

Add the Claude Code extension

In VS Code → Extensions, search "Claude Code", Install, then sign in.

JetBrains user? There's a plugin too. Want zero setup? The Claude desktop app is an all-in-one option.

It's a conversation

Say your first words

A session is one conversation. You type in the panel; Claude reads your files, acts, and checks its work. Each back-and-forth is a turn.

💬

Just ask in plain English — "what's in this project?" then "build me a one-page site for my coffee app."

👀

Approve as it goes — it shows each change in a diff; click approve to apply it.

🛑

Steer anytime — type a correction, or hit Stop (in the terminal, Esc).

You're set up

Your 10-minute checklist

✅

Extension installed — Claude Code in your editor.

✅

Signed in — once, in the browser.

✅

Project open — open your folder in VS Code.

✅

First prompt sent — you talked to it.

Prefer the terminal? Same tool, one command — see the next card.

You're set up. Now go build.

Prefer the command line?

Same builder, in the terminal

# 1 · Install (macOS / Linux) curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash # 2 · Go to a project folder and start it cd my-project claude # First run opens your browser to sign in. # Leave & resume: /exit leave the session claude --continue pick up where you left off

On a Mac you can also use Homebrew: brew install --cask claude-code.

⌨️

Identical underneath — same agent, same prompts, same results. Only the window is different.

🗺️

Switch modes with Shift+Tab — works in the panel and the terminal; the panel also has a clickable mode menu. Esc / Stop to interrupt.