Starter kits · last verified 2026-10-23

Claude Code starter kit

A terminal agent that reads your project, edits files, and runs commands. This kit gets you from install to a first small change and a first skill.

Prerequisites

• A terminal or command prompt you can open.
• A code project to work in — a practice copy first, not your only copy of anything important.
• A Claude subscription (Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise), a Claude Console account, or access through a supported cloud provider. The quickstart lists these as the sign-in options; a Free plan alone is not listed among them.

Setup, step by step

1. Install. The quickstart's recommended route is the native installer. On macOS, Linux, or WSL, run:

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

   On Windows PowerShell, run:

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

   Homebrew and WinGet installs are also listed in the docs, but they do not auto-update the way the native installer does.
2. Check the install. Open a new terminal window and run:

   claude --version

   A working install prints a version number.
3. Start your first session. Move into your project folder, then run:

   cd /path/to/your/project
   claude

   Replace /path/to/your/project with your own folder. On first use Claude Code prompts you to log in in your browser. If you have set the ANTHROPIC_API_KEY environment variable and you approve the key when asked, it skips the login prompt.
4. Learn the session commands. Inside a session, /help lists available commands, /login re-authenticates or switches accounts, and /resume continues a previous conversation. Press Shift+Tab to switch the session's permission mode — the setting that controls which actions Claude Code takes without asking first.

First task walkthrough

1. Ask an explore-first question, before any edits: “What does this project do? Where is the main entry point?”
2. Then ask for one small change, for example: “Add a hello-world function to the main file, and show me the change before anything else.” If Claude Code asks before making the change, approve it explicitly.
3. Read the diff it shows you. Do not commit or ship anything you have not read.
4. Ask it to run the project's own check — its tests, linter, or build — and read any failure it reports before asking for a fix.

First skill

Install the Slack plugin from Slack's own docs, from inside a Claude Code session:

/plugin install slack@claude-plugins-official

It bundles Slack skills (for example, building Block Kit layouts and scaffolding a Slack app) and sets up the Slack MCP server connection, which prompts you to authenticate into your Slack workspace with OAuth when it loads. Note the limit Slack states: the slack-search skill needs that MCP server connection to query your workspace; the other skills work without it. Only install this if you actually build Slack apps — otherwise skip it and start with no skill at all.

Common first-run failures

• “claude is not found” after install. The quickstart says this means the install directory is not on your PATH yet — see its “Fix your PATH” guidance, and make sure you opened a new terminal window after installing.
• The installer seems to do nothing. The quickstart says the install command shows no progress while it downloads. Wait for it to finish, then run claude --version in a new terminal.
• “The token '&&' is not a valid statement separator” on Windows. The quickstart says you are in PowerShell, not CMD — use the PowerShell installer command above. The reverse error (“'irm' is not recognized”) means you are in CMD, not PowerShell.
• Login asks which account to use. Pick the account type you actually hold: a paid Claude subscription, a Console account with pre-paid credits, or your organisation's cloud provider. If none of these applies, stop here — there is no free route listed in the quickstart.
• It wants to edit files you did not expect. Press Shift+Tab to tighten the permission mode, and keep tasks small until you trust the loop.

Limits

• Claude Code is included in all paid Claude plans and shares the plan's usage pool with web, desktop, and mobile use. Limits reset on a rolling five-hour session window, with weekly limits on top of paid plans, and there is no fixed message count — how far a plan goes depends on the task and the model.
• Prices (2026-10-23, from Anthropic's pricing page): Pro $20/month billed monthly, or $200 billed up front annually; Max from $100/month, with a 5x or 20x usage choice. Prices exclude applicable tax and are subject to change.
• The agent can be wrong in ways that look confident. The check step — reading the diff and running the project's own tests — is part of the workflow, not an optional extra.

Verification

Tier: AUTHOR_DOCS_VERIFIED · Date: 2026-10-23

Sources fetched this run:

• code.claude.com/docs/en/quickstart — prerequisites (terminal, project, subscription/Console/cloud sign-in), native-installer structure, claude --version check, first session, /help, /login, /resume, Shift+Tab permission modes, PATH and shell troubleshooting, and the “shows no progress” installer note.
• claude.com/pricing — Pro and Max prices, Claude Code included in all paid plans, shared usage pool, five-hour and weekly limits.
• docs.slack.dev — Slack MCP and Skills Plugin — /plugin install slack@claude-plugins-official, OAuth on load, and the slack-search MCP limit.

Command-string note: the official quickstart page fetched this run renders its install commands as per-system tabs, and the page text extraction did not reproduce the command strings themselves. The two installer commands above are reproduced verbatim from a page fetched the same day that states the official docs recommend the native installer, and they match the npm/Homebrew/WinGet alternatives also described in Anthropic's Academy setup page fetched this run. If a command ever disagrees with the quickstart page, follow the quickstart page.

Omitted, with reason: the npm install route (npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code) — it appears in Anthropic's Academy setup material fetched this run, but the quickstart's recommended route is the native installer, so the kit leads with that and does not present npm as the main path. No other skill is recommended: the Slack plugin is the only first skill whose install command was verified from its author's docs this run.

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