Environment Setup Guide

This guide covers the environment setup for participating in the Build with Claude Code workshop. Please complete this setup beforehand if possible. We’ll provide support at the setup session, but completing it ahead of time will help things go more smoothly on the day.

Requirements

Mac
Internet connection
Claude account (Pro plan or higher)
- Free trial available (credit card registration required)
- See Claude Pricing for details
GitHub account (Required)
- Useful for version control and sharing your portfolio
- Free registration at GitHub
- Which account to use: Use your company’s GitHub for work-related projects, and your personal GitHub account for personal projects
- About Public / Private repositories:
  - Public: Anyone can view. For portfolios and open source projects
  - Private: Only you and invited collaborators can view. For work code and private projects

Setup Steps

Installing Development Tools

First, let’s install the basic development tools.

Installing Homebrew

Homebrew is a package manager that makes it easy to install development tools on Mac.

Check: Is it already installed?

Open Terminal (Applications → Utilities → Terminal) and enter:


brew --version

If a version number appears, it’s already installed. If you see “command not found”, follow the next steps to install.

Installation

Copy and paste the following into Terminal and press Enter:


/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

You may be asked for your password - enter your Mac login password (it won’t be displayed as you type).

After installation, follow the instructions shown in Terminal to set up the path. Usually, you’ll need to run commands like:


echo 'eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"' >> ~/.zprofile
eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"

Installing Git

Git is a version control tool for code. It’s needed when developing with Claude.

Check: Is it already installed?

Enter in Terminal:


git --version

If a version number appears, you’re good. If you see “command not found”, install it with the following steps.

Installation

Enter in Terminal:


brew install git

After installation, verify by running git --version again.

Installing Node.js (Recommended)

Required for JavaScript and web app development. Even if you don’t need it now, it’s useful to have installed.

Check


node --version

Installation


brew install node

Installing Python (Recommended)

Required for scripts, data processing, and automation tools. Also used in the tutorials.

Check


python3 --version

If a version number appears, you’re good. Python usually comes pre-installed on Mac, but if not, install it with the steps below.

Installation


brew install python

Installing Xcode (For iPhone App Development)

If you want to build iPhone apps (iOS), you’ll need Xcode.

Installation

Search for “Xcode” in the App Store and install it. The file size is large (about 30GB), so we recommend downloading it when you have plenty of time.

Installing VS Code

VS Code (Visual Studio Code) is an editor for writing code.

Check: Is it already installed?

Check if “Visual Studio Code” is in your Applications folder.

Installation

Download from the official site: https://code.visualstudio.com/

Open the downloaded file and drag it to your Applications folder.

Launch VS Code

Open “Visual Studio Code” from your Applications folder.

Installing Claude Code

Now let’s install Claude Code. It’s easy to install from the VS Code extensions.

Open VS Code
Click the Extensions icon (four squares) in the left sidebar
Type “Claude” in the search box
Find “Claude” (official Anthropic extension) and click “Install”
Wait for installation to complete

Verification

If the Claude icon (Anthropic logo) appears in the VS Code left sidebar, installation is complete.

Claude Code Authentication

To use Claude Code, you need to authenticate with your Anthropic account.

Start Authentication

Click the Claude icon in VS Code’s left sidebar
Click the “Sign in” button
A browser will open showing Anthropic’s login page
Log in with the account provided by your company
After authentication completes, you’ll return to VS Code

Success is when you see the chat panel in VS Code’s Claude panel.

Verification

Let’s verify that all settings are complete.

Recommended Folder Structure

Keeping all your development projects in a projects folder inside your home folder makes them easier to manage.


~/
└── projects/           ← Keep all projects here
    ├── my-first-app/   ← Folder to create now
    ├── meeting-summary/← Tool from the tutorial
    └── my-tool/        ← Future projects

Benefits of this structure:

Easy to find your projects
Simple terminal navigation (cd ~/projects/project-name)
Easy to backup

Create a Project Folder in VS Code

Open VS Code
From the menu, select “File” → “Open Folder”
Create and open a folder at the following location:
- Location: Home folder → projects → my-first-app
- (Create the projects folder if it doesn’t exist)

Try Talking to Claude Code

Click the Claude icon in VS Code’s left sidebar
Type the following in the chat field and press Enter:


Hello! What's today's date?

If Claude responds, your environment setup is complete!

Troubleshooting

Can’t find Claude extension in VS Code

Make sure you’re typing “Claude” correctly in the search box
Check your internet connection
Restart VS Code and search again

Claude icon doesn’t appear

Verify the extension is installed correctly (check if “Claude” is in the extensions list)
Restart VS Code
If it still doesn’t work, uninstall and reinstall the extension

Authentication error

Check if you can log in to Anthropic in a browser
Verify the account information provided by your company is correct
We’ll verify together at the setup session, so it’s OK to leave it as is

Checklist

Verify your environment setup is complete:

If everything is checked, you’re ready!

Next Steps

Once environment setup is complete, check out Claude Basics next.