// Claude Code

Claude Code is Anthropic's official CLI tool for AI-assisted coding. It runs directly in your terminal and has deep understanding of your codebase. Unlike other tools that need API endpoints, Claude Code uses your Claude subscription directly.

Install Claude Code globally using npm:

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

Verify the installation:

claude --version

Navigate to your project directory and launch Claude Code:

cd /path/to/your-project
claude

On first run, you'll be prompted to authenticate with your Anthropic account. A browser window will open for OAuth — sign in with the account linked to your Claude subscription.

Once authenticated, you can start giving Claude instructions in natural language:

claude "Explain the architecture of this project"

claude "Add error handling to the API routes"

claude "Write tests for the auth module"

Inside an interactive Claude Code session, use these slash commands:

Project Memory — CLAUDE.md

Create a CLAUDE.md file in your project root to give Claude persistent context about your project. This file is read automatically every session.

# Project: My App

## Stack
- Next.js 14 with TypeScript
- Prisma ORM with PostgreSQL
- NextAuth for authentication

## Conventions
- Use server components by default
- API routes in app/api/
- All components in /components

## Important
- Never modify the database schema without asking first
- Always run tests after changes

Settings

Global settings are stored in $HOME/.claude/settings.json. Project-level settings go in .claude/settings.json within your repo.

{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": [
      "Read",
      "Write",
      "Bash(git *)",
      "Bash(npm test)",
      "Bash(npm run build)"
    ],
    "deny": [
      "Bash(rm -rf *)"
    ]
  }
}