Hello fellow developers,
Today I’ll walk you through setting up Claude Code (included with paid plans) on Windows. Since this tool was designed primarily for Linux environments, we’ll need to use WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) to run a virtualized Linux system within Windows.
Let’s dive in step by step.
What is Claude Code?
Claude Code is a command-line tool that lets developers delegate coding tasks directly to Claude from the terminal. It’s designed for agentic programming, allowing Claude to work autonomously on your code projects. Think of it as Anthropic’s answer to Copilot.
Installation
Prerequisites
Before we begin, you’ll need:
- Windows 10 or later
- Node.js 18+ installed (download here)
- WSL or WSL2 support on your machine
- Git for Windows (download here)
Setting up WLS
Installing WSL has been streamlined significantly. Simply open PowerShell as an administrator and run:
wsl --installFollow the installation process, and you’ll end up with a Linux system running on your Windows machine.
Installing Claude Code
From the same PowerShell session, run this command to download the PowerShell installation script from Anthropic:
irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iexYou should see output similar to this:
Next, we need to add Claude Code to our PATH environment variable:
setx PATH "%PATH%;C:\Users\<YOUR-USER-HERE>\.local\bin"Replace <YOUR-USER-HERE> with your actual username. You’ll receive a confirmation message once this completes.
Claude is now installed! The next step is connecting it to your account.
Account configuration
Still in PowerShell, type claude to launch the assistant:
claudeOn first launch, you’ll be prompted to choose how you want to view code previews.
Next, you’ll be asked which account to connect the tool to. If you have a paid account, select the first option. If you’re using API access, choose the second option.
Selecting the first option will open a browser window where you’ll need to log in. Once authorized, you’ll see a confirmation message in the browser, which you can then close.
Back in the terminal, Claude will display a warning about potential errors and advise caution.
Every time you launch Claude Code in a new project, it will request permission to read files and folders. Grant this permission to proceed.
Claude Code is now active! The current document will be passed as context, and you can ask for information or code development directly from this interface. If the session closes, simply click the red logo in the top right corner (no need to re-authenticate—that’s only required on first setup).
IDE integration
Here’s how to configure plugins for popular IDEs:
WebStorm
Open WebStorm and navigate to Settings (gear icon in top right) → Plugins
In the plugin window, search for “Claude Code” and select the plugin (currently in Beta)
Once installed, the red Claude icon will appear in the top toolbar
Click it to open a terminal window in the bottom panel of the IDE.
Visual Studio Code
Open VS Code and click the Extensions icon in the left sidebar
Search for “Claude Code for VSCode” and click Install
The red Claude icon will appear in the top right corner. Click it to open the shell where you can interact with your AI assistant.
Visual Studio
While VS Code has made significant strides, I’m not quite ready to abandon good old Visual Studio. For complex projects, Visual Studio remains my preferred choice.
Unfortunately, there’s no official plugin for this IDE yet. We’ll need to use the “Developer PowerShell” window in the bottom section of the IDE. Simply type claude and press Enter to launch it.
Conclusions
At a recent conference (WPC 2024), I heard a profound statement:
Developers won’t be replaced by AI, but developers without AI will be replaced by those who use it.
This applies to many fields beyond ours. While we could debate whether AI will one day surpass us at programming, today’s reality is clear. We shouldn’t use AI blindly—our experience and accumulated knowledge remain our most valuable assets and what truly differentiates one programmer from another. However, AI integration in our daily tools is undeniably helping us save time and become more efficient and productive.
Happy coding!
