Overview
Claude Code is an agentic coding tool from Anthropic that runs in your terminal. You describe what you want in plain language and it works inside your codebase: it reads and explains code, executes routine tasks, edits files and handles git workflows. Beyond the terminal it also runs inside your IDE, and on GitHub you can tag @claude on an issue or pull request to hand it work.
Installation is a one-line script per platform (a curl script on macOS and Linux, a PowerShell script on Windows), with Homebrew and WinGet packages as alternatives; the older npm install path is deprecated. After installing, you run the claude command inside a project directory and start giving it tasks. The full setup options, uninstall steps and troubleshooting live in Anthropic's setup documentation.
The GitHub repository is where the project's issues are tracked and where Anthropic publishes plugins that extend Claude Code with custom commands and agents. Usage data and feedback (including the /bug command) are collected under Anthropic's data-usage policies, with stated safeguards such as limited retention periods and a policy against using feedback for model training. Claude Code is a commercial product covered by Anthropic's Commercial Terms of Service.
What it does
- Works from natural-language commands in the terminal: explains code, executes routine tasks, edits files and runs git workflows
- Three surfaces: the terminal, your IDE, and GitHub where you tag @claude on issues and pull requests
- One-line installers for macOS/Linux (curl) and Windows (PowerShell), plus Homebrew and WinGet packages
- Plugins in the repository extend it with custom commands and agents
- In-product bug reporting with the /bug command, a public issue tracker and a Claude Developers Discord
- Documented data-usage policies with limited retention of sensitive data and no model training on feedback
Getting started
Install Claude Code with the script for your platform, then run it inside a project directory. The README notes that installing via npm is deprecated in favour of these installers.
Install on macOS or Linux
The recommended path is the install script. Homebrew is the alternative: brew install --cask claude-code.
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bashInstall on Windows
Run the PowerShell installer, or use WinGet with winget install Anthropic.ClaudeCode.
irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iexStart it in your project
Change into the project directory and launch claude. From here you give it tasks in plain language and it works inside that codebase.
cd your-project
claudeReport a bug from inside a session
The /bug command files feedback directly; the repository's GitHub issues are the other channel.
/bugCommands and code are distilled from the project's own documentation — always check the official repo for the latest.
When to use it
- Delegate routine engineering tasks — refactors, test fixes, migrations — to an agent that works directly in your repository
- Get an unfamiliar codebase explained in plain language before you change it
- Let it drive git workflows such as branching, committing and preparing pull requests
- Tag @claude on a GitHub issue or pull request to hand work to it without leaving GitHub
Claude Code in the news
- 2026-09-04MAJORClaude Code 2.1.261 — /skill-doctor shows which skills waste your context
- 2026-09-03MAJORShunt — Spotify's Claude Code plugin cuts token use by 90%
- 2026-09-03MAJORClaude Code 2.1.260 — a live diff panel and a permission-rule security fix
- 2026-09-02MAJORClaude Code 2.1.259 — admins can push MCP servers to every user
- 2026-09-01MAJORGitSpawn — a repo's git config can run code in Claude Code, Codex and Cursor
- 2026-09-01MAJORClaude Code 2.1.257 — Claude Fable 5.1 becomes the default Fable model
- 2026-08-28MAJORClaude Code 2.1.251 — hooks that can block a model switch
- 2026-08-27MAJORClaude Code 2.1.248 — a restricted mode that strips the tools that run code
From the AI/TLDR release feed — every item is source-verified when it ships.
How Claude Code compares
Claude Code alongside other open-source autonomous coding agents tools AI/TLDR tracks, ranked by GitHub stars.
| Tool | Stars | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| opencode | ★ 204k | OpenCode is an open source AI coding agent that runs in your terminal, with built-in build and plan agents and an optional desktop app. |
| Claude Code | ★ 144k | Anthropic's agentic coding tool that lives in your terminal, understands your codebase and handles routine tasks and git workflows from natural language |
| OpenAI Codex | ★ 122k | OpenAI's cloud and CLI coding agent that writes features, fixes bugs, and proposes code changes across a repo, running tasks in parallel. |
| Gemini CLI | ★ 107k | An open-source command-line AI agent from Google that connects your terminal to Gemini models for reading code, editing files, running shell commands, and searching the web. |
| Pi | ★ 102k | Minimal terminal coding agent harness with four built-in tools, extended through TypeScript extensions, skills and prompt templates instead of forks. |
| OpenHands | ★ 86.2k | An open-source AI software-development agent that plans tasks, edits files, runs commands, and tests code, usable from a terminal CLI, a local web GUI, or a Python SDK. |
| Orca | ★ 62k | Open-source desktop workspace that runs Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode and other CLI coding agents in parallel, each in its own git worktree, with a mobile companion app. |
| Goose | ★ 53.9k | Goose is an open-source AI agent that runs on your machine for code, research, automation, and more, with a desktop app, CLI, and API built in Rust. |