Claude Code

What it does

• Agentic coding in the terminal — edits files, runs shell commands, and navigates your repo autonomously
• CLAUDE.md project memory — persistent instructions that carry across sessions
• Tool use out of the box — file editing, bash execution, web search, and MCP server integration
• Hooks and subagents — event-driven hooks and parallel subagents for custom workflows
• Built for large repos — reads and reasons across a whole codebase, not single files

When to use it

Best for end-to-end feature work, cross-file refactors, debugging with full repository context, and getting up to speed on an unfamiliar codebase. Less suited for single-shot snippets you'd paste into a chat UI.

Getting started

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

Then run `claude` inside your project directory.

Things to know

Requires an Anthropic API key or a Claude subscription. The first query on a large repo can be slower while it builds context. Claude Code can run commands and edit files, so review proposed changes and use the permission prompts to stay in control.