Claude Code setup: six steps from a bare terminal to a reviewed commit

How to read this figure

1. 1

   Read the line as a clock. The arrow runs left to right, from 0 min to about 30 min. Six boxes sit on it, alternating above and below the line. Steps 1 to 3 you do once. Steps 4 to 6 are the loop you repeat for every change.

2. 2

   Box 1, above: Install. One command installs Claude Code. Then claude --version checks it. A command is one line you type in the terminal, the text window where you type commands. On a Mac, open the Terminal app; on Windows, open PowerShell from the Start menu. Never used a terminal? The desktop app does the same steps with buttons.

3. 3

   Box 2, below: Sign in. A browser login, once, with a paid plan or a Claude Console account. Then a safety commit: a commit is a saved copy of your files in git, free software that keeps a folder's history. You type no git commands: you ask Claude in plain words, and it runs them. That copy is your way back.

4. 4

   Box 3, above: Tour. /init writes your first CLAUDE.md. That is a plain text file of project notes that Claude Code reads at the start of every session. You skim it and approve.

5. 5

   Boxes 4 and 5: Ask, then Change. Box 4 asks: what does this project do? Box 5 makes a small edit. You read the diff, which shows the lines that changed, and approve. A label above box 5 marks it: your review gate.

6. 6

   Box 6, below: Commit. Save the change with a descriptive message, then check git log, the list of saved points. At the end of the hour it shows two commits: the safety net from box 2 and your first change from box 5. The Try this below makes the first one.

Try this: install and make your safety net

Open a terminal: the Terminal app on a Mac, PowerShell on Windows. Make an empty folder named expenses in your Documents folder. This makes the first of the two commits in the figure, the safety net. No terminal? Download the Claude desktop app, sign in and click the Code tab; you type the same prompts there.

1. Install. On a Mac, Linux or WSL, paste curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash and press Enter. In plain words: download Anthropic's install script from claude.ai and run it. On Windows PowerShell, paste irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex instead. Then type claude --version. Expected: a version number followed by (Claude Code).
2. Go into your folder. Type cd and a space, drag the expenses folder onto the terminal window, and press Enter; cd means change directory. Then type claude --permission-mode manual. This starts Claude Code in Manual mode, where Claude asks before each new kind of action. Expected: the line under the prompt reads manual mode on.
3. Type, in plain words: set this folder up as a git repository, add a README that says this is the expenses app, and make a first commit. Expected: Claude stops and asks before each git command. Approve each one. If Claude asks to install git, approve only if you want it installed.
4. Check it with ! git log --oneline -1. The ! sign runs a command yourself, without Claude; this one shows the last saved point. Expected: one line, a short code and the commit's note.

Expected result: A folder with git history and its first commit, before any app file exists. That line is your way back. Your first change, later in the hour, adds the second commit.

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