Claude Code user FAQ

Question

Answer

1.1 How do I install it?

Easiest: download Claude Desktop, sign in with your plan, and open the “Code” tab. Claude Code is built in, so there’s nothing else to install.

Terminal:

macOS/Linux: curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash
​Windows PowerShell: irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex
​Homebrew: brew install --cask claude-code
​WinGet: winget install Anthropic.ClaudeCode
Then run claude from any repo.

Reference: Quickstart

1.2 Installed, but “claude: command not found”

The native installer puts the binary at ~/.local/bin/claude (Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.local\bin). Add that directory to your PATH, e.g. export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.local/bin" in ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc, then restart your terminal.

Reference: Troubleshooting: PATH

1.3 Login opens a browser on the wrong machine / I’m on SSH

Press c at the login prompt to copy the auth URL. Open it in a local browser, then paste the code back into the terminal.

Reference: Troubleshooting: auth

1.4 Auth errors right after login, but I have access

400 “organization disabled”: a stray ANTHROPIC_API_KEY env var is overriding your login. Unset it, remove from your shell profile, restart. Run /status to confirm which auth is active.
​403 Forbidden: your admin hasn’t enabled Claude Code for your workspace yet, or a corporate proxy is interfering.

Reference: Troubleshooting: auth

1.5 Is Claude Code included in my plan?

Yes. It’s included with paid Claude plans and with Console (API) access. Sign in with your work account; SSO is handled automatically. A 403 after login usually means your admin still needs to enable it for the workspace.

Reference: Authentication

1.6 Claude Code vs. chat in Claude?

Claude Code: a coding agent that reads your repo, edits files, and runs commands. It’s the “Code” tab in Claude Desktop, and also runs in your terminal or IDE.
​Chat in Claude (web, Claude Desktop, or mobile): chat for conversations and one-off questions.
Same models underneath, different shape of tool.

Reference: Overview

1.7 Does it work in my IDE?

Yes. Extensions are available for VS Code and JetBrains IDEs (IntelliJ, PyCharm, etc.). Same features, embedded in the editor instead of a separate terminal.

Reference: VS Code · JetBrains

1.8 How is this different from Copilot/Cursor autocomplete?

Autocomplete suggests the next few lines. Claude Code is an agent: give it a task (“fix the failing tests”) and it reads files, runs commands, and makes multi-file edits until done. Less “finish my sentence,” more “here’s a problem, go work it.”

Reference: Overview

1.9 What should I try first?

Point it at a tedious-but-not-hard bug you’ve been putting off. Example: “the test in [file] is flaky, figure out why.” Let it read the code instead of you explaining the code.

Reference: Common use cases

1.10 How do I update it?

Native installs auto-update in the background. To force one now, run claude update.
Homebrew/WinGet don’t auto-update: run brew upgrade claude-code or winget upgrade Anthropic.ClaudeCode periodically.

Reference: Setup: updates

Question

Answer

2.1 It keeps asking permission for the same commands

Approvals last for the current session by default. To make them persist:
• Pick “always allow” at the prompt
• Add the pattern to permissions.allow in .claude/settings.json
• Or run /permissions to manage interactively

Reference: Permissions

2.2 Permission modes and how to switch

Press Shift+Tab to cycle modes:

Reference: Permission modes

2.3 What is /init and when do I run it?

Run it once, early, in any repo you’ll work in more than once. It scans the project and writes CLAUDE.md with build commands, architecture, and conventions. Every future session loads it automatically, so Claude starts with context.

Reference: Memory and CLAUDE.md

2.4 What goes in CLAUDE.md?

Things tooling can’t enforce that a new teammate would get wrong on day one: “deploy from release, not main”, “all IDs are strings”, “never call the DB directly from a route handler.” Keep it under two screens; longer gets skimmed.

Reference: Memory and CLAUDE.md

2.5 Claude isn’t following my CLAUDE.md

• Too long or too vague: trim to the rules that actually matter
• Buried in prose: put hard rules near the top, use imperative language (“Never X. Always Y.”)

Reference: Best practices

2.6 Point it at a specific file without pasting it

Type @ then the path (tab-completes). The mentioned file is read before Claude responds.

Reference: Common workflows

2.7 Paste a screenshot into the prompt

Drag the image into the terminal, or press Ctrl+V. On Mac that’s Ctrl, not Cmd (Cmd+V pastes text). Works for error dialogs, UI mockups, whiteboard photos.

Reference: Working with images

2.8 Copy Claude’s response out of the terminal

/copy puts the last response on your clipboard. /export writes the whole conversation to a file.

2.9 Get a previous session back

claude --continue resumes the most recent one. claude --resume opens a list to pick from. Sessions are stored locally per project directory.

Reference: Common workflows: resume

2.10 Switch models

/model opens the picker. Set a default in .claude/settings.json if you want the same model every session.

Reference: Model configuration

2.11 Extended thinking

On by default. The reasoning itself is hidden in the normal view; press Ctrl+O to switch to the verbose transcript if you want to read it. Use /effort to dial depth up or down. Worth the extra latency for tricky debugging or architecture calls.

Reference: Extended thinking

2.12 Stop it mid-task

Press Ctrl+C to cancel the current generation, then tell it what to do instead. No need to start the conversation over.

Question

Answer

3.1 What is MCP?

MCP connects Claude Code to your external tools: GitHub, Linear, Slack, your database, your observability stack. One .mcp.json config and Claude can read your issues, query your data, and work the same tools you do. Common first connector: your issue tracker.

Reference: MCP

3.2 Wire up your first MCP server

• Add a .mcp.json at the project root, or use claude mcp add
• Each entry names a server package plus any env vars (usually an auth token)
• Restart Claude Code and run /mcp to confirm it’s connected

Reference: MCP setup

3.3 What are hooks for?

Shell scripts that fire on events (before a tool runs, after a file edit, when Claude is waiting on you). Common first hook: a Notification hook that pings your desktop when Claude needs input. Same mechanism can run your linter after every edit, post to Slack, or block edits to protected paths.

Reference: Hooks guide

3.4 Make a reusable prompt / skill

Create .claude/skills/ship/SKILL.md and the folder name becomes the command: /ship. Plain English, no special syntax. Easiest path: ask Claude to write it for you. (The legacy .claude/commands/ship.md path still works.)

Reference: Skills

3.5 Skills vs. legacy commands

Same mechanism; commands have been merged into skills. .claude/commands/foo.md and .claude/skills/foo/SKILL.md both create /foo. The skill form is preferred and gives you a folder for supporting files (reference docs, templates, helper scripts).

Reference: Skills

3.6 What are subagents good for?

Parallel work: search different parts of the codebase, review a diff along separate dimensions, or generate competing implementations at the same time. The main session aggregates the results.

Reference: Subagents

3.7 Run non-interactively (CI / scripts)

claude -p "your prompt" runs once and prints the result. Good for CI hooks, pre-commit checks, or piping into other tools. Auth via your logged-in session or ANTHROPIC_API_KEY.

Reference: Unix-style usage

3.8 Undo what it did

/rewind rolls back to an earlier checkpoint. Checkpoints are taken automatically at every prompt you send. For anything already committed, use a normal git revert.

Reference: Checkpointing

3.9 Share your setup with the team

Check .claude/ into the repo (CLAUDE.md, commands, MCP config). Anyone who clones the repo gets the same setup automatically. Skills can also be packaged as a plugin that teams install via /plugin.

Reference: Plugins

Question

Answer

4.1 Can’t find files / search returns nothing

Claude Code ships with a bundled copy of ripgrep, so you do not need to install it. The bundled binary can fail on Alpine/musl systems; in that case install a system copy (apk add ripgrep) and set USE_BUILTIN_RIPGREP=0 so Claude uses it instead.

Reference: Troubleshooting: search

4.2 Copy/paste and scroll broken over SSH or in tmux

The terminal UI captures mouse events. Hold Shift while selecting to bypass it, or configure tmux to pass mouse events through. /copy and /export sidestep the issue entirely.

4.3 Slow on WSL

Reading Windows files through /mnt/c/ is a known penalty. Move the repo into the WSL filesystem (~/ instead of /mnt/c/...). The speed difference is dramatic.

Reference: Troubleshooting: WSL

4.4 Image paste isn’t working on Mac

Use Ctrl+V, not Cmd+V. Cmd+V pastes text; Ctrl+V is the image-from-clipboard path.

4.5 Wildcard permission rule doesn’t match

Build rules incrementally: approve commands interactively first, check what got written to settings, then generalize.

Reference: Permissions patterns

4.6 Non-interactive -p mode behaves differently

For non-interactive/CI runs, prefer API-key auth and MCP servers configured with env-var tokens.

4.7 Ran out of context mid-task

/compact summarizes earlier conversation to free up space. /clear starts fresh while keeping CLAUDE.md and settings loaded. For long tasks, break into steps with a /clear between phases.

Reference: Managing context

Question

Answer

5.1 Does Anthropic train on my code?

No. Under your organization’s Team/Enterprise terms, your code and conversations are not used to train models.

Reference: Data usage

5.2 Where does my code actually go?

Claude Code runs on your machine. Source files are read locally, and only the portions needed for the current task are sent to the API to generate a response. Nothing is indexed, uploaded as a whole repo, or used for training.

Reference: Data usage

5.3 Can anyone else see my conversations?

No. Sessions are stored locally on your machine, per project directory, and are not shared with teammates or visible in any dashboard. Use /export if you want to share a conversation.

Reference: Data usage

5.4 How do I keep secrets and .env files out of the conversation?

Claude only reads files it needs for the task; it doesn’t scan your whole repo. To hard-block specific files, add a Read deny rule in .claude/settings.json (e.g. "Read(.env*)"). Denied files can’t be read even if you accidentally ask for them.

Reference: Permissions

5.5 What can “acceptEdits” mode do without asking me?

File edits go through without a prompt. It still asks before running shell commands, making network calls, or touching anything outside your working directory. For tighter control, stay in default mode.

Reference: Permissions

Resource

What it’s for

/help

Built-in command listing what’s available in your session

/feedback

File an issue from the terminal (alias for /bug)

Full docs

Everything here, in detail

Your team’s #claude-code channel

Small wins and weird errors both belong there

Page

Link

Quickstart

code.claude.com/docs/en/quickstart

Troubleshooting

code.claude.com/docs/en/troubleshooting

Permissions

code.claude.com/docs/en/permissions

Memory and CLAUDE.md

code.claude.com/docs/en/memory

MCP

code.claude.com/docs/en/mcp

Data usage

code.claude.com/docs/en/data-usage