What Is Claude Code?
Claude Code is Anthropic's AI coding agent. It lives in your terminal or your IDE, and instead of clicking through menus, you describe what you want in plain language. Claude reads your project's files, writes new ones, and edits existing ones to make the change happen.
You do not need to be a developer to use it. Designers use Claude Code to build quick prototypes, adjust the UI of a real product, or just ask questions about a codebase they have never opened before. It works best when it has design judgment available to it, and that is exactly what a skill adds: a standing reference Claude consults so its answers reflect good design practice, not just working code.
- Turn a Figma screenshot into a working prototype you can click through
- Change a spacing, color, or copy detail directly in the live app, no ticket needed
- Ask "why does this button do that?" and get an answer grounded in the actual code
- Add a small, well-scoped UI change to a real product without waiting on engineering
- Review a flow for a pattern like Human-in-the-Loop or Progressive Disclosure before it ships
Get set up
Install Claude Code
Follow the official quickstart at code.claude.com/docs. It walks through installation for your operating system.
Open a terminal in your project folder
A terminal is just a text window for typing commands. If you use an editor like VS Code, it usually has one built in already.
Run claude
Type `claude` and press enter. This starts a Claude Code session inside that folder.
Sign in with your Claude account
The first run prompts you to sign in. After that, Claude Code can read and edit files in this project.
A repo, short for repository, is just the project folder, usually tracked by version control so changes can be reviewed and undone. If a teammate already set the project up, you do not need to understand version control to get started. You only need to open your terminal there and run Claude Code.
You know what Claude Code is
- Claude Code is an AI coding agent that reads, writes, and edits your project's files from the terminal
- You do not need to be a developer to use it for prototypes, UI tweaks, and questions
- It works best with design judgment available, which is what a skill provides
Next: what a Claude Code skill actually is, and how it fits into a session like this.