Set Up Claude Code¶

Claude Code is Anthropic's official command-line interface for Claude. It brings an AI coding assistant directly into the terminal, desktop, or IDE, enabling researchers to generate code, explain errors, and automate repetitive tasks without leaving their development environment. This guide covers installation, authentication, and skills — reusable extensions that add domain-specific behavior to Claude Code.

Before you begin¶

Requirements

An Anthropic account with an active Claude Pro, Team, or Enterprise subscription.
macOS, Linux, or Windows with WSL2 configured (for CLI installation).

What this guide covers¶

Install Claude Code using the CLI installer, desktop app, or IDE extension
Authenticate with an Anthropic account
Install skills from a skills marketplace

Install Claude Code¶

Claude Code is available as a command-line tool and as an extension for VS Code.

CLI (macOS / Linux)CLI (Windows — WSL2)IDE extension

Run the installer in a terminal:

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

Setting up Claude Code...

✔ Claude Code successfully installed!

  Version: 2.1.109

  Location: ~/.local/bin/claude


  Next: Run claude --help to get started

✅ Installation complete!

Verify the installation:

1	`claude --version`

2.1.109 (Claude Code)

WSL2 required

The CLI installer requires a Linux environment. Install and configure WSL2 before continuing. See Getting Started — Install WSL.

Open a WSL2 terminal and run the installer:

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

Setting up Claude Code...

✔ Claude Code successfully installed!

  Version: 2.1.109

  Location: ~/.local/bin/claude


  Next: Run claude --help to get started

✅ Installation complete!

Verify the installation:

1	`claude --version`

2.1.109 (Claude Code)

Install the Claude Code extension from the marketplace for the IDE:

VS Code — search for "Claude Code" in the VS Code Marketplace

Note

For the most up-to-date installation instructions, see the Claude Code product page.

Authenticate¶

After installation, launch Claude Code to complete authentication.

For the CLI, open a terminal and run:

claude

 ▐▛███▜▌   Claude Code v2.1.109
▝▜█████▛▘  Sonnet 4.6 · Claude Team
  ▘▘ ▝▝    ~/CODE/project

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Login


   Claude Code can be used with your Claude subscription or billed based on API
   usage through your Console account.

   Select login method:

   ❯1. Claude account with subscription · Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise

    2. Anthropic Console account · API usage billing

    3. 3rd-party platform · Amazon Bedrock, Microsoft Foundry, or Vertex AI


  Esc to cancel

Claude Code opens a browser window. Complete the Anthropic login flow in the browser; the terminal session authenticates automatically when login succeeds. The desktop app and IDE extensions display a built-in login prompt on first launch.

Install skills from a marketplace¶

Skills extend Claude Code with reusable, domain-specific behavior. Each skill is a self-contained workflow invoked as a slash command — for example, /code-review or /skill-creator. Skills are distributed through GitHub-hosted marketplaces and can be installed into any Claude Code session.

Add a marketplace¶

Skills marketplaces are GitHub repositories containing skill definitions. Register a marketplace as a source before installing its skills:

1	`/plugin marketplace add <github_owner/repo>`

Note

The official Anthropic marketplace (claude-plugins-official) is pre-registered and requires no add step.

Install a skill¶

Once a marketplace is registered, install skills by name using the format skill-name@marketplace-name:

1	`/plugin install code-review@claude-plugins-official`

 ▐▛███▜▌   Claude Code v2.1.109
▝▜█████▛▘  Sonnet 4.6 · Claude Team
  ▘▘ ▝▝    ~/CODE/project

❯ /plugin install code-review@claude-plugins-official
  ⎿  ✓ Installed code-review. Run /reload-plugins to apply.

After installing, activate the skill in the current session without restarting:

1	`/reload-plugins`

 ▐▛███▜▌   Claude Code v2.1.109
▝▜█████▛▘  Sonnet 4.6 · Claude Team
  ▘▘ ▝▝    ~/CODE/project

❯ /plugin install code-review@claude-plugins-official
  ⎿  ✓ Installed code-review. Run /reload-plugins to apply.

❯ /reload-plugins
  ⎿  Reloaded: 1 plugins · 0 skill · 5 agents · 0 hooks · 0 plugin MCP servers · 0 plugin LSP servers

Run /plugin and navigate to the Installed tab to list all currently installed skills.

/plugin

 ▐▛███▜▌   Claude Code v2.1.109
▝▜█████▛▘  Sonnet 4.6 · Claude Team
  ▘▘ ▝▝    ~/CODE/project

❯ /plugin

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Plugins  Discover  *Installed*  Marketplaces   Errors

  ╭────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
  │ ⌕ Search…                                                                  │
  ╰────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯

    Local
  ❯ code-review Plugin · claude-plugins-official · ✔ enabled

   type to search · Space to toggle · Enter to details · Esc to back

Explore the official skills library¶

The /plugin command opens an interactive manager with four tabs: Discover, Installed, Marketplaces, and Errors. Use the Discover tab to browse skills across registered marketplaces.

The official Anthropic marketplace includes skills in four categories:

Code intelligence — language server integrations for Python, Rust, TypeScript, Go, and more
External integrations — GitHub, GitLab, Jira, Figma, Slack, Vercel, and other services
Development workflows — commit tools, PR review, and plugin development
Output styles — response customization

For the full catalogue, see the Claude Code plugin documentation.

Manage installed skills¶

Update a marketplace¶

Pull the latest skill definitions from a registered marketplace:

1	`/plugin marketplace update claude-plugins-official`

 ▐▛███▜▌   Claude Code v2.1.109
▝▜█████▛▘  Sonnet 4.6 · Claude Team
  ▘▘ ▝▝    ~/CODE/project

❯ /plugin marketplace update claude-plugins-official
  ⎿  ✔ Updated 1 marketplace

Remove a skill¶

Uninstall a skill from the current user scope:

1	`/plugin uninstall code-review`

 ▐▛███▜▌   Claude Code v2.1.109
▝▜█████▛▘  Sonnet 4.6 · Claude Team
  ▘▘ ▝▝    ~/CODE/project

❯ /plugin uninstall code-review
  ⎿  ✓ Enabled code-review. Run /reload-plugins to apply.

Remove a marketplace source¶

Remove a marketplace and make its skills unavailable for future installs:

1	`/plugin marketplace remove github_username/project`

 ▐▛███▜▌   Claude Code v2.1.109
▝▜█████▛▘  Sonnet 4.6 · Claude Team
  ▘▘ ▝▝    ~/CODE/project

❯ /plugin marketplace remove mila-skills
  ⎿  ✔ Removed 1 marketplace

Key concepts¶

Claude Code: Anthropic's official CLI and IDE extension for Claude. Provides an AI coding assistant in the terminal or IDE, extendable with skills.
Skill: A self-contained workflow that extends Claude Code with domain-specific behavior. Skills are invoked as slash commands (e.g. /mila-connect-cluster) in a Claude Code session.
Marketplace: A GitHub repository containing one or more skill definitions. Adding a marketplace as a source makes its skills available to install.

Next step¶

Install Mila Skills for Claude Code

Add the Mila skills marketplace and install cluster-focused skills for account setup, SSH connections, and job submission.

Comments

Ask AI