Your First App: A Beginner’s Guide to Claude Code and Claude Desktop — Part 1: Setup

You don’t need to know how to code. You need to know how to describe what you want.

That sentence would have been absurd two years ago. Today it’s the most practical advice I can give someone who wants to start building software. The gap between “I have an idea for an app” and “I have a working app” has collapsed — not because programming got easier, but because the interface changed. Instead of learning syntax, you learn to communicate clearly. Instead of debugging semicolons, you describe what’s wrong and ask for help.

This guide walks you through setting up the two tools that make this possible: Claude Desktop and Claude Code, both built by Anthropic. By the end of Part 1, you’ll have everything installed and ready to build. In Part 2, you’ll actually build something — a working web app — and learn a framework for teaching yourself anything else you want to do.

No prior experience required. No computer science degree. No LinkedIn course. Just a computer, twenty minutes, and a willingness to try something new.

What You’re Installing (and Why Two Things)

Think of it this way:

Claude Desktop is the conversation. It’s an app you download — like Slack or Spotify — where you talk to Claude. You can brainstorm ideas, ask questions, upload documents, plan projects, or just think out loud. It works on Mac and Windows, it’s free to download, and it works with every plan including the free one.

Claude Code is the builder. It lives inside your terminal (that black window with the blinking cursor you’ve probably seen in movies about hackers — it’s much less dramatic in real life). Claude Code can read your project files, write code, create entire applications, and run commands on your computer. It understands the full context of whatever you’re working on.

Here’s the part that matters for beginners: you don’t actually have to choose between them. The Claude Desktop app now has a built-in Code tab that gives you Claude Code’s building capabilities with a visual interface. No terminal required. If the command line intimidates you, this is your on-ramp.

You can also plan and design in Claude.ai — the web version at claude.ai — without installing anything at all. That’s a perfectly fine place to start thinking through what you want to build before you set up the building tools.

Quick links:

• Download Claude Desktop: claude.ai/download
• Claude Code docs: code.claude.com
• Claude Code terminal guide (for true beginners): code.claude.com/docs/en/terminal-guide
• Pricing: claude.ai/pricing

Choosing a Plan

Let’s talk money before we talk installation, because it affects what you can do.

Free plan ($0/mo) — You get Claude Desktop and Claude.ai for conversation, brainstorming, and planning. You can use this to design your app idea, ask questions about programming concepts, and learn at your own pace. You cannot use Claude Code on this plan.

Pro plan ($20/mo) — This is where building starts. Pro unlocks Claude Code — the terminal tool and the Code tab inside Desktop. You get access to Claude’s best models and enough usage for focused daily sessions. This is the plan I recommend starting with. It’s the cost of a couple coffees per week, and it gives you a tireless collaborator who will write code, explain what it’s doing, and never judge you for asking a basic question.

Max plan ($100/mo or $200/mo) — For power users who code all day and hit Pro limits regularly. You don’t need this yet. If you find yourself running into usage limits after weeks of heavy building, revisit it then.

My honest recommendation: start with Pro. Upgrade when you feel the ceiling, not before. And if you’re not sure yet, start with the free plan to get comfortable with the conversational interface first — you can upgrade to Pro the moment you’re ready to build.

Installing Claude Desktop

This is the easy part. Claude Desktop installs like any other app.

macOS

1. Go to claude.ai/download
2. Click the macOS download button — it will download a .dmg file
3. Open the .dmg file
4. Drag the Claude icon into your Applications folder
5. Open Claude from your Applications folder (or use Spotlight: press Cmd + Space, type “Claude”, hit Enter)
6. Sign in with your Anthropic account (or create one — it’s free)

That’s it. Claude is now in your dock.

Windows

1. Go to claude.ai/download
2. Click the Windows download button (there are separate downloads for standard x64 and ARM64 processors — if you’re not sure which you have, the standard download is almost certainly correct)
3. Run the downloaded installer
4. Launch Claude from the Start menu
5. Sign in with your Anthropic account

Linux

There is no official Claude Desktop app for Linux. Your options:

• Use Claude.ai in your browser at claude.ai — this gives you the full conversational experience
• Install Claude Code CLI (covered in the next section) — this is the builder tool and works great on Linux
• There’s a community-maintained Snap package, but it’s unofficial and wraps the web interface — I’d skip it and use the browser

If you’re on Linux, you’re probably already comfortable with the terminal, which means Claude Code’s CLI is your natural home anyway.

Your First Look Around

Once Claude Desktop is open and you’re signed in, take a minute to orient yourself:

• The main chat area — this is where you talk to Claude. Type anything. Say hi. Ask a question. It’s a conversation.
• The tabs at the top — you’ll see Chat, Code, and Cowork. Chat is the default conversational mode. Code is where Claude Code lives inside the Desktop app (requires a paid plan). Cowork is an autonomous background agent — powerful, but ignore it for now.
• Settings (bottom left or gear icon) — this is where you manage your account, toggle features, and configure extensions.
• Projects (left sidebar) — you can organize conversations into projects with persistent instructions. Useful once you’re building regularly.

Installing Claude Code

You have two paths here, and I want to be clear about when to use each one:

Path A: Use the Code tab inside Claude Desktop. If the terminal feels intimidating, start here. You already installed the Desktop app. Click the Code tab, select a folder on your computer, and start building. The Desktop app includes Claude Code — no extra installation needed. Skip to the “Using the Code Tab” section below.

Path B: Install the Claude Code CLI (command line interface). This is the standalone terminal version. It’s faster, more flexible, and the way most developers use Claude Code. If you’re willing to open a terminal window and type a few commands, this is the path I recommend — and I promise it’s less scary than it looks.

You can always do both. They share the same engine, the same settings, and the same project memory.

Path A: Using the Code Tab in Claude Desktop (No Terminal)

1. Open Claude Desktop
2. Click the Code tab at the top center of the window
3. If it asks you to upgrade, you need a Pro plan or higher — go to claude.ai/pricing to upgrade
4. Click Select folder and choose a directory on your computer where you want your project to live (if you don’t have one yet, create a new folder — on Mac: right-click in Finder → New Folder; on Windows: right-click in Explorer → New → Folder)
5. Start describing what you want to build

That’s genuinely it. You’re ready for Part 2 of this guide.

Path B: Installing the Claude Code CLI

This requires opening a terminal. Let me walk you through it for each operating system.

A note about the terminal: The terminal is just a text-based way to talk to your computer. Instead of clicking icons and buttons, you type commands. It looks intimidating because it’s unfamiliar, not because it’s complicated. You’ll type maybe three commands total to install Claude Code. You’ve got this.

macOS

Step 1: Open Terminal

Press Cmd + Space to open Spotlight Search. Type Terminal. Press Enter. A window will appear with a blinking cursor. This is your terminal.

Step 2: Install Claude Code

Copy this entire line, paste it into the terminal (Cmd + V), and press Enter:

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

This downloads and runs Anthropic’s official installer. It takes about a minute. You’ll see some output scroll by — that’s normal.

Step 3: Verify the installation

Type this and press Enter:

claude --version

You should see a version number. If you do, Claude Code is installed.

Step 4: Log in

Type this and press Enter:

claude

The first time you run this command, Claude Code will open your web browser and ask you to sign in to your Anthropic account. Follow the prompts. Once you’re authenticated, you’re done — the login persists across sessions, so you won’t need to do this again.

Windows

Windows needs one extra step before Claude Code will work: you need to install Git for Windows. This is a tool that Claude Code uses behind the scenes to track changes to your code. You won’t need to learn Git yourself — Claude Code handles it.

Step 1: Install Git for Windows

1. Go to git-scm.com/download/win and download the installer
2. Run the installer. Click Next on every screen — the defaults are fine. There are a lot of screens. Don’t let that intimidate you; just keep clicking Next.
3. When it finishes, close the installer

Step 2: Open PowerShell

Right-click the Start button and select Terminal or Windows PowerShell. You do not need to run it as Administrator.

Step 3: Install Claude Code

Paste this into PowerShell and press Enter:

irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex

Alternatively, if you use WinGet (Windows’ built-in package manager), you can run:

winget install Anthropic.ClaudeCode

Either method works. The native installer (first command) auto-updates; WinGet does not.

Step 4: Verify and log in

Same as macOS:

claude --version
claude

The first claude command will open your browser for authentication.

Linux

Step 1: Open Terminal

On most distributions, press Ctrl + Alt + T or search for “Terminal” in your application menu.

Step 2: Install Claude Code

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

Same command as macOS. The installer detects your OS automatically.

Step 3: Verify and log in

claude --version
claude

Note for Alpine or musl-based distros: You’ll need libgcc, libstdc++, and ripgrep installed first. Run apk add libgcc libstdc++ ripgrep and set USE_BUILTIN_RIPGREP=0 before installing.

You’re Set Up

Regardless of which path you chose — the Desktop Code tab or the CLI — you now have everything you need to start building. Claude Code can read your project files, write code, create new files, run commands, and handle version control. It asks permission before changing anything, so you’re always in control.

In Part 2, we’ll put it to work. You’ll design an app conversationally, build it with Claude Code, and learn a simple framework for teaching yourself anything you want to do next — no tutorial required.

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Part 2 of this guide — where you build your first working app and learn the self-teaching framework — is live now: Your First App: Building.