Claude Code Tutorials — Setup, Commands & Plugins

1 Beginner 10 min read

Getting Started with Claude Code

This was literally the first thing I did when I heard about Claude Code, and honestly it was easier than I expected. If you've ever opened a terminal before, you can do this. The official Anthropic quickstart walks you through everything — I'm just going to break it down the way I wish someone had explained it to me.

Claude Code is an agentic coding assistant that runs in your terminal. You type what you want in plain English, and it reads your project files, writes code, runs commands, and helps you build things. Think of it like having a coding partner right in your terminal.

Claude Code running in a terminal session

Claude Code running in terminal — it reads your project and responds to natural language commands

Installation (works on any OS)

terminal

              # Install Claude Code globally

              npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

              # Navigate to your project folder

              cd your-project-folder

              # Start Claude Code

              claude

              # That's it — Claude will ask you to log in the first time

              → Opening browser for authentication...

When you run claude for the first time, it'll open your browser and ask you to sign in with your Anthropic account. You'll need a Claude Pro, Max, or Team subscription (or set up API billing). Once you're authenticated, Claude automatically reads your project files and you can just start asking questions in plain English.

What I wish I knew

You need Node.js installed first. If you don't have it, grab it from nodejs.org. I spent 20 minutes wondering why npm wasn't working before realizing I hadn't installed Node.

Read the Official Quickstart Source: Anthropic Official Docs

2 Beginner 8 min read

Commands & Shortcuts That Actually Matter

Once you have Claude Code running, there are a bunch of commands and keyboard shortcuts that make life way easier. I didn't learn most of these until my second week — wish I'd known them from day one. Here are the ones I use constantly.

Type / inside Claude Code to see all available slash commands

Essential keyboard shortcuts

shortcuts

              # Stop Claude mid-response

              Escape

              # Clear context (saves tokens, fresh start)

              /clear

              # Toggle Extended Thinking mode

              Ctrl+T (Windows/Linux)

              Cmd+T  (Mac)

              # Switch between models

              Ctrl+P (Windows/Linux)

              Cmd+P  (Mac)

              # Browse previous messages

              Escape (press twice quickly)

              # Get help

              /help

Slash commands I use the most

/clear

Reset the conversation context. Useful when Claude gets confused or you're switching tasks.

/vim

Enable vim-style editing in the input. If you're a vim person, you'll love this.

/help

Show all available commands and keyboard shortcuts. My go-to when I forget something.

/terminal-setup

Configure multiline input with Shift+Enter. Essential for VS Code terminal users.

Full Command Reference Source: Anthropic Official Docs

3 Beginner 12 min read

Installing & Using Claude Code Plugins

This is where Claude Code starts feeling like a superpower. Plugins add new slash commands, custom skills, and even connect Claude to external tools. I was honestly surprised how easy it was to get them working — it's literally one command.

Plugins extend what Claude can do. For example, the frontend-design plugin gives Claude specialized knowledge about building beautiful web interfaces. There are plugins for all sorts of things, and more are being added all the time.

The plugin marketplace inside Claude Code — browse and install with a single command

How to install a plugin

terminal

              # Inside a Claude Code session, type:

              /plugin

              # This opens the plugin browser

              # Navigate with arrow keys, press Enter to install

              # Once installed, plugins add new slash commands

              # For example, the frontend-design plugin adds:

              /frontend-design

              # Check what plugins you have installed:

              Look in ~/.claude/plugins/installed_plugins.json

Each plugin can include skills (which become slash commands), agents (specialized sub-processes), MCP servers, and hooks (commands that run automatically). Don't worry if that sounds like a lot — you don't need to understand all of it to start using plugins. Just run /plugin and pick something that looks useful.

Pro tip from a beginner

Start with the frontend-design plugin if you're building anything visual. It dramatically improves the quality of the HTML/CSS Claude generates. I was blown away by the difference.

Read the Plugin Announcement Source: Anthropic Blog

4 Beginner Free course

Claude Code in Action — Free Anthropic Course

After I got the basics down, I found this free course on Anthropic's training platform and it filled in a ton of gaps. It covers real workflows — not just "here's how to install it" but "here's how to actually use it to build things, debug code, and work with git."

The course is structured so you can go at your own pace. I did it over a weekend and learned things like how to use Claude Code for code reviews, how to get it to explain complex codebases, and how to integrate it into my daily workflow.

Anthropic Academy - Claude Code in Action course

Anthropic Academy — free structured learning with hands-on exercises

What the course covers

Code Generation

How to describe what you want and get clean, working code back.

Debugging

Paste an error, ask Claude to fix it. Simple as that.

Git Workflows

Use Claude to write commit messages, review diffs, and manage branches.

Codebase Exploration

Ask Claude to explain any project — even if you didn't write it.

Start the Free Course Source: Anthropic Academy