Claude Code

Claude Code is Anthropic's official agentic coding tool. It runs in your terminal, integrates with IDEs like VS Code and JetBrains, and is also available on the web. Rather than acting as an autocomplete, it operates as an agent: it reads your codebase, plans changes, edits files, runs commands, and iterates against test or build feedback.

It is aimed at developers who want an assistant that works directly inside an existing project with full repository context, instead of copy-pasting snippets into a chat window.

Highlights

• Runs in the terminal, in IDE extensions, and on the web
• Agentic workflow: searches, edits files, runs commands, and self-corrects from output
• Repository-aware context, with project conventions captured in a CLAUDE.md file
• Extensible via MCP servers, custom slash commands, subagents, and hooks
• Git-native: can stage, commit, and open pull requests on request

How it fits an AI-assisted workflow

Install and start it from a project root:

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
cd your-project
claude

Treat it as a pair working in your repo: describe a task, review the diff it proposes, and let it run tests before you commit. A CLAUDE.md file lets you encode build commands, architecture notes, and conventions so each session starts with shared context.

Good to know