If you spend your day in VS Code, you might be wondering whether Claude Code fits into your workflow. The answer is yes — and it takes about five minutes to set up. Here is exactly how I did it.
What You Need
Before you start, make sure you have three things: a Claude account (free is fine for testing), Node.js installed on your machine, and VS Code running. That is it.
Step 1: Install the CLI
Open your terminal and run:
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-codeThis installs the Claude Code command-line interface globally. It should take under a minute.
Step 2: Authenticate
Type claude in your terminal. It will ask you to log in. Follow the link, approve access, and you are ready.
If you are using the free plan, you can start immediately. If you have a Pro subscription, the CLI uses your existing subscription automatically.
Step 3: Use It Inside VS Code
Now the interesting part. Claude Code works as a terminal tool, but you can run it in the VS Code integrated terminal. This means you can point it at your project folder and ask it to work on your code while you watch.
Open VS Code → open your project → press Ctrl+` to open the terminal → type claude. Now you can ask it to refactor a function, add tests, or explain a confusing file.
Pro Tips
Be specific in your prompts. Claude Code works best when you tell it exactly what you want: “Add error handling to the database module” beats “improve this project.”
Use the /compact command when conversations get long to summarize context and free up tokens.
For larger tasks, break them into steps. Ask Claude Code to plan first, then execute. You get better results than dumping a huge request in one go.