How to set up Claude Code

The no bullshit setup guide. Zero to building in under ten minutes if you follow it top to bottom.

Step 1: Set up your account

Create an account at claude.ai, grab a Pro membership, and download the Claude Code desktop app.

Step 2: Open and sign in

Launch the desktop app, sign in, and go to Code.

Step 3: Install your plugins

Three plugins cover most build work: Superpowers for workflows, UI/UX Pro Max for design, and Karpathy's Guidelines so the code stays clean and not over engineered. Paste these into Claude Code one line at a time.

# Superpowers (official marketplace)
/plugin install superpowers@claude-plugins-official

# UI/UX Pro Max
/plugin marketplace add cuteribs/vibe-marketplace
/plugin install ui-ux-pro-max@vibe-marketplace

# Karpathy's Guidelines
/plugin marketplace add forrestchang/andrej-karpathy-skills
/plugin install andrej-karpathy-skills@karpathy-skills

Run the marketplace add lines once per machine. If a trust prompt pops up, approve it before installing.

Step 4: Create your project

Make a new folder and open it in Claude Code.

Step 5: Build your CLAUDE.md

Describe your app or website idea to Claude. Let it ask a few questions to sharpen the idea, then have it write a CLAUDE.md into your folder. Claude reads that file every session, so everything it needs to know about your project goes in there.

Step 6: Start building

Once the idea is locked in, tell Claude to go.

Need 1-on-1 help setting this up, or building any idea? Click the link in my bio and follow along for more.