Claude Setup and Billing

Requirements

macOS 13+, Windows 10 1809+/Server 2019+, Ubuntu 20.04+, Debian 10+, Alpine 3.19+ · 4 GB+ RAM, x64 or ARM64 · internet · Bash, Zsh, PowerShell or CMD · a supported country. A paid plan (Pro/Max/Team/Enterprise), Console account, or Bedrock/Vertex/Foundry; the free claude.ai plan has no Claude Code.

Windows: native Windows works with Git for Windows optional (without it, shell commands run through the PowerShell tool). Sandboxing needs WSL 2.
Alpine: install bash curl libgcc libstdc++ ripgrep and set USE_BUILTIN_RIPGREP=0.

Install & Launch

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash                # macOS / Linux / WSL (native, auto-updates)
irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex                        # Windows PowerShell
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.cmd -o install.cmd && install.cmd && del install.cmd   # Windows CMD
brew install --cask claude-code        # or claude-code@latest; Homebrew doesn't auto-update
winget install Anthropic.ClaudeCode    # no auto-update either
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code   # Node 22+; installs the same native binary
claude --version && cd my-project && claude
claude doctor      # read-only install/settings diagnostics (/doctor in a session runs a deeper checkup)
claude update      # manual update

Release channel: autoUpdatesChannel = latest (default) or stable (~1 week behind). Disable background updates with DISABLE_AUTOUPDATER=1; block all with DISABLE_UPDATES. Also apt/dnf/apk repos.

Authenticate

claude auth login or /login → choose:

Claude account (Pro/Max/Team/Enterprise)
Anthropic Console (API billing)
3rd party (Bedrock, Vertex, Foundry)

Command	Purpose
`/status`	Auth method, version, session, org, email
`claude auth status`	Same as JSON
`/logout`	Sign out
claude.ai/settings/claude-code	Revoke OAuth tokens

authMethod / apiKeySource in the JSON tell you whether you're on subscription, console key, or ANTHROPIC_API_KEY env var.

401 "OAuth token has expired" → run /login.
Auth conflict (token + API key both set) → /logout, then check env vars. Answer No to "use this custom API key?" unless intended.

API Key / Third-party

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...        # key from platform.claude.com
export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK=1           # also Vertex / Foundry
export AWS_BEARER_TOKEN_BEDROCK=...

Console API credits are bought under Console → Billing.

Plans

Plan	Price (USD, claude.com/pricing)	Notes
Pro	$20/mo ($17/mo billed annually at $200)	Claude Code, Projects, Claude in Chrome
Max 5x	from $100/mo, monthly only	5x Pro usage, higher output limits, priority access
Max 20x	higher tier than 5x; price not confirmed on the official page	20x Pro usage
Team Standard / Premium	$25 / $125 per seat monthly ($20 / $100 annual)	Premium = 5x Standard usage
Enterprise	$20/seat/mo, 20-seat minimum, plus API-rate usage	Admin controls, SCIM, audit logs

Euro prices aren't published on Anthropic's pricing page, so none are listed here; claude.ai/upgrade shows your local price and tax.
Claude Code draws from the same usage pool as chat on every paid plan.
Quotas reset every 5 hours (session) plus a weekly limit. All surfaces share it.
Usage credits / extra usage: pay-as-you-go beyond plan, with monthly spend limit and auto-reload. Turn on in Settings > Usage or /usage-credits. Required for /fast; Code Review is billed this way too.

Monitoring Usage & Cost

Tool	Shows
`/usage`	Session cost, plan limits, activity stats, what counts against your limits
`/cost`, `/stats`	Aliases of `/usage` (`/stats` opens its Stats tab: heatmap, streaks, favorite model)
`npx ccusage@latest`	Community report from local JSONL (daily tokens + USD)
Console → Analytics → Cost	Dashboard for API usage

Check /usage for your own numbers.

Limits

Usage limit = how much you can do per time window.
Length limit = context window; 1M by default on current models. See Claude Sessions and Context.