Quickstart (5 minutes)

The goal here is a quick win: in five minutes you'll have Claude explain a real codebase and propose a change you can review before anything touches disk.

TIP

Not installed yet? Get the whole stack — Claude Code, Ghostty, and configs — in one command:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bogdanmatasaru/claude-code-guide/main/install.sh | bash

Sign in when prompted, then come back here. Prefer npm or Homebrew? See the installation guide.

1. Open a project

Pick any repo you already have — even a small one — and start a session in it:

cd /path/to/your/project
claude

You'll land on the welcome screen. Claude reads files on demand, so you don't need to add anything manually.

2. Ask it to explain the codebase

Type a plain-English question and press Enter:

what does this project do, and where is the main entry point?

Claude searches the files, then summarizes the project and points you at the entry point. Try a follow-up:

explain the folder structure

Win: you used Claude Code as a codebase guide — no setup, no manual file selection.

3. Switch to plan mode

Before asking for a change, press Shift+Tab until the footer shows plan mode. In plan mode Claude investigates and proposes an approach but makes no edits — perfect for your first change.

TIP

Shift+Tab cycles through three modes: default → acceptEdits → plan. Stop on plan for now. (There are six modes in all; these three are the everyday ones.)

4. Ask for a small change

Describe one concrete, low-risk change:

add a one-line docstring to the main entry function explaining what it does

Claude reads the relevant file and presents a plan with the exact edit it intends to make — but nothing is written yet.

5. Review the diff, then approve

Read the proposed change. When it looks right, approve it (Claude will then exit plan mode and apply the edit, showing you the diff). If it's off, just type what to fix instead.

Win: you reviewed an AI-proposed diff before it ran — the core safety habit that makes Claude Code trustworthy on real work.

What just happened

In five minutes you:

1. Started Claude in a real repo
2. Had it explain the codebase
3. Used plan mode to get a proposal without edits
4. Reviewed and approved a concrete change

That explore → plan → review loop scales from one-line docstrings to multi-file features. The only thing that changes is the size of the task.

IMPORTANT

Run /clear before starting an unrelated task. It resets Claude's working memory so the next task starts clean.

Next: Your first session

Source: Quickstart