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Install Node & Git
Two quick installs. Node is the engine your website runs on — Claude Code doesn’t need it, but the site you’re about to build does. Git is your undo button and your backup, and on Windows Claude Code genuinely won’t work without it.
Node.js — the engine
Runs your website on your own computer so you can preview it before anyone else sees it.
Git — the undo button
Saves a snapshot of every version so anything can be rolled back — and on Windows, Claude Code needs it to work at all.
Install Node.js
- Go to
nodejs.org/en/download. - Near the top you’ll see a heading like Get Node.js® v24 LTS — the number changes over time, that’s fine. Make sure LTS is the selected option, not Current.
- Choose your computer (macOS or Windows), download the installer, and click Next/Continue through the defaults. When it finishes, you’re done — you’ll never open Node yourself; your website uses it in the background.
Install Git
- Windows: go to
git-scm.com/download/win, run the installer, and click Next through every screen (accept all defaults). - Mac: open Terminal, type
git --version; if it offers to install “command line developer tools,” click Install.
On Windows, once Git has finished installing, fully close and reopen the Claude app. Programs only notice newly-installed tools when they restart. (On Mac you can skip this.)
Node is what lets your website run on your computer so you can look at it before anyone else does. Git is what lets Claude save snapshots of your work — so you can experiment fearlessly, because anything can be undone. Both run quietly in the background; there’s nothing to “open.”
On Windows, if a security pop-up appears during install, click Yes / Allow — that’s expected for official installers.
Also on Windows: if the Code tab won’t start a session on your own computer, Git either isn’t installed yet or the app can’t see it. Install it, then close and reopen the Claude app.
More learning resources
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