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Setting Up Claude Code

Claude Code is Anthropic's terminal-based AI agent. It reads your files, writes files, runs commands, and operates inside your workspace. This guide gets it running as the engine for your Personal Agentic OS.

Why Claude Code​

Claude Code is Anthropic's terminal agent. It reads your workspace, runs commands, writes files, and supports persistent instruction files (CLAUDE.md) that shape how it operates across sessions. It is one of several harnesses that work well for building a Personal Agentic OS. Others include OpenAI Codex, Hermes, OpenCode, and Cursor.

The tradeoff: Claude Code requires a paid Anthropic subscription (Claude Max at $100/mo or $200/mo, or API usage). If cost is a constraint, see Hermes Setup for a zero-cost open source alternative, or Codex Setup if you already have a ChatGPT subscription. All harnesses work with the same Personal Agentic OS folder structure. Your files are portable.

Prerequisites​

You need three things installed before Claude Code:

1. Node.js (version 18 or higher)

Download from nodejs.org and run the installer. Pick the LTS version. To verify:

node --version

If you see v18.x.x or higher, you are good.

2. Git

Download from git-scm.com and run the installer. To verify:

git --version

3. VS Code (recommended, not required)

Download from code.visualstudio.com. Claude Code runs in any terminal, but VS Code gives you a file explorer and terminal side by side, which makes it easy to see what your agent is doing.

Install Claude Code​

Option A: Native installer (recommended)

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

Option B: npm

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Do not use sudo with npm. If you get permission errors, install Node via nvm instead.

Verify it installed:

claude --version

On first launch, Claude Code will walk you through authenticating with your Anthropic account.

Set Up Your Workspace​

Clone the starter repo:

git clone https://github.com/Applied-AI-Society/minimum-viable-jarvis.git my-jarvis
cd my-jarvis

This gives you the standard folder structure:

my-jarvis/
  user/              # Your profile, voice, preferences
  people/            # One file per person in your life and business
  artifacts/         # Strategic documents, decision records, plans
  meeting-transcripts/  # Raw or processed conversation transcripts
  skills/            # SOPs for your agent (repeatable workflows)
  CLAUDE.md          # Instructions that tell Claude Code how to operate

The CLAUDE.md file is already configured. It tells Claude Code to act as your Jarvis: route brain dumps to the right folders, maintain cross-references between people and transcripts, and run the user profile interview on first session.

Open the workspace in VS Code:

code my-jarvis

First Session​

Open the terminal in VS Code (Ctrl+` or Cmd+` on Mac) and launch Claude Code:

claude

On your very first session, Claude Code will read the CLAUDE.md instructions and notice that user/USER.md does not exist. It will run the create-user-profile skill automatically: an interview that asks you about who you are, what you are building, your values, your current situation, and your 90-day vision. Answer honestly. This file becomes the foundation everything else builds on.

After the interview, your user/USER.md exists. Every future session starts with Claude Code reading that file plus everything else in your workspace. The more context you add over time, the more useful every session becomes.

Daily Usage​

The core loop is simple: talk to your Jarvis. Some examples of what to say:

Brain dump. "I just got off a call with Sarah. She is interested in partnering on the Austin event. She runs a design studio and has 15 years of experience. Her email is sarah@example.com." Claude Code will create or update a relationship file in people/sarah.md and link it to any relevant artifacts.

Strategic thinking. "I need to decide between two offers. Offer A is higher pay but a two-year commitment. Offer B is lower pay but I keep full ownership. Help me think through this." Claude Code will engage with your decision using context from your user profile, your principles, and your 90-day vision.

Process a transcript. Paste a meeting transcript (from Granola, Otter, or manual notes) and say "process this transcript." Claude Code will save it, extract participants, update relationship files, and surface action items.

Create a skill. "I keep doing the same thing every time I prepare for a meeting. Can we turn that into a skill?" Claude Code will help you write a skill file in skills/ that codifies the workflow so it runs the same way every time.

Useful Aliases​

Add these to your ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc for convenience:

# Launch Claude Code in dangerous mode (no approval prompts)
alias clauded="claude --dangerously-skip-permissions"

# Launch Claude Code in your Jarvis workspace from anywhere
alias jarvis="cd ~/my-jarvis && claude"

Use clauded when you trust the operations (brain dumps, file updates). Use claude when working with credentials or production systems.

Tips​

Voice input changes everything. Install Superwhisper (free, fully local) or Wispr Flow (~$10/mo). Hold a key, talk, release. The text appears wherever your cursor is, including the Claude Code terminal. Speaking is 3 to 5x faster than typing and keeps you in flow state instead of editing yourself mid-thought.

The system compounds. Day one is thin. At 30 days, your Jarvis knows your key relationships, your strategic context, and your communication patterns well enough to draft emails in your voice. At 90 days, it briefs you before every meeting with full relationship history. The compounding effect is the entire point. Feed it daily.

Your files are sovereign. Everything is plain markdown on your computer, version-controlled with Git. If Anthropic changes their pricing or a better harness appears, you take your files and walk. No export wizard. No migration headache. The Personal Agentic OS architecture is designed for this.

Push to GitHub. Initialize a private repo and push regularly. This gives you version history, backup, and the ability to access your workspace from multiple machines.

cd my-jarvis
git init
git add -A
git commit -m "Initial Jarvis setup"
gh repo create my-jarvis --private --push

Troubleshooting​

claude: command not found: Restart your terminal or run source ~/.zshrc. If still missing, check that npm's global bin directory is on your PATH: npm config get prefix should show a path, and {that path}/bin should be in your PATH.

Authentication issues: Run claude and follow the login prompts. You need an active Anthropic account with Claude Max or API access.

Old Node.js version: Claude Code requires Node 18+. Run node --version to check. If you need to upgrade, download the latest LTS from nodejs.org or use nvm install --lts.

Windows users: Claude Code works best in WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux). Install WSL2 first, then follow the Linux instructions inside your WSL terminal.

Further Reading​