💭 in your head · nothing to type
Your machine right now is base camp before the climb. Some gear is already in the pack; some isn't there yet.
Don't picture this as "installed software." Picture a mountaineer crouched at the tent, pulling out carabiners, rope, crampons — checking each item in silence: present / missing / needs replacing.
Run that image in your head: you're at the pack, lifting things out one by one. What's already there? What haven't you spotted yet? What might fail you mid-route?
💭 in your head · nothing to type
Return to the base camp and backpack. Checking the environment is a calm gear check before the route.
Which item in the backpack will you inspect first?
Think of it as unboxing. You've already picked your box — Mac or Windows (the 🍎/🪟 toggle at the top of the page). This unit opens it: we lay out the toolset and check each piece — what's already included, and what to install.
The minimal stack for Claude Code:
| Tool | Why | Check |
|---|---|---|
| Node.js 22+ | Needed for the fallback npm installation; Claude Code's native installer does not require Node.js | node --version |
| Git | Code versioning, commits, rolling back changes | git --version |
| Terminal | Where everything happens | Working? |
| Claude Code | The main agent — we install it in the next unit | — |
If there's an error — whichever tool isn't found is the one you need to install.