Claude Code is an agentic command-line tool from Anthropic that lets you build software by talking to Claude in your terminal. Instead of copy-pasting snippets from a chat window, you give Claude a goal and it reads your files, plans changes, edits code across your project, runs commands, and checks its own work.
How it's different from a chatbot
A chatbot answers questions. An agent acts. Claude Code can:
- Read and search your entire codebase for context
- Edit multiple files to implement a feature
- Run tests and shell commands, then react to the output
- Use external tools through MCP (databases, GitHub, browsers)
You stay in control — it shows diffs and asks before doing anything risky — but the heavy lifting is automated.
Installing Claude Code
You'll need Node.js. Then install the CLI globally and run it in any project:
npm i -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
claude
From there you just describe what you want: "add JWT rotation to the auth middleware" or "find and fix the failing test." Claude figures out the steps.
First things to try
- Ask it to explain an unfamiliar part of your codebase.
- Have it write tests for a file you already have.
- Give it a small, well-scoped feature and watch how it plans.
Small, specific requests work best — the same as briefing a junior developer.
Making the most of wait time
On longer tasks, Claude Code works while you wait — and that idle time adds up. One way to use it: aicash shows a single contextual text ad in your Claude Code status line during wait time and pays you a 70% revenue share. It installs in three lines (npm i -g aicash && aicash install && aicash login), never slows the CLI, and keeps your API keys on your machine.
Where to go next
Once you're comfortable, explore MCP servers, the VS Code extension, and a custom status line. Claude Code rewards developers who learn to delegate well — start with small tasks, review its diffs, and expand from there. Learn more about the aicash workflow.