I’m not a software engineer. I’m a Technical Program Manager, which means I work around engineers every day — but I don’t usually write code myself. So when I decided to install Claude Code, Anthropic’s command-line AI tool, I expected it to be painful.
It kind of was. But in a fixable way. Here’s exactly what happened and how I got it working.
What Is Claude Code?
Claude Code is a command-line tool that lets you work with Claude (the AI) directly from your terminal. Instead of going back and forth in a chat window, you can ask Claude to write code, edit files, run commands, and build things — all without leaving your terminal.
Think of it as having an AI developer sitting next to you while you work.
My Setup
- MacBook (macOS)
- No prior experience with command-line tools beyond the basics
- Goal: use Claude Code to build and manage my side projects
Step 1: Installation
I followed the official instructions and ran the install command in Terminal. The installation itself went smoothly and ended with:
✅ Installation complete!
Great sign. Or so I thought.
Step 2: The Error That Stumped Me
After installation, I tried to run Claude Code:
claude
And got this:
zsh: command not found: claude
I tried again. Same error. I even tried claude claude (yes, I panicked a little). Still nothing.
What Was Actually Wrong
The installer placed the claude binary in ~/.local/bin/, but my terminal didn’t know to look there. This is a PATH issue — a very common problem that catches a lot of people off guard.
I confirmed the file was there:
ls ~/.local/bin/
# claude ✓
It existed. My terminal just couldn’t find it.
The Fix
Two steps:
1. Add the path to your shell config:
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
2. Reload your shell:
source ~/.zshrc
Then verify it works:
claude --version
# 2.1.177 (Claude Code)
That’s it. The tool was there the whole time — my terminal just needed to be told where to look.
Step 3: First Launch
Once the PATH was fixed, I ran:
claude
And was greeted with this:
Welcome to Claude Code v2.1.177
…and a tiny ASCII pig. 🐷
Where to Run Claude Code From
This is something I didn’t think about until after setup: it matters where in your file system you launch Claude Code from.
The best practice is to create a dedicated folder for your projects and launch Claude from inside the relevant project folder:
mkdir -p ~/Claude/my-project
cd ~/Claude/my-project
claude
Claude Code will create its own config files in that folder, so it remembers context for that project each time.
My Takeaway
The installation itself is straightforward. The only real hurdle is the PATH issue — and once you know what it is, it takes 30 seconds to fix.
If you hit command not found: claude after installation, don’t reinstall. Just run:
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc && source ~/.zshrc
That’s all it takes.
What’s Next
Now that Claude Code is running, I’m planning to use it for:
- Building and iterating on my side projects faster
- Managing blog-related automation
- Exploring what’s possible without being a full-stack developer
I’ll keep sharing what I learn here. If you’re a non-engineer curious about AI dev tools, stick around — I’m figuring this out alongside you.
Have questions or hit a different error? Drop a comment below. 👇
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