What is Claude Code?

If you have used Claude in a browser, you have used a chat: you type, it answers. Claude Code works differently. The Anthropic Claude Code docs describe Claude Code as an agentic coding tool that reads your codebase, edits files, runs commands, and integrates with your development tools. In practice, you tell it a goal, it makes a plan, takes actions on your computer, and shows you what it did.

Where it runs

The Anthropic Claude Code docs say Claude Code runs on several surfaces: the terminal, IDE extensions, a desktop app, and the web. It lists several surfaces, all connected to the same underlying engine:

• Terminal: the full command-line version.
• IDE extensions: for VS Code and JetBrains editors.
• Desktop app: a standalone app where you can review diffs visually, run multiple sessions side by side, schedule recurring tasks, and start cloud sessions.
• Web: in the browser, without local setup.

Most surfaces require a Claude subscription or Anthropic Console account.

What it does

The documentation lists things like building features, fixing bugs and running scripts. It says Claude Code works directly with git: it stages changes, writes commit messages, creates branches, and opens pull requests. For repeating work, you can run Claude on a schedule, for example morning PR reviews or overnight CI failure analysis. It also supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP), and with MCP, Claude Code can read your design docs in Google Drive, update tickets in Jira, pull data from Slack, or use your own custom tooling. See what MCP is.

You can also give it a file called CLAUDE.md. Anthropic describes it as a markdown file you add to your project root that Claude Code reads at the start of every session, which makes it a place to store your standing instructions. For a non-developer, that is the equivalent of telling a new assistant how you like things done.

Why non-programmers care

Anything that can be described as “look at these files, transform them, and produce this output” is fair game, even when it has nothing to do with software:

• Turn a folder of exported CSVs into a formatted weekly report.
• Rename and sort hundreds of documents by their contents.
• Build a small tool that pulls numbers from a spreadsheet into a summary.
• Draft replies to an exported batch of emails.

You describe the result in plain English; Claude Code writes and runs the code needed. Our guide for non-programmers walks through a first session, and this Q&A covers the practicalities.

Cost

Anthropic’s Claude Help Center explains how the plans work with Claude Code. The Claude Help Center says Pro, Max, and Ultra plans give you Claude on the web, desktop, and mobile apps and Claude Code in your terminal with one unified subscription. The Claude Help Center says IDE usage counts toward the same usage limits shared across Claude and Claude Code. The Claude Help Center says Pro and Max plans have a five-hour session limit and a weekly limit. Check Anthropic’s pricing page for current prices.

Cautions

Because it acts on your files, use it carefully:

1. Work in a copy or a dedicated folder.
2. Read what it proposes before approving actions.
3. Do not point it at data you are not allowed to process with an AI service. Anthropic’s Privacy Center covers both cases. The Anthropic Privacy Center says Anthropic may use your chats and coding sessions from Claude Free, Pro, and Max accounts, including Claude Code use, to improve Claude if you choose to allow it. The Anthropic Privacy Center says that by default Anthropic will not use inputs or outputs from commercial products such as Claude for Work and the Anthropic API to train its models. See whether Claude trains on your data.

How it compares

Codex from OpenAI is a similar kind of tool; see Claude Code vs Codex.

Learn AI Fast uses Claude Code as a core tool. Attendees bring their own account; we send setup instructions.

Sources

• Anthropic, Claude Code overview: “Claude Code is an agentic coding tool that reads your codebase, edits files, runs commands, and integrates with your development tools”
• Anthropic, Claude Code overview: “Claude Code runs on several surfaces: the terminal, IDE extensions, a desktop app, and the web”
• Anthropic, Claude Code overview: “Review diffs visually, run multiple sessions side by side, schedule recurring tasks, and start cloud sessions”
• Anthropic, Claude Code overview: “Most surfaces require a Claude subscription or Anthropic Console account”
• Anthropic, Claude Code overview: “It stages changes, writes commit messages, creates branches, and opens pull requests”
• Anthropic, Claude Code overview: “Run Claude on a schedule to automate work that repeats”
• Anthropic, Claude Code overview: “Claude Code can read your design docs in Google Drive, update tickets in Jira, pull data from Slack”
• Anthropic, Claude Code overview: “is a markdown file you add to your project root that Claude Code reads at the start of every session”
• Claude Help Center, Use Claude Code with your Pro, Max, or Ultra plan: “you now have access to both Claude on the web, desktop, and mobile apps and Claude Code in your terminal with one unified subscription”
• Claude Help Center, Use Claude Code with your Pro, Max, or Ultra plan: “IDE usage counts toward the same usage limits shared across Claude and Claude Code”
• Claude Help Center, Use Claude Code with your Pro, Max, or Ultra plan: “Pro and Max plans have a five-hour session limit and a weekly limit”
• Anthropic Privacy Center, Is my data used for model training? (consumer): “You choose to allow us to use your chats and coding sessions to improve Claude”
• Anthropic Privacy Center, Is my data used for model training? (commercial): “By default, we will not use your inputs or outputs from our commercial products”