1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,800 And so let me tell you about the phenomenon that is Claude Code. It all started in late 2024 2 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:13,920 when Boris Cherny, an engineer at Anthropic, did a side project that originally called Claude CLI 3 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:21,920 just to sort of drive coding with Claude in an agent loop and it kind of took off from there. 4 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:27,520 Anthropic released it generally in April. I think it was available to most people in February 5 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:33,680 of 25 and it was considered, it was the first time that one of these CLI tools came out there 6 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:38,880 and really took hold. There are so many of these now but Claude Code was where it began in April 7 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:46,240 2025 and in September 2025, I mean obviously during 2025, it then took off massively. 8 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:52,000 September brought V2 which brought this whole robust ecosystem. Many of these features had 9 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:57,360 been rolled out over the course of the preceding months but they sort of matured in V2. It was 10 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:03,759 checkpointing, sub-agents, hooks, skills, background tasks. There's also a Claude Code SDK that lets you 11 00:01:03,759 --> 00:01:08,400 write code to use the kind of Claude Code ecosystem. It's not the same as one of the 12 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:13,760 agent frameworks like OpenAI Agents SDK which is just for building your own agents. The Claude Code 13 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:20,000 SDK is for working within the Claude Code ecosystem. Now at this time, the best model on the planet 14 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:26,480 from Anthropic was Claude Sonnet 4.5 which was one of the best models in the world but it was 15 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:33,120 certainly up there in the top few. It was great but there were certainly rough edges and 16 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:41,040 in November, Anthropic released Opus 4.5, their strongest model and many people see this as an 17 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:48,080 inflection point in agentic coding generally. Opus 4.5 changed the game and coming after that, 18 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:56,000 Gemini 3 Pro, Google's top model seen in the similar camp and Codex 5.2, 19 00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:02,559 GPT 5.2 Codex from OpenAI that we've been working with is also at that tier but Opus was the first 20 00:02:02,559 --> 00:02:08,720 one, Opus 4.5, the first one that had people sitting back and saying something has changed. 21 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:15,759 We've reached a point where suddenly LLM coding agents are so much more reliable that we can 22 00:02:15,759 --> 00:02:21,360 really trust them to do a lot of code and not be having to check all the diffs and that's a big 23 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:29,360 deal. At about the same point, Anthropic passed a billion dollars of run rate revenue, ARR, 24 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:36,160 with Claude Code which was quite a milestone and then as of January, Anthropic released 25 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:43,199 Cowork which is like taking Claude Code beyond coding. The same idea but now for other things 26 00:02:43,279 --> 00:02:47,360 and of course we won't be covering that in this course because we're all about coding but for sure 27 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:51,679 you can look at it and at the moment there's a lot of hype around something called OpenClaude 28 00:02:51,679 --> 00:02:58,800 which is like a sort of open source version of it also to be used just generally for co-working 29 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:06,080 in your life. So lots of other related stuff. Anthropic also investing heavily in labs which is 30 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:11,759 also looking at more groundbreaking ways to use Claude Code. So tons and tons going on. 31 00:03:11,759 --> 00:03:17,199 There's probably been lots of great big things happening super recently after I record this video 32 00:03:17,199 --> 00:03:22,320 and I'll try and put things in the resources but I do urge you as well to not get too caught up in 33 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:27,919 the hype. The things that are really powerful and compelling are the things that tend to to live for 34 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:32,720 a few months and if you get caught up in all of the excitement of the week it can feel overwhelming. 35 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:38,479 Claude Code has been around for enough time for us to know it's here to stay, it's really powerful 36 00:03:38,479 --> 00:03:42,240 and a big part of this journey as well has been the journey of MCP which is somewhat 37 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:48,399 aligned with this. It kind of came out in late 2024, it took hold, it's now got 100 million 38 00:03:48,399 --> 00:03:54,399 downloads a month. It's just huge and of course MCP is a big part of the Claude Code ecosystem 39 00:03:54,399 --> 00:03:59,759 as well that we will be covering. Okay the time has come for us to install Claude Code and find 40 00:03:59,759 --> 00:04:05,600 out what all the fuss is about. Now I will say that Claude Code of course the Claude platform 41 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:13,279 comes with a subscription price. It's another of these $20 a months and it's optional for you. 42 00:04:13,279 --> 00:04:19,519 You cannot pay anything and later today I will show you how to work with free models or very 43 00:04:19,519 --> 00:04:25,040 cheap models through Claude Code but it's not what I recommend. The experience will not be as good as 44 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:29,200 for people that are willing to pay and I think if there's anything that you want to invest in for 45 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:34,000 this course I would suggest that an Anthropic subscription might be the thing. Remember again 46 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:38,799 how much cheaper it is than buying a laptop or something like that and you're getting so much 47 00:04:38,799 --> 00:04:43,440 power and capability but it's a personal choice. You should only do it if you're happy with it 48 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:48,000 and there are plenty of other ways to do it without paying a penny. So you should you should 49 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:53,679 choose you go with start free and choose whether or not to use a paid model later if you wish but 50 00:04:53,679 --> 00:04:58,720 let's go and get everything set up right now. Okay so I've gone to a browser and I've gone to 51 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:07,200 Claude.ai. Claude.ai. Here it is. This is the front door to talk to Anthropics. Claude. 52 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:11,440 And as with many of these AIs there are two different ways to think about pricing. Two 53 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:16,799 different products. There is the API for making repeated calls for building your own products. 54 00:05:16,799 --> 00:05:22,000 That's what we used with OpenRuta last week and there's also the consumer subscription 55 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:28,239 product for a user and in this context we are being a user so that is the kind of plan that 56 00:05:28,239 --> 00:05:32,480 we're thinking about. And there's a pricing menu here that will tell you more about those pricing 57 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:38,480 plans. There is a free tier for just chatting with Claude like ChatGPT. We're not going to be using 58 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:46,640 that. There is a pro tier which is $20 a month if billed monthly or local equivalent and this 59 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:52,799 allows you to access Claude code on the web and in your terminal which is what we're going to do. 60 00:05:52,799 --> 00:06:00,640 And there is also Max which has a $100 a month and a $200 a month plan and I'll have you know 61 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:06,480 I am spending the $200 a month plan because I'm crazy but I use it all the time. I use it all the 62 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:12,160 time and I have no doubt whatsoever that I'm getting value from that $200 a month. 63 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:19,359 Unbelievable value. So I'm not obviously a salesperson for Anthropic but I can tell you I 64 00:06:19,359 --> 00:06:25,519 am a happy customer. Occasionally a very angry customer with Claude but most of the time very 65 00:06:25,519 --> 00:06:31,679 happy customer. Okay so I would certainly suggest that you consider this. As I say you don't need 66 00:06:31,679 --> 00:06:35,600 to. I will give you free alternatives later but for now I'm going to assume that you either already 67 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:40,160 have or you are now signing up to have a pro subscription. When you do that you would press 68 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:45,440 try Claude. It will take you through to its screens and you would then sign in you know 69 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:50,559 with your Google credentials or with email and go through the usual sign up process to have a 70 00:06:50,559 --> 00:06:57,519 Claude account. Then it's time to install Claude Code. So now you go to code.claude.com and that 71 00:06:57,519 --> 00:07:04,399 redirects you to the Claude Code website. Here it is and getting Claude Code installed on your 72 00:07:04,399 --> 00:07:09,279 computer is really very simple. It's just using this one line of code that will appear here that 73 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:14,239 it will generate the right line of code for your system but or as it says if you want if you want 74 00:07:14,239 --> 00:07:19,839 the proper documentation you click here and this has the details. It knows that I'm on a Mac so 75 00:07:19,839 --> 00:07:25,040 it's showing me this first and foremost. This is the command for Windows. You copy it to your 76 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:30,959 clipboard like here or there's another Windows approach as well and then you can paste that as 77 00:07:30,959 --> 00:07:34,959 we will in just a second. We're going to take it over. We're going to use the terminal in VS Code. 78 00:07:34,959 --> 00:07:39,839 Why not? And we're going to use that to install Claude Code. So I'm going to copy the Mac OS one 79 00:07:39,839 --> 00:07:46,320 right now and now I'm going to open up VS Code and see you there. So here we are in VS Code. If 80 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:50,399 you've got other windows open here like various agent chats then close them down. You're going to 81 00:07:50,399 --> 00:07:54,640 file new window if you're not seeing something a bit like this and now I'm going to bring up a 82 00:07:54,640 --> 00:08:00,320 terminal which remember is control and backtick. I think it's also control and J on a PC and command 83 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:06,399 J on a Mac. Yes it is. Command J on a Mac. Control J on a PC brings up the terminal or control and 84 00:08:06,399 --> 00:08:14,160 the backtick thing there or just a view terminal. Okay and then paste. I'm going to paste in the 85 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:20,160 command that I copied from elsewhere from Claude's page and I press enter and it's now going to 86 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:25,920 install Claude Code on my computer. Well it thinks that one through. If you're on a PC and you get a 87 00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:31,519 bunch of permissions errors but you're not authorized to run scripts simply google that or 88 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:37,599 ask ChatGPT. It will tell you about the absolutely standard instructions you need to run on your PC 89 00:08:37,599 --> 00:08:43,280 so that you have permissions to run scripts like this. Very ordinary thing to do. Okay I ran it, 90 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:48,320 set it up, it's successfully installed. I'm on version 2.1.29. You may well be on a much more 91 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:54,559 recent version than that and let me know if there's anything new that you want to have be shown here. 92 00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:58,479 At the very least I will add it to the course resources to make sure there's lots of good 93 00:08:58,479 --> 00:09:04,000 information about tips and tricks from recent versions but the core stuff should all be here. 94 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:08,320 Everything we're going to cover. We are ready to use Claude Code. We are also going to do something 95 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:16,000 extra which is install the Claude Code extension for VS Code and I'm going to explain this and 96 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:22,239 navigate it in just a second but first up please open the extensions window which is view extensions 97 00:09:22,239 --> 00:09:29,280 or it's ctrl shift x on a pc command shift x on a mac and you can see Claude Code is already 98 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:35,599 installed for me but if you search for Claude Code it should come up as the top extension. 99 00:09:35,599 --> 00:09:41,200 Claude Code for VS Code it's from Anthropic. Tick means it's verified. I have almost 4 million 100 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:46,880 downloads. You probably have more and you would want to press the install button to install this 101 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:51,919 extension so that you have the Claude Code extension for VS Code and now this is a little 102 00:09:51,919 --> 00:09:57,599 bit confusing but let me just explain that when you're now in VS Code using Claude Code there are 103 00:09:57,599 --> 00:10:04,159 two different ways that you can do things. One of those ways is going to be to use the extension, 104 00:10:04,159 --> 00:10:08,719 the Claude Code extension and and you do that by pressing the little Claude button that's 105 00:10:08,719 --> 00:10:12,559 appeared up here. You see that right next to the codex button that we had before. 106 00:10:12,559 --> 00:10:17,760 There's too many sidebars. You press that and you get this thing appearing and it's like one of 107 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:24,000 these sidebar. Let me get rid of the terminal here. This is Claude Code appearing here in a sidebar 108 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:30,559 but there's a different way to do it which is not to use this sidebar but rather to be in a terminal 109 00:10:30,559 --> 00:10:36,960 and to run it from within the terminal in VS Code and that is what we are going to be doing this 110 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:43,119 week and you may wonder why. They're very similar, very similar experiences. The one that is using 111 00:10:43,119 --> 00:10:49,919 the sidebar over here is more baked into the platform, into VS Code. It's more built in, 112 00:10:49,919 --> 00:10:56,000 it's a bit more like using something like the codex sidebar as well. It's more of an agent 113 00:10:56,000 --> 00:11:02,799 chat and so it's more sort of it controls VS Code a bit better and so in some ways that's better 114 00:11:02,799 --> 00:11:08,479 but it's a slightly more constrained version of the product. You don't have all the pro features. 115 00:11:08,479 --> 00:11:14,239 It's a little bit more packaged for more of a novice user and we're not novice users anymore. 116 00:11:14,239 --> 00:11:19,039 This is what we would have used last week in week one when we liked sidebars and agent chats like 117 00:11:19,039 --> 00:11:23,520 that but we're pros now. We're going to be vibe engineers by the end of this week so we want to 118 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:28,000 work directly in the terminal. It's convenient to use this terminal here because then we'll have the 119 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:33,039 file explorer, we'll have the other VS Code tooling around us and it's aware that it's being used in 120 00:11:33,039 --> 00:11:38,400 VS Code so it still has some control over the other panes but that way we get to use the full 121 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:44,559 featured Claude code. So again a bit confusing, you can use it as the terminal CLI app within 122 00:11:44,559 --> 00:11:49,039 the VS Code terminal or in the sidebar. We're going to be doing the terminal.