In this article
- Why the official way specifically?
- What do you need before installing?
- How much does Claude Code cost?
- How do you install Claude Code step by step?
- On Mac, Linux or WSL
- On Windows
- With Homebrew or WinGet
- How do you sign in with your account?
- How do you check the installation is sound?
- What is the Claude Code Setup plugin?
- How do you install and use the Claude Code Setup plugin?
- What are the most common install errors and their fixes?
To use Claude Code the official way you need three steps: a paid plan, because the free plan does not include it, the cheapest being Pro at 20 dollars a month or 17 dollars with annual billing; then the official install command from claude.ai for your system; then signing in through your browser on first launch. Saudi Arabia is on Anthropic's list of supported regions, so you need no middleman and no borrowed account. After that, install the Claude Code Setup plugin from the official marketplace so it reads your project and recommends the right setup for it, without changing a single file.
Why the official way specifically?
Anthropic's Supported Regions Policy says its products, including the web apps, Claude Code and the API, are available only in the listed countries, and Saudi Arabia is listed together with the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. The same policy treats use from an unlisted country as unsupported, even when the account belongs to a supported entity. If you are in the Kingdom and use your own account, you are on the right path, and there is no reason for workarounds that can get the account suspended.
There is a second reason: the official installer updates the tool automatically in the background, so security fixes reach you as they ship. Plugins, on the other hand, can run automatic commands and external connection servers on your machine, so the official documentation advises reading a plugin's details before installing it, and the safest place to start is Anthropic's official marketplace.
What do you need before installing?
According to the official setup page, these are the requirements:
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Operating system | macOS 13.0 or later, Windows 10 version 1809 or later, Windows Server 2019, or Ubuntu 20.04, Debian 10 or Alpine 3.19 and later |
| Hardware | At least 4 GB of RAM and an x64 or ARM64 processor |
| Network | A working internet connection |
| Shell | Bash, Zsh, PowerShell or CMD |
| Account | Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise or a Console account |
How much does Claude Code cost?
The tool itself is free to download, but running it needs a paid account. These are the plans as shown on the official pricing page:
| Plan | Price | Includes Claude Code? |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | No |
| Pro | 20 dollars a month, or 17 dollars a month with annual billing (200 dollars up front) | Yes |
| Max | From 100 dollars a month, with five or twenty times the usage of Pro | Yes |
| Team and Enterprise | Per seat, with central admin and billing | Yes |
For an individual, Pro is enough to start. For a company, the authentication guide recommends Team or Enterprise, because it brings billing and permissions into one dashboard and lets you enforce the same settings for every developer.
How do you install Claude Code step by step?
Open a terminal and paste the command for your system. The commands below are copied verbatim from the official documentation, and none of them needs administrator rights.
On Mac, Linux or WSL
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bashOn Windows
In PowerShell, which you recognise by the PS before the path:
irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iexAnd in CMD:
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.cmd -o install.cmd && install.cmd && del install.cmdThe documentation recommends installing Git for Windows so the tool can run Bash commands; without it, it works through PowerShell.
With Homebrew or WinGet
You can also install with brew install --cask claude-code on Mac, or winget install Anthropic.ClaudeCode on Windows. Note that these two methods do not update the tool automatically, so you run the upgrade command yourself, and that the stable Homebrew version usually trails the latest release by about a week.
The installer shows no progress bar while it downloads, so do not worry if it looks stuck. When it finishes, open a new terminal window before the next step.
How do you sign in with your account?
- Go to your project folder in the terminal and type
claude. - The tool opens a browser window to sign in with your claude.ai account. If it does not open, press c to copy the link and paste it into your browser.
- If the browser shows a code instead of redirecting back, paste it into the terminal at the Paste code here if prompted line. This usually happens inside WSL2, SSH sessions or containers.
- When Login successful appears, press Enter and start working.
To sign out, type /logout inside the session. If you have a work account and a personal one, the official way is to give each account its own settings folder through the CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR variable, like this alias:
alias claude-work='CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=~/.claude-work claude'How do you check the installation is sound?
claude --version
claude doctorThe first command prints the version number, such as 2.1.211, and the second checks the installation and settings files without starting a session, and shows any warning with its fix.
What is the Claude Code Setup plugin?
Claude Code Setup is an official Anthropic plugin in the plugin marketplace that analyses your project and recommends the automations that suit it. It reads files such as package.json, the folder structure and the programming language, then shows the best one or two suggestions in each of five categories, as its official repository explains:
| Category | What it does | Example from the plugin |
|---|---|---|
| MCP servers | Connect the tool to external services | context7 for documentation, Playwright for frontend testing |
| Skills | Packaged expertise loaded when needed | The planning and frontend design skills |
| Hooks | Automatic actions on every edit | Auto-format code, block sensitive files |
| Subagents | Specialised reviewers | Security, performance and accessibility review |
| Slash commands | Shortcuts for repeated tasks | /test, /pr-review and /explain |
Most importantly, it is read-only: it suggests and changes nothing in your files, so the decision stays with you. If you ask about one category specifically, it expands to three to five options.
How do you install and use the Claude Code Setup plugin?
- Run
claudeinside your project, then type:
/plugin install claude-code-setup@claude-plugins-official- The plugin's details panel opens: what it will add, when it was last updated, and how much context it uses. Read it before you agree.
- Choose the install scope: for you in all your projects, for everyone who works on this repository, or for you in this repository only.
- After installing, type a request such as: recommend automations for this project, or ask: what hooks should I use?
The official plugins page explains that the plugin may need a reload with /reload-plugins if the install summary asks for one.
What are the most common install errors and their fixes?
- claude not found: the install folder is not on your PATH yet. Open a new terminal window, and if it persists, see the PATH fix section in the documentation.
- The token '&&' is not a valid statement separator: you are in PowerShell using the CMD command, so use the PowerShell command.
- 'irm' is not recognized: the reverse, you are in CMD using the PowerShell command.
- Free plan: signing in with a free account is not enough, because Claude Code is not included in it.
- Old version: if you installed with Homebrew or WinGet, upgrade by hand with
brew upgrade claude-codeorwinget upgrade Anthropic.ClaudeCode.
And if you do not like the command line at all, the official desktop app gives you Claude Code with a graphical interface on Mac, Windows and Linux. We covered the latest additions to the tool in What's new in Claude Code, August 2026.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
Is Claude Code free?
Downloading the tool is free, but running it needs a Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise plan or a Console account. The free claude.ai plan does not include it.
Does Claude Code work in Saudi Arabia?
Yes. Saudi Arabia is listed in Anthropic's Supported Regions Policy, so you can subscribe and use it directly with your own account.
What is the easiest way to install Claude Code?
The official one-command installer from claude.ai: the curl command on Mac and Linux, and the irm command in PowerShell on Windows. It also updates the tool automatically.
Does the Claude Code Setup plugin change my project files?
No. The plugin is read-only: it analyses the project and suggests MCP servers, skills, hooks, subagents and commands, and acting on them is your decision.
How do I install the Claude Code Setup plugin?
Inside a Claude Code session type /plugin install claude-code-setup@claude-plugins-official, then review the details and choose the install scope.
How do I know the installation worked?
Run claude --version to print the version number, then claude doctor to check the installation and settings without starting a session.
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