Install the tools: terminal, Node.js, Git, VS Code and Docker Desktop

This is the lesson people skip half of and then pay for in Lesson 8. Do every step. Each one ends with a command that proves it worked, so you never wonder later whether the problem is your install or your app.

Do the steps in order. Some of them need a restart. Close everything else first.

Step 1: Open the terminal

Mac. Press Cmd + Space, type Terminal, press Enter. A plain window opens with a blinking cursor. That is it. Pin it to your Dock; you will be opening it a lot.

Windows. Press the Windows key, type PowerShell, and click Windows PowerShell (not the ISE version). You should see a blue or black window with a prompt that starts with PS C:\. The PS matters: it tells you that you are in PowerShell, which is what every Windows command in this course expects.

Type this in either and press Enter:

echo hello

It should print hello back at you. You now know how to run a command and read the result. That is the whole skill.

Step 2: Install Node.js

Node.js runs JavaScript on your laptop. Next.js needs it.

1. Go to nodejs.org.
2. Download the version labeled LTS. Do not pick “Current.”
3. Run the installer. Accept every default.
4. Close your terminal window and open a new one. Installers change settings that only a fresh terminal picks up. This is true for every install in this lesson.

Prove it:

node --version

You should see v22.x.x or v24.x.x. Anything below 22 means you downloaded the wrong thing; go back and get LTS. Also check the package installer that came with it:

npm --version

Any number is fine.

Windows: “npm.ps1 cannot be loaded because running scripts is disabled on this system.” PowerShell blocks scripts by default on a fresh laptop, and npm is one. Run this once, answer Y, then close PowerShell and open it again:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

It does not need admin rights and only affects your user.

Step 3: Install Git

Git is the save-point system. Claude Code uses it constantly.

Mac. In your terminal, type:

git --version

If a version prints, you already have it. If instead a dialog offers to install “command line developer tools,” click Install, wait (it can take ten minutes), then run the command again.

Windows. Go to git-scm.com/install/windows, download the 64-bit installer, and run it. It asks many questions. Accept every default. The one that matters is “Git from the command line and also from 3rd-party software,” which is the default. Close PowerShell, open it again, and run:

git --version

One more step, both platforms. Git wants to know who you are, so it can label your snapshots. Use your real name and email; they go in the history of your own project and nowhere else for now.

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"

Nothing prints when this works. That is normal for Git.

Step 4: Install VS Code

VS Code is a free program for looking at files. You will not write code in it. You will use it to see what Claude Code did, and occasionally to open a file and read it. Optional in theory, strongly recommended in practice.

1. Go to code.visualstudio.com and download it.
2. Mac: drag it into Applications. Open it once so macOS stops complaining.
3. Windows: run the installer. Tick “Add to PATH” if it is offered. Accept the rest.

That is all for now. You will open your project in it in Lesson 6.

Step 5: Install Docker Desktop

Docker runs the database in a sealed box on your laptop. This is the install that most often needs a restart, so do it last.

1. Go to docker.com/products/docker-desktop.
2. Mac: pick the download for your chip. Click the Apple menu, then About This Mac. If it says “Apple M1”, “M2”, “M3” or similar, download Apple Silicon. If it says “Intel,” download Intel. Drag Docker into Applications, open it, and let it finish its first-run setup.
3. Windows: download the installer and run it. Leave “Use WSL 2 instead of Hyper-V” checked. It may tell you to restart. Restart. After the restart, Docker Desktop opens on its own and may take a minute to say it is running.
4. Docker asks you to sign in or create an account. You can skip this for local use; sign-in is optional and the skip option is usually a small link on the sign-in screen.

Docker Desktop has to be open and running whenever you want the database to run. If you close it, your database stops. Leave it in your Dock or system tray.

Prove it. Open a new terminal window and run:

docker --version

Then this, which starts a tiny test box, prints a message, and removes it:

docker run --rm hello-world

You should see a paragraph that starts with “Hello from Docker!” If you do, Docker works. Also check the part we actually use:

docker compose version

It should print a version number.

Step 6: Make a home for your projects

Everything you build in this course lives in one folder, so you always know where it is.

Mac:

mkdir -p ~/projects

Windows:

mkdir ~/projects

If Windows says the folder already exists, that is fine.

mkdir makes a folder. ~ means your home folder (the one with Desktop and Documents in it; on Windows that is C:\Users\yourname). From now on, whenever a lesson says “go to your projects folder,” you type:

cd ~/projects

cd means “change directory,” which is the terminal’s way of saying “go into this folder.”

Check your work

Open a new terminal window and run each of these. Every one should print a version number, not an error:

node --version
npm --version
git --version
docker --version
docker compose version

Then:

• Docker Desktop is open and its icon does not say “starting.”
• VS Code opens.
• cd ~/projects works without an error.

If something went wrong

“command not found” or “is not recognized.” Nine times out of ten you are in a terminal window that was open before the install. Close every terminal window and open a fresh one. If it still fails, run the installer again; on Windows, make sure the “add to PATH” option was ticked.

Windows: “running scripts is disabled on this system.” See the note under Step 2. One command, once.

Docker says it needs WSL 2, or virtualization is disabled. On Windows, Docker needs a Windows feature called WSL 2. The Docker installer usually turns it on and asks for a restart. If it still complains after the restart, open PowerShell as administrator (right-click, “Run as administrator”) and run wsl --install, then restart again. If your laptop says virtualization is disabled, it is a setting in the computer’s firmware (BIOS), and this is a good moment for Habit 3: ask a person.

Docker’s hello-world hangs or says “Cannot connect to the Docker daemon.” Docker Desktop is not running yet. Open it, wait until the whale icon stops animating, and try again.

Mac says the app “cannot be opened because it is from an unidentified developer.” Right-click the app, choose Open, and confirm. You only need to do this once per app.

Company laptop blocks an install. Stop here and ask whoever manages it. There is no workaround worth the trouble.

Next

Lesson 3 installs Claude Code and gets you logged in. It is short.