Setup Guide

Get Started with Claude Code

A step-by-step guide for Mac and Windows. No coding experience required. You will be running in under 10 minutes.

What is this?

Claude Code is an AI that lives on your computer

It runs in your Terminal (Mac) or PowerShell (Windows). It reads, writes, and manages files directly on your machine. It connects to your business tools. It remembers your business across sessions.

💡

You do not need to be a developer to use Claude Code. You type commands in plain English. It does the work.

Before you start

Prerequisites

You need two things before installing Claude Code.

Claude Account

A paid Claude plan. Sign up at claude.ai

Pro $20/mo or Max $100/mo

GitHub Account

Free account at github.com. Needed for plugin installation.

Free

⚠️

Windows users: You also need Git for Windows installed. Download and install it before proceeding.

Step-by-step

Installation

Select your operating system and follow the steps.

RECOMMENDED

If you prefer a visual interface over the terminal, use the Claude Desktop App. Same functionality, friendlier experience.

Download the Claude Desktop App

Go to claude.ai/download and download the app for your Mac or Windows computer.

Open the app and sign in with your Claude account (Pro or Max plan required).

Install GitHub CLI (one-time terminal step)

You need this for plugin access. Open Terminal (Mac) or PowerShell (Windows) and run:

Mac:

FIRST

If you do not have Homebrew installed, run this first:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

After Homebrew is installed, run:

brew install gh && gh auth login

Windows:

winget install GitHub.cli

Then open a new PowerShell window and run:

gh auth login

Select: GitHub.com > HTTPS > Login with a web browser. Follow the prompts.

Open the Code tab and select a folder

In the Claude Desktop App, click "Code" at the top (next to Chat and Cowork).

Click "Select a folder" and create a new folder called Command Center in your Documents. Select it.

This is where all your Command Center files will live.

Install Command Center plugin

In the Code tab chat input, type:

/plugin marketplace add asmaldigital/command-center

Wait for it to sync. Then type:

/plugin install command-center@command-center

Start Command Center

Type in the Code tab:

/command-center

The system will walk you through everything from here.

Open Terminal

Open Finder (the smiling face in your Dock). Go to Applications > Utilities > Terminal. Double-click to open it.

⌨️

Shortcut: Press Command + Spacebar to open Spotlight. Type Terminal. Press Enter.

Press Command + Spacebar to open Spotlight

Install Homebrew (package manager)

Paste this into Terminal and press Enter. It will ask for your Mac password (the one you use to log in to your computer).

              /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
            

After it finishes, it will show "Next steps" with commands to add Homebrew to your PATH. Run each of those commands one at a time.

Install GitHub CLI

brew install gh

Log in to GitHub

gh auth login

Select: GitHub.com > HTTPS > Login with a web browser. It will open your browser. Log in and enter the code shown in Terminal.

Install Claude Code

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

If it says ~/.local/bin is not in your PATH, run the command it shows you, then close and reopen Terminal.

Install the Command Center plugin

claude plugin marketplace add https://github.com/asmaldigital/command-center
claude plugin install command-center

Create your workspace folder

mkdir ~/Documents/my-command-center

This is where all your Command Center files will live.

Install Git for Windows

Download from git-scm.com/downloads/win. Run the installer with default settings. This is required before Claude Code will work.

Open PowerShell

Press Windows key. Type PowerShell. Click "Run as administrator".

Install GitHub CLI

winget install GitHub.cli

Close and reopen PowerShell after this installs.

Log in to GitHub

gh auth login

Select: GitHub.com > HTTPS > Login with a web browser. It will open your browser. Log in and enter the code shown in PowerShell.

Install Claude Code

irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex

Close and reopen PowerShell after installation.

Install the Command Center plugin

claude plugin marketplace add https://github.com/asmaldigital/command-center
claude plugin install command-center

Create your workspace folder

mkdir $HOME\Documents\my-command-center

This is where all your Command Center files will live.

You are ready

Starting Claude Code

Installation is done. Here is how you start Claude Code every time.

Open the Claude Desktop App

Launch the Claude app from your Applications (Mac) or Start Menu (Windows).

Click the Code tab

At the top of the app, click "Code" (next to Chat and Cowork).

Select your Command Center folder

Click "Select a folder" and choose the Command Center folder you created in Documents.

Run Command Center

Type /command-center in the chat input and press Enter.

Open Finder

Click the Finder icon in your Dock (the smiling face at the bottom of your screen).

Go to your folder

In the sidebar, click Documents. Find the folder called my-command-center

Open Terminal here

Right-click (or Control-click) the folder. Scroll down the menu and look for "New Terminal at Folder" near the bottom.

Right-click menu showing New Terminal at Folder

Right-click your folder and select "New Terminal at Folder"

Start Claude Code

Type claude and press Enter. You are now inside Claude Code.

Terminal opens in your folder. Type "claude" and press Enter.

Run your first command

Type /command-center and press Enter. This starts the guided setup.

Claude Code welcome screen with the pig avatar

/command-center shows your setup phases and all available commands

Open File Explorer

Press Windows key + E to open File Explorer.

Go to your folder

Navigate to Documents > my-command-center

Open PowerShell here

Click in the address bar at the top. Type powershell and press Enter. PowerShell opens in your folder.

Start Claude Code

Type claude and press Enter. You are now inside Claude Code.

Run your first command

Type /command-center and press Enter. This starts the guided setup.

Daily use

Your Key Commands

Type these inside Claude Code. Start with /briefing every morning.

📊

/briefing

Your morning intelligence. Revenue, calendar, emails, leads, flags.

🧠

/board-meet [question]

Ask your advisory board anything. Pricing, strategy, growth.

Example: /board-meet Should I raise prices by 30%?

✍️

/content-engine [topic]

Full content suite. Blog, social, video, newsletter, visuals. Deep research first.

Example: /content-engine AI automation for small businesses

🔊

/voice [text]

Rewrites any text in your brand voice. Paste and get it back sounding like you.

🚀

/launch [product]

Complete launch system. 10 builds: ICA, offer, funnel, emails, content, ads, visuals.

Example: /launch My New Course

❓

/command-center

See all available commands and your setup status. Start here if you are unsure.

/briefing in action:

The briefing command pulls live data from your connected tools

Briefing showing expenses, calendar, subscribers, emails

Revenue, calendar, new subscribers, and actionable email summaries

💬

You can also just type in plain English. "Write me 5 LinkedIn posts about leadership" works. Claude figures out the right skill.

Common issues

Troubleshooting

"command not found: claude"

Close the Terminal/PowerShell window completely. Open a new one from your folder. Try claude again.

"command not found: brew" (Mac only)

Homebrew installed but the PATH was not set. Run the "Next steps" commands that Homebrew showed after installation. Then close and reopen Terminal.

Claude is stuck or not responding

Press Ctrl+C (hold Control and press C). Then type claude to start a new session.

Accidentally closed the terminal

No problem. Open a new one from your folder. Type claude --resume to continue where you left off.

Smart quotes breaking commands (copy-paste from WhatsApp/Messages)

Messaging apps replace straight quotes with curly quotes, which break Terminal commands. Type commands manually instead of pasting from chat apps. Or paste into a plain text editor first.

"HTTPS authentication failed" when installing the plugin

Run gh auth login first. Select GitHub.com > HTTPS > Login with browser. Then retry the plugin install.