Claude Code
Free tierAgentic AI coding assistant by Anthropic that works directly in your terminal
Free tier available·Technical·Powered by Anthropic·API available
Key strengths
Deep codebase understanding via file system accessAgentic multi-step task execution in the terminalReads, writes, and runs code autonomouslyTight integration with git and shell workflowsPowered by Claude's state-of-the-art reasoning models
Free tier + paid plans
San Francisco, USA
Founded 2021
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Technical Setup & API Usage
Installation
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
Authentication
Claude Code authenticates via your Claude.ai Pro subscription or a direct Anthropic API key:
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
claude
Key CLI flags
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--model | Select model (claude-sonnet-4-5, claude-opus-4, etc.) |
--allowedTools | Restrict which tools (file read/write, bash) the agent may use |
--print / -p | Non-interactive mode — pipe a prompt and receive output to stdout |
--dangerously-skip-permissions | Skip confirmation prompts (CI/CD use) |
Headless / CI usage
echo "Run the test suite and fix any type errors" | claude --print --dangerously-skip-permissions
MCP (Model Context Protocol)
Claude Code supports MCP servers, allowing it to pull context from external sources (databases, APIs, documentation) during agentic runs, making it extensible for custom enterprise workflows.