Setup
0 / 8
a starter guide
Getting started,

Set up your own Claude Code.

Cursor as your workbench, Claude Code as the AI partner living inside it, and Playwright wired in so it can operate a real browser on your behalf. Eight steps, roughly thirty minutes start to finish.

Total time  ~30 min You'll need  a Mac or Windows PC, internet, a Claude account
which computer are you setting this up on?
path A — full setup
Modern laptop, happy to install things

The eight steps below. You get an assistant that remembers context across sessions, saves files, and can drive a real browser for you.

This is the version most of the guide covers.

path B — terminal only, no Cursor
Capable laptop, don't want another app

Skip step 1 (Cursor) and step 4 (the extension). Do steps 2, 3, 6 and 7 as written, then instead of opening a panel in Cursor, just open TerminalPowerShell, go to your working folder, and type:

  • claude — opens the same chat interface, directly in TerminalPowerShell

Everything else — memory, Playwright, first conversation — works identically.

path C — browser only, nothing installed
Old laptop, Chromebook, locked-down work computer

No install needed at all — this works in any browser, on almost any machine:

  • Go to claude.ai (or chatgpt.com, or gemini.google.com) and sign in
  • Create a Project (Claude) / custom GPT (ChatGPT) / Gem (Gemini) — paste in a short "who I am, how I work" note, so every new chat inside it already knows you
  • Talk to it like you would in Cursor — draft messages, think things through, get summaries

Trade-off: it can't drive a browser or save files on its own — you copy things in and out. Everything else still works.

path D — iPad or phone
No laptop at all

Same idea as path C, from the App Store: install the Claude app (or ChatGPT / Gemini), sign in, set up a Project/Gem the same way.

Works anywhere. Same quality of conversation, just no laptop required.

The eight steps (path A, full setup)

01 — 08
01
Install Cursor
~5 min no terminal

Cursor is the editor that'll be the home for Claude Code. It looks and feels like a code editor, but you'll mostly just be typing into a chat panel — you don't need to know how to code.

  • Go to cursor.com — it detects your operating system and offers the right download
  • Open the downloaded .dmg file and drag Cursor into your Applications folderOpen the downloaded .exe file and click through the installer (Next → Next → Install)
  • Open Cursor (right-click → Open the first time if your Mac complains about an unidentified developer)Open Cursor from the Start menu (if you see "Windows protected your PC", click More info → Run anyway)
  • Sign in with Google or email — either is fine
what success looks like

Cursor opens to a welcome screen with options like "Open Folder" and "Clone Repo". You're signed in — your name shows in the bottom-left corner.

if you get stuck

If your Mac says "Cursor can't be opened because it's from an unidentified developer", right-click the app and pick Open, then click Open again in the popup. You only need to do this once.

If Windows Defender SmartScreen blocks it, click More info, then Run anyway. You only need to do this once.

02
Install Node.js
~5 min no terminal

Node is the engine Claude Code runs on. You don't need to understand it — just install it once and forget about it.

  • Go to nodejs.org
  • Click the big green LTS button (Long-Term Support — the safer, more stable option)
  • Open the downloaded installer and click through it (just keep clicking Continue / Next)
  • On a Mac it'll ask for your password at the end — that's normalOn Windows it may ask "Do you want to allow this app to make changes?" — click Yes
what success looks like

The installer says "The installation was successful." You can close it.

if you get stuck

If the installer fails, restart your computer and try again — it's usually a permissions hiccup that clears after a reboot.

03
Install Claude Code
~2 min terminal

Now install Claude Code itself. Open the Terminal app (press Cmd + Space, type "terminal", press enter) Open PowerShell (click the Start menu, type "PowerShell", press enter — pick the blue icon, not "Windows PowerShell (x86)"), then paste the command below and press enter.

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

It'll churn for 30–60 seconds. When you see your prompt return (the cursor blinking with no progress text), it's done.

what success looks like

Terminal scrolls a bit, goes quiet, and shows your prompt again. No large red error messages.

if you get stuck

If you see permission denied or EACCES, paste this instead and try again:

sudo npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

It'll ask for your password (typing won't show on screen — that's normal, just type and press enter).

If you see a permissions error, close PowerShell and reopen it as an administrator: click the Start menu, type "PowerShell", right-click it, and choose Run as administrator. Paste the same command again:

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
04
Add the Claude Code extension to Cursor
~2 min no terminal

This puts Claude Code inside Cursor as a chat panel, instead of you having to flip over to Terminal every time.

  • Open Cursor
  • Click the Extensions icon in the left sidebar (four squares, one floating off), or press Cmd + Shift + XCtrl + Shift + X
  • In the search bar, type: Claude Code
  • Find the one published by Anthropic — click Install
what success looks like

The Install button changes to "Uninstall". A small Claude icon appears in the left sidebar.

05
Sign in to Claude Code
~3 min browser

There are two ways to authenticate:

  • Option A — Claude subscription (recommended): if you have a Claude Pro or Max plan, use that. When the panel opens, click "Use with Claude subscription", sign in with your Claude account in the browser tab it opens, click Authorize. Done.
  • Option B — API key (pay-as-you-go): go to console.anthropic.com, sign up, go to Settings → API Keys, create one, paste it into Cursor when prompted.

Open the Claude Code panel: click the Claude icon in Cursor's left sidebar, or press Cmd + EscCtrl + Esc. The sign-in prompt appears the first time you open it.

what success looks like

The Claude Code chat panel is open and shows a "How can I help?" input field at the bottom. No "sign in" button left on screen.

which option should you pick?

If you'll use this regularly (multiple sessions a week, browser-automation tasks), a Claude Max subscription gives higher usage limits and a flat monthly cost you never have to think about per request.

The API key route is more flexible but charges per request — fine for testing, less ideal for daily heavy use.

06
Make your working folder
~1 min finder

This is the one folder where Claude Code will live, remember your context, and save everything it learns about how you work. Think of it as your assistant's home base.

  • Open Finder (or File Explorer) → Desktop
  • Right-click in empty space → New Folder
  • Name it whatever makes sense to you — "My Workspace", your own name, your call
  • In Cursor: File → Open Folder, navigate to it, click Open
what success looks like

Cursor's title bar shows the folder name. The file tree on the left is empty — that's fine, Claude Code will populate it as you work.

07
Wire up Playwright (browser automation)
~3 min terminal

Playwright is what lets Claude Code drive a real browser — open apps, click buttons, fill forms, read screens. Without this, Claude can only read text. With it, Claude can actually use the web on your behalf.

Make sure your working folder from step 6 is open in Cursor, then open TerminalPowerShell and paste this:

claude mcp add playwright -- npx @playwright/mcp@latest

Then back in Cursor, close the Claude Code panel and reopen it (Cmd + EscCtrl + Esc twice) so it picks up the new tool.

what success looks like

In Claude Code, type /mcp and press enter. You should see playwright listed as a connected server — that confirms the browser tool is loaded and ready.

if the /mcp command doesn't show playwright

Quit Cursor completely (Cmd + Q)Close Cursor completely (right-click its taskbar icon → Close window, or File → Exit), reopen it, open your working folder again, then check /mcp in the Claude Code panel.

If it's still not there, try the in-app route instead: in the Claude Code chat panel, type /mcp, pick Add MCP server, name it playwright, command npx @playwright/mcp@latest, save.

08
Your first conversation
open-ended the fun part

Open the Claude Code chat panel (Cmd + EscCtrl + Esc), and start with something like this:

You're going to be my AI assistant from now on. I'd like you to build up a CLAUDE.md file that captures who I am, how I work, and what I want help with. Let's start with you asking me a few questions to build that up.

From there, just have a conversation. Tell it about your work, the tools and apps you live in day to day, and the kind of tasks you want to hand off. It'll ask follow-up questions and build up its understanding of you as you go.

Some things to try in your first session, once it knows you:

  • "Open [some app] in the browser and tell me what you see"
  • "Watch how I do [some task] and write me a guide for next time"
  • "Help me draft [a document / an email / a plan]"
  • "Summarize [some data] and pull out the key numbers for me"
what success looks like

Claude Code responds, asks follow-ups, and starts creating files in your folder — you'll see them appear in the left sidebar. That's it. You're set up. From here on, you and Claude figure out the rest together.

one last thing,

That's it, you're set up.

Once you're through step 8, you don't need this guide anymore. Claude Code on your machine will know what to do, and you can just talk to it like a sharp assistant who happens to know how to use every app on the internet.

A few things worth knowing going in: approve permissions one at a time for the first few days rather than blanket-approving everything; ask it to save anything important about how you work to memory as you go; and if anything ever feels off, ask it to explain what it just did in plain English — no judgment, just clarity.

Enjoy having your own one of these.