Claude Code: A Beginner's Guide to Anthropic's CLI AI Agent Tool
Learn to install, configure, and use Claude Code—Anthropic's CLI-based AI agent for local code tasks, plus integrations with DeepSeek and Alibaba...
Claude Code is Anthropic's official CLI (Command Line Interface) AI agent tool, tailored for high-permission, context-aware engineering tasks in local code repositories. Unlike chat tools, it functions as an agent focused on practical code work rather than conversational interactions.
Installation options: MacOS/Linux users can use curl (curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash) or Homebrew (MacOS: brew install --cask claude-code). Windows users run irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex in PowerShell. NPM users need Node.js v18+: npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code.
To use: Navigate to your project directory (cd your-project) and start a session with claude. First-time users log in with their Anthropic account; alternatives like DeepSeek or GLM are available if Anthropic access is limited.
DeepSeek integration: Set environment variables: export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://api.deepseek.com/anthropic, ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN=<your DeepSeek API Key>, ANTHROPIC_MODEL=deepseek-v4-pro, and CLAUDE_CODE_EFFORT_LEVEL=max. Then run claude in your project.
Alibaba Bailian integration: Use Tongyi Qianwen models via Anthropic-compatible APIs. Replace ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN with your Bailian API Key (from https://bailian.console.aliyun.com/cn-beijing/?tab=model#/api-key) and set ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL to https://dashscope.aliyuncs.com/apps/anthropic. MacOS/Linux users create ~/.claude/settings.json; Windows users set environment variables via CMD/PowerShell.
Sources
- Claude Code Tutorial, Runoob (https://www.runoob.com/vibe-coding/claude-code.html)
- DeepSeek API Documentation (https://api-docs.deepseek.com/zh-cn/guides/anthropic_api)