Quickstart Publish your first site with Claude Code

Step 2 · Set up your agent

VS Code + your agent

Install VS Code, open a folder for your projects and add the Claude Code or Codex extension. These are the only installs you do by hand. After this page, you ask the agent.

Time: 15 minVS Code path
On this page

  1. Install VS Code

    Download it from https://code.visualstudio.com (opens in a new tab). It's free.

    Mac

    Open the downloaded .dmg file and drag Visual Studio Code into the Applications folder. Then open it from Applications.

    Windows

    Run the installer you downloaded. It's the User Setup, which doesn't need admin rights. Keep the defaults and click through to the end.

  2. Open a folder for your projects

    In VS Code, choose File → Open Folder…. Go to your Documents folder and use the window's new-folder button to make a folder called Projects. Select it and open it. Each site you make will get its own folder inside Projects.

    VS Code opens a new folder in Restricted Mode, and a banner across the top says so. Click Manage in the banner, then click Trust. If a box asks Do you trust the authors of the files in this folder? instead, click Yes, I trust the authors. You made this folder, so it's safe. Until you trust it, VS Code turns off or limits AI agents. Trusted folders explains why.

  3. Add your agent

    Claude Code

    You need a paid Claude plan: Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise.

    1. Open the Extensions view: Ctrl + Shift + X on Windows, Cmd + Shift + X on Mac.
    2. Search for Claude Code. Pick the one published by Anthropic and click Install.
    3. Click the Spark icon in the Activity Bar, the strip of icons down the left edge. It opens your list of Claude sessions. Start a new one there. Or open the Command Palette (Ctrl + Shift + P, or Cmd + Shift + P on Mac) and run Claude Code: Open in New Tab.
    4. The first time, a sign-in screen appears. Click Sign in and approve in the browser window that opens.

    Codex

    You need ChatGPT Plus or higher.

    1. Open the Extensions view: Ctrl + Shift + X on Windows, Cmd + Shift + X on Mac.
    2. Search for Codex. Pick Codex – OpenAI's coding agent, published by OpenAI, and click Install.
    3. Click the Codex icon to open it. Don't see it? Open the Command Palette (Ctrl + Shift + P, or Cmd + Shift + P on Mac) and run Codex: Open Codex Sidebar.
    4. Choose Sign in with ChatGPT and finish in the browser.

    You don't need Node.js or anything else to run either extension.

  4. Say your first prompt

    In the agent's panel, start a new conversation. Type this into the message box, or dictate it:

    Say this
    Check which of these are installed on this computer: git, node, and the GitHub CLI (gh). Tell me what's missing, in plain English.

    The agent may ask permission to run a command. Read it, then allow it. These checks only look up version numbers.

If it goes wrong

I can't find the Spark icon

Look in the Activity Bar down the left edge. It also appears at the top right of the editor, but only while a file is open. Still missing? A Restricted Mode banner at the top means VS Code doesn't trust the folder, so the extension is switched off and its icon is hidden. Click Manage in the banner, then Trust, or run Workspaces: Manage Workspace Trust from the Command Palette. Otherwise, run Developer: Reload Window from the Command Palette.

On my Mac, a window offers to install developer tools

A fresh Mac may offer this when something asks for Git. It's Apple's Command Line Tools, which include Git. Click Install, wait for it to finish, then carry on.

Sign-in fails, or says my plan doesn't include it

Claude Code needs Claude Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise. The free Claude plan doesn't include it. Codex needs ChatGPT Plus or higher. Check your plan, then sign in again.

What the agent runs for you

To answer your first prompt, the agent asks each tool for its version. A "not found" or "not recognized" error means the tool is missing.

git --version
node -v
gh --version

Saved only in this browser.