# The Workspace Setup Guide You've built things in Lovable, Bolt, or Replit. This guide moves you to a real local setup in about 30 minutes: a terminal, Claude Code (or Cursor), a projects folder, and your first working session. Every step has three parts: **the exact thing to type or click**, **what you should see**, and **what it means if you don't**. Prices verified July 2026. --- ## Step 0: Pick your tool (2 minutes) Two good options. Pick one, don't agonize. **Claude Code (recommended).** A coding agent that lives in your terminal (a text window where you type commands to your computer; more on that below). You describe what you want, it writes the files, runs the commands, and shows you the result. Included with a Claude subscription: - **Pro: $20/month** ($17/month billed annually). Enough for a few focused hours of building per day. Start here. - **Max 5x: $100/month** and **Max 20x: $200/month** exist for heavy daily use. You do not need these on day one. **Cursor (the alternative).** A full code editor (looks like a fancy document editor for code) with AI built in. Better if you want to SEE all your files in a sidebar while you work. **Pro: $20/month** ($16/month billed annually), which includes $20 of monthly AI usage; the "Auto" model setting is unlimited. There's also a free Hobby tier to test the waters. This guide follows the Claude Code path. The Cursor path is at the bottom; steps 1-3 are identical for both. --- ## Step 1: Open a terminal for the first time (3 minutes) The terminal is a chat box for your computer. Instead of clicking buttons, you type short commands and the computer answers in text. That's it. It looks intimidating because it's usually shown in hacker movies; in practice you'll use about 6 commands, all copy-paste. ### Mac 1. Press **Cmd + Space** (opens Spotlight search). 2. Type **Terminal** and press Enter. **What you should see:** a mostly empty window with a line ending in `%` or `$` and a blinking cursor. That line is the "prompt": the computer saying "your turn." **If you don't:** you may have typed it into a browser tab instead of Spotlight. Click your desktop first, then Cmd + Space. ### Windows 1. Press the **Windows key**, type **PowerShell**, press Enter. (PowerShell is Windows' built-in terminal. Ignore the old "Command Prompt", PowerShell is the modern one.) **What you should see:** a blue or black window with a line like `PS C:\Users\yourname>` and a blinking cursor. **If you don't:** on very old Windows versions, search for "Windows PowerShell" with the full name. Any Windows 10 or 11 machine has it. ### Try one command (both platforms) Type this and press Enter: ``` echo hello ``` **What you should see:** the computer prints `hello` back on the next line. Congratulations, you just used a terminal. Everything else in this guide is the same move: type, Enter, read the answer. --- ## Step 2: Make a projects folder (2 minutes) You want one folder where all your projects live, so you always know where your stuff is. These commands create it and move you inside it. ### Mac ``` mkdir -p ~/projects cd ~/projects ``` ### Windows (PowerShell) ``` mkdir ~/projects cd ~/projects ``` (`mkdir` means "make directory", a directory is just a folder. `cd` means "change directory", i.e. "go there". The `~` means your home folder.) **What you should see:** nothing dramatic. The terminal returns a fresh prompt. On Mac the prompt may now show `projects`; on Windows it shows `PS C:\Users\yourname\projects>`. Silence is success in the terminal: no news is good news. **If you don't:** if you see `mkdir: command not found`, you probably have a typo (check for a missing space). If you see "already exists" on the Mac without `-p`, that's fine, the folder was already there. Just run the `cd` line. --- ## Step 3: Install Claude Code (5 minutes) ### Mac Paste this into the terminal and press Enter: ``` curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash ``` (This downloads Anthropic's official installer and runs it. `curl` is the terminal's "download this URL" command.) **What you should see:** a short burst of progress text, then a success message telling you Claude Code was installed. It takes under a minute on a normal connection. **If you don't:** - `curl: command not found` almost never happens on a Mac; if it does, you're likely not in Terminal. - A "permission denied" message: close the terminal, reopen it, try again. Still stuck? Skip ahead to "When it breaks" at the end. ### Windows Paste this into PowerShell and press Enter: ``` irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex ``` **What you should see:** progress text, then a success message. **If you don't:** - A red error mentioning "execution policy": PowerShell is being cautious about running downloaded scripts. Run this first, answer `Y`, then retry the install command: `Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser RemoteSigned` ### Verify it worked (both platforms) Close the terminal completely, open a fresh one (this lets it pick up the new install), then type: ``` claude --version ``` **What you should see:** a version number, something like `2.x.x`. Any number is a pass. **If you don't:** `command not found: claude` after a fresh terminal means the installer put it somewhere your terminal isn't looking. Re-run the install command and read its final lines; it usually prints one extra command to run. Paste that, restart the terminal, try again. --- ## Step 4: Start Claude Code and log in (5 minutes) Make sure you're in your projects folder, then start it: ``` cd ~/projects claude ``` **What you should see:** Claude Code starts and, on first run, opens your browser to log in. Log in with your Claude account (the same one you'd use at claude.ai). If you don't have a subscription yet, this is the moment: Pro at $20/month is the right starting plan. Back in the terminal you should see a welcome screen and an input box. That input box is where you talk to it, in plain English. **If you don't:** if the browser doesn't open, the terminal prints a link instead. Copy it into your browser manually. If login succeeds but the terminal doesn't notice, press Ctrl + C to quit and run `claude` again. --- ## Step 5: Your first command (3 minutes) You're in. Type this into Claude Code and press Enter: ``` Create a file called hello.html that shows a page saying "My workspace works" in big friendly letters, then tell me how to open it in my browser. ``` **What you should see:** Claude narrates what it's doing, creates the file, and tells you how to open it (usually: find `hello.html` in your projects folder and double-click it). Open it. If your browser shows the page, your entire setup works end to end. **If you don't:** if Claude asks for permission to create the file, say yes; asking before touching your files is a feature, not a bug. Two more things before you build for real: 1. **Download `BEGINNER-CLAUDE.md` from this kit**, rename it to `CLAUDE.md`, and put a copy in each project folder. It's a house-rules file Claude Code reads automatically at the start of every session. The kit page explains every line. 2. **Keep `jargon-translator.md` nearby.** Every scary word you'll meet this month is in there, in plain English. --- ## The Cursor path (alternative to steps 3-5) 1. Go to **cursor.com**, click **Download**, run the installer like any normal app. Mac: drag it to Applications. Windows: click through the installer. 2. Open Cursor. Sign up when prompted. Free Hobby tier works for testing; **Pro is $20/month** when you're building daily. 3. **File > Open Folder** and pick your `projects` folder from Step 2. 4. Press **Cmd + I** (Mac) or **Ctrl + I** (Windows) to open the AI panel, and give it the same first command from Step 5. **What you should see:** Cursor writes `hello.html`, and the file appears in the left sidebar. The `CLAUDE.md` advice applies here too; Cursor reads rules from a `CLAUDE.md` or `.cursor/rules` file in your folder. --- ## When it breaks (and it will, once) The universal fix for this entire guide: **copy the exact error text and paste it to an AI.** In Claude Code, paste it right into the session and add: ``` I got this error while following a setup guide. Explain what it means in plain English, then give me the single most likely fix as a copy-paste command. Don't give me five options, give me the best one. ``` That prompt solves the majority of setup problems in one round trip. Errors are not judgments; they're the computer being extremely literal about one missing detail. --- ## You're done when - `claude --version` prints a number - `hello.html` opens in your browser - `CLAUDE.md` sits in your project folder That's the whole bridge. Next stop: robotsonpayroll.com/resources/workspace-setup-kit for the "first 15 minutes" prompts, then github-for-normal-people when you want your work backed up.