Claude in VS Code: The Full Setup Guide

**Install the extension**
1. Open VS Code → Extensions (Cmd+Shift+X)
2. Search "Claude" → install the official Anthropic Claude extension
3. Sign in with your Claude account or API key **Create your project CLAUDE.md**
In your project root, create a file called CLAUDE.md. This is the persistent context Claude reads before every response in that project. Minimum useful CLAUDE.md content:
```
# Project: [Your App Name]
Stack: [e.g., Next.js 15, Supabase, TypeScript]
Conventions: [e.g., functional components only, no default exports, zod for validation]
Do not: [e.g., use any, use console.log in production code]
Key files: [e.g., lib/db.ts for database, app/api/ for routes]
``` **Key shortcuts**
- Cmd+I (Mac) / Ctrl+I (Win): Open inline edit on selected code
- Cmd+Shift+I: Open Claude chat panel
- In terminal: type `claude` to start a terminal agent session **Three core workflows**
1. Select code → Cmd+I → describe the change → accept
2. Open chat panel → ask about the whole file or project
3. Terminal: `claude` → give it a multi-file task → let it run

Copy this into your project root as CLAUDE.md and fill in the brackets: ```markdown
# Project Context ## What this is
[One sentence description of the app] ## Stack
- Frontend: [e.g., Next.js 15 App Router, Tailwind]
- Backend: [e.g., Supabase, tRPC]
- Language: TypeScript strict mode
- Package manager: [pnpm / npm / bun] ## Conventions
- [e.g., Zod for all validation, never trust user input raw]
- [e.g., Server components by default, client only when needed]
- [e.g., All DB access through lib/db.ts, never query directly in components] ## Never do
- use `any` type
- hardcode secrets
- console.log in production paths ## Key files
- lib/db.ts, database client and queries
- lib/auth.ts, auth helpers
- app/api/, API routes
- components/ui/, shared UI primitives
```