Getting Started with Claude Code: A Beginner's Guide to Installation, Configuration, and Model Selection

What Is Claude Code?

For many developers, Claude Code might sound unfamiliar, but it's actually one of the most beginner-friendly AI coding tools available today. You don't need to understand any deep technical concepts—just install it and integrate it directly into your development environment.

Claude Code is an AI coding assistant developed by Anthropic. Its biggest advantage is that it requires no web-based login—you install it locally, and once set up, it embeds directly into your development tools to assist you throughout the entire process of writing project code.

What's the Fundamental Difference from Conversational AI Coding?

Many people ask: isn't writing code by chatting with DeepSeek or ChatGPT the same thing? In fact, there's a fundamental difference between the two.

The Limitations of Conversational Tools

When using conversational tools like DeepSeek or ChatGPT, the model can only provide scattered code snippets. You still have to manually copy them back into your project, run tests, and go back and forth in the conversation to make adjustments—it's very inefficient. More importantly, these tools can't read the full context of your project. If your project has hundreds of files, the model simply can't see them; you have to feed them in piece by piece manually.

The Core Advantage of Claude Code

Claude Code is different. It can read through all the files in your project, feeding the entire codebase as context to the large model to generate business logic. It can also automatically detect and fix errors, ultimately producing code that runs right out of the box. This is an automated coding workflow, not just simple question-and-answer chatting.

A Side-by-Side Comparison of Mainstream AI Coding Tools

AI coding assistants have been evolving for a while now, and the mainstream tools each have their own focus:

• GitHub Copilot: The earliest code autocompletion plugin, which pioneered this category
• Cursor: Offers stronger automated coding capabilities and has attracted widespread attention
• Trae: Comes in both international and domestic (Chinese) versions; the domestic version understands Chinese quite accurately (the international version is paid)
• OpenCode: The user experience is slightly weaker compared to other tools
• Codex: Paired with GPT-5, its coding ability rivals that of Claude Code

Before encountering Claude Code, many people considered Trae the most convenient coding tool because of its accurate Chinese comprehension and free availability. But upon comparison, Claude Code performs at a whole other level—the fundamental reason lies in the differing capabilities of the underlying models. The Sonnet model that powers Claude Code offers higher accuracy, which is especially noticeable when handling complex tech stacks, whereas Trae is somewhat less stable in these scenarios.

Complete Steps for Installing and Configuring Claude Code

Claude Code Is Not an IDE

This is an important point: Claude Code is not an IDE itself. Cursor and Trae are standalone editors based on VS Code that you can use right after downloading. Claude Code, on the other hand, is more like a plugin that embeds into other tools, supporting integration into mainstream development environments such as Cursor, Trae, IDEA, PyCharm, and VS Code.

System and Hardware Requirements

Claude Code supports the three major operating systems—macOS, Windows, and Linux. In terms of hardware, your computer needs at least 4GB of RAM.

Important note: When installing in mainland China, you must enable a VPN, otherwise the installation process will fail. However, once installation is complete, if you're using a domestic model, you won't need to enable a VPN for daily use.

Installation Steps

• macOS: Run the corresponding installation command in the terminal
• Windows: Run the installation command in CMD or PowerShell

Windows users also need to install Git separately, which allows Claude Code to automatically update its version—from the installed version to the latest version, with no manual intervention required.

After installation, simply type claude in the terminal to launch it. On first run, you'll need to select a project directory, and all subsequently generated code files will be saved in that directory.

Model Selection: How to Balance Capability and Cost?

Since Anthropic doesn't allow registration from mainland China or Hong Kong, users in China need to configure alternative models or use relay services to use Claude Code normally.

Anthropic's Three Official Models

• Opus: The most capable, suitable for complex business logic and deep coding tasks, but with slower response times
• Sonnet (default version 4.6): A balanced option with fast responses and moderate reasoning depth—the default recommended choice
• Haiku: The least capable of the three, but still superior to locally self-deployed models, with a 200K context window

Both Opus and Sonnet support ultra-long contexts of up to 1M (1024K), offering powerful capabilities but at a considerable price. Based on official pricing, Opus costs about $5 per million input tokens and $25 for output; Sonnet is $3 for input and $15 for output; while Haiku is roughly 5 times cheaper.

A Reference for Real-World Usage Costs

I ran an intuitive test using the Qwen Coder model: with about 37 RMB in my account balance, just two conversations on slightly larger projects instantly wiped out the balance and even put me into debt.

Qwen Coder uses tiered pricing at roughly 24 RMB per million tokens, making it a fast-consuming option. If you plan to use it frequently, it's better to prioritize the Coding Plan subscriptions offered by various platforms. On some platforms, for example, the Coding Plan costs 200 RMB per month and allows 6,000 calls every 5 hours; once the quota runs out, it automatically refreshes every 5 hours, making it more cost-effective in the long run.

DeepSeek V4 Pro: The Best Value Right Now

After comprehensive testing, DeepSeek V4 Pro stands out as the best value option currently available. This model supports a 1M context and is currently on promotion: the output price has dropped from 24 RMB to 6 RMB per million tokens, with input at about 3 RMB per million tokens.

In practice, topping up 12 RMB is enough to fully complete about two medium-sized projects, and simple conversations cost just a few cents—making daily usage costs very low. However, the promotion has an expiration date, and costs will rise noticeably once prices return to normal, so keep an eye on it in advance.

For the Sonnet model, I'd recommend that users in China access it through a reliable relay service, since direct connection is difficult and direct-connection prices on Taobao tend to be high. Relay services incur a slight performance loss compared to direct connections, but the daily experience is acceptable—a complete conversation to write one project typically costs 1 to 2 RMB.

Conclusion

With its excellent ability to understand project context and its automatic error-fixing mechanism, Claude Code is one of the most worthwhile AI coding tools to try today. For beginners, the installation barrier is low—just integrate it into your favorite IDE and you're ready to go. The real trade-off to consider is model selection and cost control: if you're chasing value for money, go with DeepSeek V4 Pro first; if you want stable, high-quality output, choose Sonnet or Opus; and heavy users should just buy a Coding Plan subscription. These tools aren't free, so planning your costs in advance is the key to using them efficiently and worry-free.