Setup Guide

Before You Start

This takes about 30 minutes. You need a Mac or Windows laptop and a paid plan for one of two AI coding assistants. Pick one; you do not need both.

Claude Code (from Anthropic) comes with a Claude Pro plan, about $20 a month, at claude.ai.
Codex (from OpenAI) comes with a ChatGPT Plus plan, about $20 a month, at chatgpt.com.

When you finish, you will paste two short results into the Milestone #1 survey. The setup is part of Milestone #1, so finish it before the first class. If you get stuck, email the teaching team well before the deadline.

Step 1: Install VS Code

Download Visual Studio Code from code.visualstudio.com, install it, and open it.

Step 2: Open the Terminal

In VS Code, choose Terminal → New Terminal from the menu bar. A panel opens at the bottom of the window. This is where you type the commands below: paste a command, then press Enter.

Step 3: Install Your Assistant

Paste the one command that matches your assistant and your laptop. Click a command to copy it.

Claude Code, Mac	`curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh \| bash`
Claude Code, Windows	`irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 \| iex`
Codex, Mac	`curl -fsSL https://chatgpt.com/codex/install.sh \| sh`
Codex, Windows	`powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://chatgpt.com/codex/install.ps1 \| iex"`

When it finishes, close the terminal (the trash-can icon in the terminal panel) and open a new one, so that the new command is recognized.

On Windows with Claude Code, also install Git for Windows with its default options.

Step 4: Sign In

Type claude (or codex) in the terminal and press Enter. Follow the prompts to sign in with the account that has your paid plan. A browser window opens for the sign-in. For Codex, choose Sign in with ChatGPT.

Step 5: Add the VS Code Extension

The extension puts the assistant in a chat panel inside VS Code. Open the Extensions view (Cmd+Shift+X on Mac, Ctrl+Shift+X on Windows), search for Claude Code (by Anthropic) or Codex (by OpenAI), and click Install. If it does not appear, restart VS Code.

Step 6: Check That It Works

You will paste both results into the survey.

In VS Code, choose File → Open Folder and open your Desktop (or any folder you like). Then open a new terminal (Terminal → New Terminal). It starts inside that folder.
Run claude --version (or codex --version). Copy the line it prints.
Start the assistant by typing claude (or codex), then send this prompt. If it asks for permission to read the folder, allow it. Copy the haiku.
Prompt
Summarize the contents of this folder into a short haiku.

The assistant reads the file names in that folder and may open a few files, and it sends what it reads to Anthropic or OpenAI. Pick a folder you are comfortable sharing.

Step 7: Create a GitHub Account

GitHub is where your group's website lives, starting with Milestone #3. Every member needs an account. If you do not have one, create a free account at github.com/signup. Any email works.

If Something Goes Wrong

"command not found" or "not recognized": close the terminal, open a new one, and try again. If that fails, restart VS Code.
The install command shows an error: copy the full error message, paste it into ChatGPT or Claude in your browser, and ask what to do.
Still stuck: email oh@gsb.columbia.edu well before the deadline, with a screenshot of the error.