Claude Code is Anthropic's agentic coding tool that runs directly in your terminal. Unlike IDE plugins, it operates at the repository level — reading and writing files, running commands, managing git operations, and iterating across multiple steps autonomously. It ranks at the top of SWE-bench Verified, making it one of the most capable coding agents available. For researchers and developers, it handles everything from exploratory analysis to production-grade refactoring.
Key Features
Full-repository awareness with automatic indexing
Multi-step autonomous task execution with git integration
Natural-language commit message generation and PR creation
Integration with VS Code, JetBrains, and terminal workflows
Model selection: Opus 4.8 for deep reasoning, Sonnet 4.6 for speed
Usage Guide
Running Claude Code
- 1Install via npm: `npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code`.
- 2Navigate to your project directory and run `claude`.
- 3Describe your task in natural language: 'Add rate limiting to the API endpoints'.
- 4Claude Code reads the codebase, plans the approach, and asks for permission before making changes.
- 5Review diffs interactively and approve or reject each change.