What is Claude Code? A Developer's Honest Guide

If you've been hearing about "agentic coding" and wondering what that actually means in practice, Claude Code is it. Here's everything you need to know to decide if it's worth your time.

//What is Claude Code?

Claude Code is an AI coding agent that lives in your terminal. You tell it what you want in plain English, and it reads your codebase, writes code, runs commands, and makes commits. It's not autocomplete. It's not a chatbot with syntax highlighting. It's an agent that actually does the work.

Built by Anthropic (the company behind Claude), it launched in early 2025 and has been picking up steam ever since. Unlike most AI coding tools that suggest snippets or complete lines, Claude Code takes action. You describe the outcome you want, and it figures out how to get there.

//What Makes Claude Code Different

Most AI coding tools are assistive. They suggest the next line, answer questions about your code, or help you write functions faster. You're still driving. The AI is riding shotgun.

Claude Code is different. It's agentic.

When you ask Claude Code to "add authentication to this API," it doesn't just suggest some code snippets. It explores your codebase to understand the existing patterns. It identifies which files need changes. It writes the implementation across multiple files. It can even run your tests to verify things work.

The key differences:

Terminal-first. No IDE required. You run it in your terminal alongside your existing tools. Use Vim, VS Code, Emacs, whatever. Claude Code doesn't care.

Full codebase awareness. It can hold up to 200k tokens in context. For most projects, that's your entire codebase at once. It actually understands how your files connect.

Direct model access. You're talking to Claude directly. No wrapper, no middleman, no dumbed-down version. Same models you'd get through the API.

Takes action. It reads files, writes files, runs shell commands, creates git commits, opens pull requests. With your permission, obviously.

//How Claude Code Actually Works

The workflow is simple. You describe what you want. Claude Code figures out how to do it.

Say you type: "Find all the places we handle user authentication and add rate limiting."

Claude Code will:

1. Search your codebase for authentication-related code
2. Read the relevant files to understand the current implementation
3. Identify where rate limiting should be added
4. Write the necessary code changes
5. Show you what it plans to do and ask for approval
6. Make the changes once you confirm

That last part is important. Claude Code asks before doing anything destructive. It won't delete files, run unknown commands, or push to production without explicit permission. You stay in control.

The mental model is closer to "pair programming with a very fast junior dev" than "AI autocomplete." You describe the outcome. It handles the implementation details.

//Getting Started

CLI Installation

You need Node.js 18+ installed. Then it's one command:

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Or if you're using Bun:

bun install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

That's it. The claude command is now available in your terminal.

VS Code Extension

If you prefer staying in VS Code, there's an official extension. Search for "Claude Code" in the VS Code marketplace and install it.

The extension gives you:

• A sidebar panel for conversations
• Inline diff views for proposed changes
• Quick commands via the command palette
• Same agentic capabilities as the CLI

The CLI is more flexible for automation and scripting. The extension is more visual. Both connect to the same Claude models.

First Run

Navigate to your project directory and run:

claude

First time, it'll ask you to authenticate. You'll need a Claude account. The free tier gives you limited usage. Pro ($20/month) or Max ($100/$200/month) plans give you more headroom for serious work.

Once authenticated, you're in. Type what you want to do in natural language.

Some starter prompts to try:

Explain how this codebase is structured

Find all TODO comments and list them

Write tests for the UserService class

Refactor the auth module to use JWT instead of sessions

Start simple. Get a feel for how it thinks. Then try bigger tasks.

//What Claude Code Is Good At

After using it daily for months, here's where Claude Code genuinely shines:

Complex refactors. "Migrate all our API endpoints from Express to Hono" is a single prompt. It understands the scope, plans the changes, and executes across dozens of files. Tasks that would take a day take an hour.

Codebase exploration. New to a project? Ask "how does the payment flow work?" or "where is error handling configured?" It reads the relevant code and gives you a coherent explanation. Faster than grepping through files yourself.

Test-driven development. Describe the behavior you want, and it writes the tests first. Then it writes the implementation to make them pass. Proper TDD without the tedium of writing test boilerplate.

Git workflow. It can stage changes, write commit messages, create branches, and open pull requests. The commit messages are actually good because it understands what changed and why.

Debugging with context. Paste an error message and say "fix this." It has your whole codebase in context, so it can trace the issue to its source rather than guessing.

//The Limitations

Claude Code isn't magic. Here's where it falls short:

Token costs add up. Heavy agentic usage burns through tokens fast. A day of active refactoring can cost $10-30 on the Max plan. If you're cost-sensitive, you'll need to be strategic about what you delegate.

Context limits still exist. 200k tokens is a lot, but not infinite. Massive monorepos with millions of lines of code won't fit entirely in context. Claude Code handles this by being selective about what it loads, but it's not perfect.

Requires trust. It's making real changes to your codebase. You need to review what it does. If you're not comfortable reading diffs and catching mistakes, you'll have a bad time.

Learning curve for prompting. Vague prompts get vague results. "Make the code better" won't help. "Refactor the auth module to separate business logic from HTTP handlers" will. You'll get better at prompting over time.

Terminal-only core. Yes, there's a VS Code extension now. But the soul of Claude Code is the CLI. If you hate terminals, this might not be your tool.

//Pricing Breakdown

The Pro plan works fine for light to moderate use. Maybe 2-3 hours of active coding per day.

For serious daily use with lots of multi-file operations, you'll want Max. I burned through Pro limits in the first week when I started using it heavily.

The API option is there if you want to build your own tooling or integrate Claude Code into CI/CD pipelines. Pay-per-token pricing makes sense for automated workflows.

//Who Should Use Claude Code

You should try Claude Code if:

• You're comfortable in the terminal
• You're a senior dev who can review AI-generated code critically
• You work on complex codebases where understanding context matters
• You want to speed up tedious tasks like refactoring and test writing
• You're doing migrations, upgrades, or large-scale changes

You might want to skip it if:

• You're a beginner who needs to understand every line you write
• You hate the terminal and won't touch anything without a GUI
• Your codebase is so massive that 200k tokens won't scratch the surface
• You're not willing to review AI output carefully

Claude Code amplifies your abilities. If you're already a productive developer, it makes you faster. If you're still learning the fundamentals, it might let you skip steps you shouldn't skip.

//Verdict

Claude Code is the real deal. Not hype. Not vaporware. An actual tool that changes how you work.

The agentic approach takes some adjustment. You're not coding with AI assistance. You're delegating to an AI and reviewing the results. Different mental model. Different workflow.

Is it worth it? For the right developer, absolutely. If you're doing any kind of complex development work and you're comfortable reviewing code, Claude Code will save you hours every week. The ROI on even the $200/month Max plan is obvious if it saves you a few hours of tedious refactoring.

The free tier is genuinely usable for trying it out. Start there. Run it on a real project. See if the workflow clicks.

My prediction: in a year, not using some form of agentic coding tool will feel like not using version control. Claude Code is the best one available today.

Now go try it.