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Course/Claude Code Everywhere

7 min · +110 XP

Claude Code beyond the terminal

The desktop app, the editor extensions and the browser version, and how to choose.

By the end of this lesson

You will be able to pick the surface that suits you (terminal, desktop app, editor or browser) and start a session in it.

Claude Code is one engine with several windows onto it. The terminal is one of them; there is also a desktop app, an extension for code editors, and a version that runs in the browser. Project memory (CLAUDE.md), settings and MCP servers are shared by the ones that run on your computer.

Four places to work

The desktop app

In the Claude Desktop app, Claude Code is the Code tab. You pick a project folder with a button, type the task and press Enter, and every change Claude makes is shown as a comparison of old and new lines. Claude can also start your app and show it in a Browser pane in the same window.

For beginners
›If you would rather not use a terminal

The desktop app runs the same engine with ordinary buttons and windows. Download links for Mac and Windows are on the Desktop page of the documentation (code.claude.com/docs/en/desktop). Install it like any program, open it, sign in with your Claude account and click the Code tab. Under the prompt box, click the project folder control and choose your folder. Type your request and press Enter. The Code tab needs a paid plan: Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise.

Desktop: what is worth knowing

  1. 1Before you start, choose the permission mode and the model in the row under the prompt box.
  2. 2To review changes, click the line counts such as +12 -1 in the Changes card, or Changes in the session's title bar.
  3. 3Click any line of the diff to leave a comment. Send all comments at once with Cmd+Enter on a Mac or Ctrl+Enter on Windows.
  4. 4Claude can start your app and open it in the Browser pane. If the pane does not open, click Open on the server's card in the chat.
  5. 5Each conversation is a session with its own history and folder. The sidebar lists them, and several can run at the same time.
💬 Try it in the desktop app

“Start this app and show it to me in the Browser pane. Then tell me what to click to check that it works.”

Claude starts the app on your computer and opens it next to the chat, so you can see each change at once.

VS Code and JetBrains

VS Code: install and open

  1. 1Open the Extensions view: Cmd+Shift+X on a Mac, Ctrl+Shift+X on Windows and Linux. VS Code 1.94 or later is needed.
  2. 2Search for Claude Code and click Install.
  3. 3Open any file and click the Spark icon in the top-right corner of the editor. Or click ✻ Claude Code in the bottom-right corner of the window.
  4. 4The first time, click Sign in and finish in the browser.
  5. 5Select lines in a file and ask about them: Claude sees the selection. Option+K (Mac) or Alt+K (Windows, Linux) inserts a reference such as @file.ts#5-10.
💬 Ask about selected lines

“Explain in plain words what the selected lines do, and tell me if you see a bug in them. Do not change anything yet.”

Select the lines in the editor first; Claude answers about exactly those lines.

JetBrains IDEs (IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, Android Studio and others) have a Claude Code plugin in the JetBrains Marketplace. The plugin does not include Claude Code itself: install the command-line version first, then the plugin, and restart the IDE. Cmd+Esc on a Mac or Ctrl+Esc on Windows and Linux opens Claude Code, and changes appear in the IDE's own diff viewer.

Claude Code on the web

At claude.ai/code, Claude Code runs in the cloud, on machines Anthropic manages, not on your computer. You connect a GitHub repository, describe a task, and the session keeps running after you close the laptop. You can check on it from any browser or from the Claude app on your phone.

Cloud sessions are available on Pro, Max and Team plans, and for Enterprise users with premium seats or Chat + Claude Code seats. They count toward your plan's usage limits, and there is no separate charge for the cloud machine. A cloud session works on a copy of your repository in the cloud, not on the files on your computer.

Which one to choose

A plain rule of thumb

  1. 1The terminal makes you uneasy, or you are just starting: the desktop app.
  2. 2You already write code in VS Code or a JetBrains IDE: the extension, so Claude works next to your files.
  3. 3You want scripts, automation and every feature: the terminal. Scripting and the Agent SDK are available only there.
  4. 4A long task that should continue while your computer is off, on code that is on GitHub: the web, claude.ai/code.
  5. 5You can mix them on one project. A folder opened in the desktop app and in the terminal is the same folder.
For experienced users
✦If you are experienced

claude --cloud "task" starts a new cloud session for the current repository while you keep working locally; every call is its own session, so several run in parallel. claude --teleport, or /teleport (/tp) inside a session, pulls a cloud session and its branch into your terminal; it needs a clean working tree and a checkout of the same repository. Handoff from the CLI is one-way: you cannot push a running terminal session to the cloud. /desktop moves a CLI session into the desktop app (macOS and x64 Windows, subscription sign-in), and claude --desktop opens Desktop on the current folder. In VS Code, the Use Terminal setting switches the panel to the CLI interface.

Quick check

You want Claude to work overnight on a bug in a project stored on GitHub, and your laptop will be closed. Which surface fits?

Quick check

Someone who has never opened a terminal wants to try Claude Code on a folder of their own files. What do you suggest first?

Facts checked against the official Claude Code docs October 24, 2026 · source

EAEvgenii Arsentev

Author

Evgenii Arsentev

PhD · Chief Executive Officer, digital health