Claude Code on the Web: Code From a Browser, Zero Install
Claude Code on the web runs coding tasks in Anthropic's cloud at claude.ai/code: connect GitHub, describe a task, review the ready PR — no install needed.
Claude Code on the web is the same coding agent people run in a terminal, except it works on Anthropic's cloud servers instead of your computer. You open claude.ai/code in any browser, connect a GitHub repository, describe a task in plain language — and Claude clones the repo into an isolated virtual machine, makes the changes, and pushes a branch for you to review. No download, no terminal, no Node.js.
Is this the same as the Claude Chrome extension?
I'll be honest: the first time I heard 'Claude Code in the browser' I assumed it was the Chrome extension. It is not. The Chrome extension lets Claude drive your browser; Claude Code on the web is a full cloud coding environment with its own web interface. Right now it's in research preview for Pro, Max, and Team plans (and Enterprise with premium or Chat + Claude Code seats).
How do you open Claude Code in a browser?
Go to claude.ai/code and sign in — your 'Claude Code web login' is just your regular Claude account, nothing separate. The first time, the page walks you through connecting GitHub and creating a cloud environment. It's a one-time setup that takes about three minutes, and after that every new task is two clicks and a sentence.
Connect GitHub and run your first task
- 1Open claude.ai/code in your browser and sign in with your Anthropic account.
- 2Install the Claude GitHub App when prompted and grant it access to your repositories. Don't have a repo yet? Create an empty one at github.com/new first — cloud sessions always work with a GitHub repository.
- 3Create a cloud environment. For your first project, leave every default in place (the Trusted network level allows package registries like npm and PyPI) and click Create environment.
- 4Below the input box, pick a repository and branch, choose a permission mode — Accept edits for autonomy or Plan mode if you want to approve the approach first — then describe the task specifically and press Enter.
- 5When Claude finishes, click the diff indicator (it looks like +42 -18), review the changes file by file, leave inline comments on any line, and hit Create PR when it looks right.
Can you use Claude Code online without installing anything?
Yes — that is the entire point. Each session runs in a fresh Anthropic-managed VM with roughly 4 vCPUs, 16 GB of RAM, and the common toolchains already installed: Python, Node.js, Ruby, Go, Rust, Docker, PostgreSQL, Redis and more. Searches for 'Download Claude Code' miss the easiest path: for the web version there is nothing to download. It even works from the Claude mobile app — open the Code tab and your sessions are right there, so a task you start on a laptop is ready to review from your phone.
What about Claude Code on the web pricing?
There is no separate compute charge for the cloud VM. Usage simply counts against the same rate limits as everything else you do with Claude on your plan — which also means running five parallel tasks burns your limits five times faster.
What actually happens when you submit a task?
Four things, in order: your repository is cloned to the VM, your setup script runs if you configured one, network access is locked to your environment's level, and then Claude works — reading code, editing, running tests. When it reaches a stopping point it pushes the branch to GitHub. The session does not close after that: you can paste CI failures or reviewer comments into the chat and keep iterating, or turn on Auto-fix so Claude watches the PR and responds to failing checks on its own.
Cloud sessions persist on Anthropic's infrastructure. Shut your laptop mid-task, and Claude keeps going; sessions survive the browser closing and stay listed in the sidebar until you archive or delete them. This is by design, not a bug.
How do you move sessions between the web and your terminal?
If you also use the Claude Code CLI (or the desktop app), web and terminal are two doors into the same house. The bridge is three commands.
/web-setup
Run this inside the Claude Code CLI, not in your shell. It syncs your GitHub CLI token to your Claude account and creates a default cloud environment if you don't have one. Requires CLI v2.1.80+ and a claude.ai login.
claude --remote "Fix the failing auth test in tests/test_auth.py"
Creates a new cloud session from your current repository's GitHub remote at your current branch (push local commits first). The task runs in the cloud while you keep working locally; check progress with /tasks.
claude --teleport
Opens an interactive picker of your cloud sessions, fetches the session's branch, and loads the full conversation history into your terminal. Your working directory needs to be a clean checkout of the same repository.
My practical kicker: tonight, pick one small annoyance in any repo you own — a missing README, a typo-ridden error message — open claude.ai/code on your phone while the kettle boils, and send it as a task. Reviewing a finished PR over morning coffee is the moment this stops being a demo and becomes a habit.
Author
Evgeny Arsentyev
PhD · Chief Product Officer at a healthtech company
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