Claude Code VS Code Extension: Install and First Steps
How to install the Claude Code VS Code extension and use it well: inline diffs, @-mentions, plan mode and checkpoints — right inside your editor, in minutes.
Yes, Claude Code works directly inside VS Code: the official extension from Anthropic adds a graphical Claude panel to your editor, with side-by-side diffs for every proposed change, @-mentions for files, and a plan mode you can review before anything gets edited. It's the recommended way to use Claude Code in VS Code — and installing it takes about two minutes.
If you're a non-programmer who picked VS Code because every tutorial seems to assume it: good choice. The extension means you never have to leave the editor, and you can see Claude's changes the way developers see them — as diffs, not as mysterious file rewrites.
How do you install the Claude Code VS Code extension?
You need VS Code 1.98.0 or newer and an Anthropic account (you'll sign in on first launch). The extension ships with the CLI bundled inside, so there's nothing else to install. It also works in VS Code forks — Cursor has a one-click install, and other forks like Devin Desktop or Kiro can grab it from the Open VSX registry.
From marketplace to first prompt
- 1Open the Extensions view with Cmd+Shift+X (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift+X (Windows/Linux), search for 'Claude Code', and click Install. If it doesn't appear afterwards, run 'Developer: Reload Window' from the Command Palette.
- 2Open any file and click the Spark icon in the top-right Editor Toolbar — that's Claude Code's icon throughout VS Code. No file open? Click '✱ Claude Code' in the Status Bar at the bottom-right instead.
- 3Click Sign in and complete authorization in your browser. A 'Learn Claude Code' checklist appears after — worth five minutes if this is your first rodeo.
- 4Select a few lines of code, press Option+K (Mac) or Alt+K (Windows/Linux) to drop an @-mention like @app.ts#5-10 into the prompt, and ask 'explain what this does'.
- 5When Claude wants to edit a file, it shows a side-by-side comparison and asks permission. Accept, reject, or tell it what to do differently — your files don't change until you say so.
Is the Claude Code extension free?
The extension itself costs nothing — search results promising 'Claude Code for VSCode is free' mean exactly that and no more. To actually run it you sign in with an Anthropic account, and Claude Code usage requires a paid plan (Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise) or API billing. So: free door, paid engine.
Extension or terminal — which should you use?
Both, honestly, and they share conversation history. The extension wins for visual review: plan mode opens Claude's plan as a markdown document you can comment on inline before any edits happen, and checkpoints let you hover over any message and rewind code to that point, fork the conversation, or both. The CLI wins for completeness: all commands and skills, tab completion, the ! bash shortcut. When you need a CLI-only feature, open the integrated terminal with Ctrl+` (Cmd+` on Mac) and run claude right there. Prefer the terminal look full-time? Tick the 'Use Terminal' checkbox in the extension settings.
claude --resume
Run this in the integrated terminal to open an interactive picker of past conversations — including ones you started in the extension panel — and carry on where you left off.
/ide
If you run Claude Code in a separate terminal app, /ide connects it to VS Code so diffs open in the native diff viewer and Claude sees your current selection.
On macOS Tahoe and later, the system Game Overlay grabs Cmd+Esc before VS Code sees it. Fix: System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Game Controllers, and clear the Game Overlay checkbox. Then Cmd+Esc toggles focus between your code and Claude's prompt box, as intended.
How do you use the Claude Code extension in VS Code?
Three habits cover most of it. First: select before you ask. Claude automatically sees your highlighted code, and Option+K pins the exact file and line range into the prompt — no more 'the function near the top, you know the one'. Second: start non-trivial tasks in plan mode (click the mode indicator at the bottom of the prompt box) and comment on the plan before approving; it's much cheaper to redirect a plan than a finished edit. Third: trust checkpoints. Knowing you can rewind any change in two clicks is what lets you stop babysitting every keystroke.
Lab: your first supervised edit
0/4Practical kicker: bind this to muscle memory today — Cmd+Shift+X, install, Option+K on confusing code, ask 'why?'. The extension turns every strange file in your project into a five-second question, and that's how non-programmers quietly become dangerous.
Author
Evgeny Arsentyev
PhD · Chief Product Officer at a healthtech company
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