# Your First Claude Code Session in 5 Minutes

> Run claude inside your project, give it one clear task, and check the permission mode first — auto mode may edit files without asking on paid plans.

- Canonical: https://guides-ai.pages.dev/guides/first-claude-code-session/
- Plate 02.01 · Topic: First steps (https://guides-ai.pages.dev/topics/first-steps/)
- Published: 10 Jun 2026 · Updated: 06 Sept 2026 · 3 min read
- Source site: guides-ai — https://guides-ai.pages.dev/

Already [installed it](/guides/install-claude-code-macos-linux/)? Here's the first session,
including the one thing that surprises people on day one.

## 1. Start inside the project

```bash
cd /path/to/your/project
claude
```

What it does: opens an interactive session scoped to that folder — which is exactly the code it
can see. Starting it in your home directory is the most common first mistake.

## 2. Check the permission mode

Look at the status bar before you ask for anything. **On Pro, Max and Team plans, interactive
terminal sessions start in auto mode**, where a classifier reviews actions instead of you and
Claude edits most files and runs most commands without asking. Other plans get Manual mode,
which prompts.

Press `Shift+Tab` to cycle to `⏸ manual mode on` if you'd rather approve each step while
learning. See [permissions](/guides/claude-code-permissions/).

## 3. Ask before you edit

```text
what does this project do?
```

What it does: has Claude read the files it needs and summarize. You don't have to paste
anything. It's also a free sanity check that you're in the right directory.

## 4. Give it one concrete task

```text
Add a dark-mode toggle to the navbar and persist the choice in localStorage.
```

What it does: states the goal, not the steps. Be specific about the outcome and let it choose
the implementation — vague prompts like "improve this codebase" trigger broad, expensive
scanning.

## 5. Review before moving on

Read the diff. Run the tests. Then ask for the next thing. One task at a time, finished and
verified, beats three half-done ones in one conversation.

## Verify it worked

Run the app, not just the tests. A change that compiles and reads correctly can still be wrong,
and checking separates useful sessions from ones you unpick later.

## Three things worth knowing on day one

- **Plan first for anything non-trivial.** Prefix a prompt with `/plan` to get a proposal you
  can correct before a file changes — see [plan mode](/guides/claude-code-plan-mode/).
- **It reads the repo.** Point at paths with `@` instead of pasting files.
- **`Esc` stops it.** Interrupt the moment it heads the wrong way; the work so far is kept.

It's an [agent](/glossary/#agent), not a chat: it plans, calls a tool, reads the result, and
repeats. Next: [the keyboard shortcuts that make it fast](/guides/claude-code-terminal-shortcuts/).

Source: [Claude Code quickstart](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/quickstart).