Module 01 · Claude Code Fundamentals
Installing and Configuring Claude Code on Your Machine
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Course outline
Module 1 · Claude Code Fundamentals
Module 2 · CLI Workflows
Module 3 · Model Context Protocol Basics
Module 4 · Building an MCP Server
Claude Code is a developer tool with filesystem and command capabilities, so installation begins with workspace and identity safety—not a global “yes to everything.” Current installation and authentication options change; follow Anthropic’s live setup guide for the supported method on your operating system.
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Prepare Before Installation
Create a disposable Git repository with no secrets or customer data. Confirm Git, your project runtime, and test command work independently. Back up work and commit a clean baseline. Never begin in your home folder, cloud-drive root, or a directory containing several clients.
Use company-owned authentication for company work. Do not share one developer account. Review the provider’s data controls and your client agreement before sending proprietary code.
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Configure the Boundary
Claude Code supports permission modes and allowed/disallowed tools. Start with interactive approval and plan/read behavior. Do not use --dangerously-skip-permissions for normal development or unattended jobs. Restrict additional directories and network/tool access to the task.
Create or review:
.gitignore secrets, local settings, generated data
CLAUDE.md shared project guidance
.claude/settings.json reviewed team configuration
.claude/settings.local.json local-only preferences, ignored by GitInstructions guide behavior; settings, sandboxing, OS identities, and credentials enforce it.
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Verify the Install
Run the official diagnostic/version commands, open the sample repository, and ask for a read-only summary. Verify the working directory, loaded context, authentication owner, permission prompts, and absence of secrets. Run the project test manually before asking Claude to do so.
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Worked Example
A Lahore developer creates quote-sample, commits a calculator and tests, and removes .env. Claude is opened only in that repo. The first task is “read the project, list the test command, and do not edit.” The developer confirms the correct files and permissions, then allows one test command. No deployment token or production database is available to the process.
// failure_cases
Failure Cases to Diagnose
6 cases to diagnose
Installed with elevated privileges unnecessarily
use the supported user-level method.
Opened parent monorepo by accident
exit and restart at the approved root.
Secret appeared in context/output
revoke or rotate it; do not merely delete chat.
Permission bypass copied from a tutorial
restore explicit controls.
Personal auth used for client production
move to authorized organizational ownership.
Version undocumented
record it with the project evidence.
// pakistan_angle
Pakistan Angle
Use synthetic names, PKR values, phone numbers, and order records during setup. Agency laptops often contain several client folders and WhatsApp exports; keep each client workspace and credential set isolated.
Plan for interrupted connectivity: commit often, keep deterministic local tests, and ensure a resumed session re-reads current repository state. Do not depend on model conversation history as a backup.
// hands_on
Hands-On Exercise
5 steps
Create the disposable repository and baseline commit.
Install from current official guidance.
configure ignored local settings and reviewed permissions.
Run a read-only inspection and one approved test.
Document version, identity owner, root, and rollback.
// completion_rubric
Completion Rubric
6 checks — tick as you verify
// sources
Sources
3 official sources — check every claim yourself
// check_yourself
Check yourself
4 questions · answers and options are taken word-for-word from this course
1 / 4 · diagnose
Your work shows this failure mode: “Installed with elevated privileges unnecessarily.” What does the lesson tell you to do about it?