Claude Code Download

What to download and from where

Claude Code is distributed in two forms: the npm package for the CLI and native installer files for the desktop clients.

The npm package is the primary artefact for developers. It lives at @anthropic-ai/claude-code on the npm registry and installs via the standard global install command. There is no separate binary file to download, no archive to unpack, and no PATH tweak beyond what npm handles automatically. The package includes the CLI binary, the default skill manifests, and the auth helper.

The desktop installers — a DMG for macOS and an EXE for Windows — are distributed from the product release page. They bundle a self-contained copy of the CLI runtime, so you do not need a separate npm install to use the desktop client. If you want both the desktop client and terminal access, install both; they share the same config file and do not conflict. The claude ai download page lists the current installer artefacts with file formats and checksums.

Version naming convention

Claude Code follows semantic versioning: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH.

A PATCH increment — say, 1.5.0 to 1.5.1 — signals a bug fix with no functional changes. Safe to update immediately. A MINOR increment — 1.5.0 to 1.6.0 — adds new features in a backwards-compatible way. Read the release notes before updating if you have pinned skill manifests. A MAJOR increment signals breaking changes. Review the migration notes before updating on a shared team environment.

The desktop installer version, the npm package version, and the claude --version output all carry the same number. If they diverge, the desktop client or the CLI is out of date — update whichever one is behind.

Pre-release and beta tags

Stable releases use the latest npm dist-tag. Pre-release builds carry a suffix such as -beta.1 or -rc.1 and publish under a separate tag like beta or next. Installing without specifying a tag always pulls stable.

# Install latest stable:
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

# Install a specific version:
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code@1.5.0

# Install the current beta (if available):
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code@beta

Pre-release versions are not recommended for production use. Teams evaluating upcoming features should install them in a separate Node environment — using a tool like nvm — rather than overwriting the stable global install.

Download artefact reference

The table below maps each downloadable artefact to its format and the checksum style used to verify it.

Artifact	Format	Checksum style
CLI npm package	.tgz (npm registry)	SHA-512 integrity field in package-lock.json
Desktop installer — macOS Apple Silicon	.dmg	SHA-256 published alongside release
Desktop installer — macOS Intel	.dmg	SHA-256 published alongside release
Desktop installer — Windows x64	.exe	SHA-256 published alongside release
Claude Desktop — macOS	.dmg	SHA-256 published alongside release
Claude Desktop — Windows	.exe	SHA-256 published alongside release

Verifying a download

For the npm package, npm verifies integrity automatically using the SHA-512 hash stored in your package-lock.json. You do not need to do this step manually unless you suspect the lock file itself was tampered with.

For desktop installers, compare the SHA-256 hash you compute against the one published on the release page.

# macOS / Linux:
shasum -a 256 claude-code-1.5.0-mac-arm64.dmg

# Windows PowerShell:
Get-FileHash claude-code-1.5.0-win-x64.exe -Algorithm SHA256

If the hashes do not match, delete the file and download again. A mismatch indicates either a corrupted download or a file that was modified after publication — neither scenario is safe to proceed with.

Checking the currently installed version

At any time you can confirm what is installed by running the version command in your terminal.

claude --version
# example output: claude-code/1.5.0 linux-x64 node-v20.11.0

The output includes the package version, the platform, and the Node version that was active at install time. All three are worth noting when filing a bug report.

For guidance on supply-chain security practices around developer tool downloads in general, the NSF CISE publications on secure software infrastructure provide useful framing for teams setting internal download verification policies.