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Core Stack

Six tools. Opinionated choices that work well together. Install them in order — each one takes about a minute.

Why these tools?

Tool Why
git Track your work, undo mistakes
Volta Manages Node.js without pain
Node.js Required by Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Codex
uv Manages Python without pain
Python Most research tools are Python
Claude Code The AI that does the work

1. git

Track changes to your files. Undo mistakes. Required by most development tools.

git is pre-installed on most Macs. Type git in Terminal — if it's not installed, macOS will prompt you to install it. Click Install and wait.

git --version

sudo apt update && sudo apt install git

git --version

2. Volta

Volta manages Node.js versions so you don't have to.

curl https://get.volta.sh | bash

Reload your terminal:

exec zsh

exec bash

3. Node.js

Required by Claude Code, Gemini CLI, and Codex.

volta install node

node --version

You should see a version number like v22.x.x.

4. uv

A fast Python package manager. Handles Python versions and project dependencies.

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

Reload your terminal:

exec zsh

exec bash

5. Python

uv python install 3.12

uv --version

6. Claude Code

The main AI tool. Conversational assistant right in your terminal.

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

Reload your terminal:

exec zsh

exec bash

Verify:

claude --version

Log in — see Command Line AI Tools for the full authentication walkthrough.

Other AI tools

Claude Code is the primary tool, but there are free and optional alternatives. See Command Line AI Tools for Gemini CLI (free) and Codex CLI, or Desktop AI Tools for Claude Cowork and the Codex App.

'Command not found' after installing?

Reload your terminal (exec zsh on Mac, exec bash on WSL2). If that doesn't work, close and reopen the terminal window.