Install Claude and NodeGX

You need two apps: Claude, the AI you talk to, and NodeGX, where your app is built. Then you click one button in NodeGX so the two can work together.

1. Download Claude

Download the Claude desktop app from claude.com/download and sign in. It runs on Mac and Windows. Linux is in beta.

Building apps needs a paid plan. Pro is enough to start. Plans and limits explains what each plan gets you.

2. Use the Code tab

The Claude app has a Chat tab and a Code tab. For building with NodeGX, always use Code. Code is Claude Code: the part of Claude that can use tools on your computer.

If it asks you to choose a folder, make a new empty folder called My apps and choose that.

3. Download NodeGX

NodeGX is free. Download it from nodegx.io, choosing the version for your computer (Mac, Windows or Linux). Install it and open it.

The first time you open it, you see Welcome to NodeGX. In the middle there is a box called Build it by describing it.

4. Click Connect Claude Code

In that box, click the blue Connect Claude Code button.

This tells Claude Code where NodeGX is. NodeGX adds itself to Claude Code's settings file, under the name nodegx. It works in every folder on your computer, so you don't need to be anywhere in particular.

When it has finished, the box says Claude Code can now build NodeGX apps. It also says where it made the change and how to remove it. NodeGX shows that on purpose, so nothing is changed without you seeing it.

If you click the button again later, it says Claude Code is already connected. That is fine. Nothing was changed.

Once you have projects, the same box is still there on the Projects tab, just smaller.

5. Start a new conversation

Go back to Claude, open the Code tab, and start a new conversation.

Claude only sees NodeGX in conversations you start after connecting. A conversation that was already open does not get it. If Claude was open while you clicked the button, quit Claude completely and open it again, because it reads its settings when it starts.

6. Check that it works

Send this in your new conversation:

Can you see NodeGX? Please list my NodeGX projects.

Claude asks permission before it uses NodeGX. Click Allow.

If you haven't made anything yet, Claude says there are no projects. That still means it works: it looked. You're ready to plan your first app.

If Claude says it can't see NodeGX

Try these in order. Stop when one works.

1. Check you're in the Code tab, not Chat. NodeGX only works in Code.
2. Start a new conversation. An older conversation won't see NodeGX, even after you connect.
3. Quit Claude and open it again. Quit the whole app, not just the window. Then start a new conversation in the Code tab.
4. Click Connect Claude Code again in NodeGX. If it says "already connected", the connection is in place and step 3 is the one that usually fixes it.

If the box shows an error, it also shows a command. Copy the error and ask on the community forum or Discord. Someone will help.

The terminal, permission modes and models

The claude terminal tool. Claude Code also runs in a terminal, as the claude command. It needs the same paid plan. Install it on Mac or Linux with:

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

On Windows, in PowerShell:

irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex

The desktop app's Code tab and the claude command share one settings file, ~/.claude.json, so one click of Connect Claude Code covers both. If the claude command is installed, NodeGX uses it to add itself (claude mcp add). If not, NodeGX edits ~/.claude.json directly, after making a backup next to it (~/.claude.json.nodegx-backup). To remove the connection:

claude mcp remove --scope user nodegx

Permission modes set how much Claude asks before it acts. default asks before it edits files or runs commands. acceptEdits edits without asking but still asks before commands. plan only reads and plans until you approve. In the desktop app, use the mode selector. In the terminal, press Shift+Tab to cycle through them.

Choosing a model. I use Opus for almost everything. Switch with /model. Plans and limits says when a lighter model makes sense, and Claude Code in depth covers the rest.

Quick reference

• Claude desktop app, paid plan (Pro is enough), Code tab.
• NodeGX from nodegx.io, then Connect Claude Code.
• Always start a new conversation after connecting.
• Claude asks before it uses NodeGX: click Allow.
• Can't see NodeGX? Code tab, new conversation, then quit and reopen Claude.