Troubleshooting

claude: command not found after installing

npm finished installing, but your current terminal hasn't reloaded PATH. Open a new terminal and try again.

If it still fails, check that npm's global bin directory is on your PATH:

npm config get prefix
# that directory + /bin must be on $PATH

EACCES: permission denied during npm install

See the detailed fix on the Codex troubleshooting page — it's identical (change the npm prefix or use nvm).

Windows: running scripts is disabled on this system

Windows PowerShell blocks .ps1 files by default (execution policy Restricted), and typing claude in PowerShell goes through npm's claude.ps1 shim. Open PowerShell and run once:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser RemoteSigned

Then open a new terminal. (Our install script is not affected — it calls npm through cmd to sidestep this.)

Windows: EBUSY: resource busy or locked

Claude Code is running (another terminal, or VS Code), so npm cannot overwrite claude.exe. The current script detects this case: it skips the upgrade and still updates your settings — you can keep working right away. To upgrade the CLI itself, close every window running claude and re-run the install command.

Wrong or expired key (401 / unauthorized)

• Open ~/.claude/settings.json and check the ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN value is your key
• To switch keys, re-run the install command with the new key — old settings are backed up automatically

Claude Code isn't using the model I expect

Check in settings.json:

• "model": "default" — Claude Code picks the model from the ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_*_MODEL variables
• During a session, type /model to view and switch the active model

Long tasks get cut off

The default configuration sets API_TIMEOUT_MS = 3000000 (50 minutes). If you've hand-edited your settings before, re-run the install command to restore the standard configuration.

Restoring old settings

ls ~/.claude/*.bak.*
# restore by copying back, e.g.
cp ~/.claude/settings.json.bak.20260811120000 ~/.claude/settings.json

Still stuck?

Contact support with a screenshot of the error — see the channels on Getting started.