> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/jackdog668/claude-code/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Introduction

> Claude Code is Anthropic's official CLI that brings Claude AI directly into your terminal for software engineering tasks.

Claude Code is an interactive CLI tool published by Anthropic as `@anthropic-ai/claude-code`. It lets you interact with Claude directly from your terminal to perform real software engineering work: editing files, running commands, searching codebases, managing git workflows, and more.

## What problems does Claude Code solve?

Using a web-based LLM chatbot for coding requires you to copy-paste code back and forth, manually apply changes, and switch context constantly. Claude Code eliminates that friction by running inside your terminal, with direct access to your filesystem, shell, and version control. Claude can read your actual files, make edits, run tests, commit code, and handle multi-step workflows — all without leaving your editor or the command line.

## Key capabilities

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="File editing" icon="file-pen">
    Read, write, and edit files across your project. Claude uses context-aware edits and can handle multiple files in a single task.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Bash commands" icon="square-terminal">
    Execute shell commands, run tests, install packages, and interact with your development environment directly.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Code search" icon="magnifying-glass">
    Search your codebase with glob patterns and regular expressions using built-in `GlobTool` and `GrepTool` capabilities.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Git workflows" icon="code-branch">
    Stage files, commit, create branches, inspect diffs, and manage pull requests without leaving the CLI.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Multi-agent tasks" icon="diagram-project">
    Spawn parallel sub-agents (`AgentTool`) to tackle complex, multi-step engineering tasks concurrently.
  </Card>

  <Card title="MCP integration" icon="plug">
    Connect external tools and data sources via the Model Context Protocol. List resources, call tools, and authenticate with MCP servers from inside a session.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Hooks and automation" icon="webhook">
    Attach lifecycle hooks to tool calls so you can enforce policies, log actions, or trigger external systems automatically.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Session management" icon="clock-rotate-left">
    Resume previous conversations, run tasks in the background, and manage multiple concurrent sessions.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## How it differs from using an LLM chatbot

| Chatbot                                | Claude Code                                                |
| -------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- |
| You copy-paste code in and out         | Claude reads and writes your files directly                |
| You run commands and paste output back | Claude runs commands and sees the output itself            |
| Each message loses prior context       | Sessions preserve full conversation history                |
| No access to your git history or diffs | Claude can inspect commits, branches, and diffs            |
| Single-threaded Q\&A                   | Multi-agent: Claude can spawn sub-agents for parallel work |
| No external tool integrations          | MCP servers connect Claude to databases, APIs, and more    |

## How Claude Code is invoked

Claude Code exposes the `claude` binary. You can use it in two ways:

**Interactive mode** — a full REPL where you and Claude collaborate turn by turn:

```bash theme={null}
claude
```

**Non-interactive (`-p` / `--print`) mode** — run a single prompt and get output to stdout, suitable for scripting and CI pipelines:

```bash theme={null}
claude -p "what files are in this directory?"
```

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Quickstart" icon="rocket" href="/quickstart">
    Install Claude Code and run your first session in minutes.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Installation" icon="download" href="/installation">
    Full installation guide including authentication options and platform notes.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>