Using Claude Cowork with VS Code: Build Projects from Your Local System

Introduction

Claude Cowork is really helpful when you use it with the coding tools, on your computer. You do not have to copy code from the internet browser to VS Code all the time.  You can just work on your project. Claude Cowork will help you write code find mistakes and make your application better.

Here we will learn how to get Claude Code set up connect it to VS Code and start making projects from your own computer.

Prerequisites

Before starting with claude cowork make sure you must have:

• Visual Studio Code installed
• Node.js installed on your computer
• A Claude account
• Internet connection

Once these are ready, we can start the setup.

Step 1: Install Claude Code

Open your terminal and run this command to download claude to your local system:

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

This command is going to download Claude Code on your system so you can use Claude Code from any folder where you are working on a project. You will be able to get to Claude Code from anywhere.

Step 2: Verify Installation

After installation, check if Claude Code is installed correctly.

claude --version

If everything is installed properly, it will show the installed version.

Step 3: Open Your Project in VS Code

Create a new folder or you can open an existing project.

Example:

Portfolio-Website

Open the project folder in VS Code.

Step 4: Open VS code Terminal

In VS Code open the integrated terminal by:

Terminal → New Terminal

or simply press:

Ctrl + `

Now you are ready to connect Claude with your project.

Step 5: Login to Claude

Run the following command:

claude

If this is your first time using Claude Code, it will ask you to authenticate your account Complete the login process in your browser.

After successful login, return back to VS Code.

Step 6: Let Claude Understand Your Project

Now Claude can access your project folder and understand its structure.  You can start giving instructions in natural language.

example:

Create a responsive portfolio website.
Use HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
Add Hero, About, Skills, Projects and Contact sections.

Claude will analyze the project and start generating the required files.

Step 7: Review the Generated Code

Claude may create multiple files such as:

index.html
style.css
script.js

Instead of accepting everything directly, review the generated code carefully.  If something needs improvement, simply ask Claude.

Example:

Improve the Hero section.
Make the UI more modern.
Add smooth animations.

Claude updates only the required part without changing the whole project.

Step 8: Continue Building

Once your basic project is ready, you can continue improving it.

Examples:

Add Dark Mode.
Optimize the CSS.
Improve performance.
Fix responsive issues.
Generate README.md.

Claude keeps working on the same project, which makes development much easier.

Best Practices

• Open one project at a time.
• Write clear instructions.
• Review every code change before using it.
• Test your application after each update.
• Use Git to save your progress regularly.
• Improve the existing project instead of generating everything again.

These practices helps keeping your project organized and also improve the quality of generated code.

Example Workflow

Create/Open Project
        ↓
Open VS Code
        ↓
Run Claude
        ↓
Login
        ↓
Give Prompt
        ↓
Claude Generates Code
        ↓
Review Changes
        ↓
Improve Project
        ↓
Test Application
        ↓
Deploy