When something
doesn’t work.

Reopen the terminal after installation. Confirm which method you used and whether it completed. Check the installer’s PATH instructions for your OS. If you can invoke Claude by its documented location, run claude doctor. Avoid adding a second installation until you understand the first.

claude --version
claude doctor

Check the shell label. irm is PowerShell syntax; curl ... | bash is for a Bash-compatible shell. Windows CMD, PowerShell, Git Bash, and WSL are different environments. Use the matching installation example.

Check /status and the presence of a configured API key without printing its value. A preconfigured key can select API billing. Use /login for the intended account, or correct the environment configuration. Never paste the key to diagnose it.

Check that you signed in to the correct GitHub account. For a private repo, confirm the Claude GitHub App installation includes it. Organization access may require owner approval and the organization’s GitHub connector setting. Reload the repository picker after the access change.

Read the first failing setup command and the project lockfile. Confirm the runtime version and environment network allowlist. A timeout, missing package, unsupported command, and blocked domain have different fixes. Re-run only after identifying which one occurred.

Find out whether Claude wrote code, started a temporary development server, or completed a deployment. These are different outcomes. Check the branch diff, ask how to run it, and confirm a real deployment URL before expecting a publicly hosted site.

An Anthropic-hosted session does not automatically share your home network. Use a local session with appropriate test credentials, Remote Control, or an eligible configured self-hosted runner. Do not expose your production database just to make a cloud task connect.

Check whether you typed a shell command inside chat, or a slash command into the operating-system terminal. Then check /help, version, account, and release notes. The browser may not offer the terminal command. Some commands have been renamed, removed, or restricted to certain plans.

Ask for a short state summary: objective, decisions, changed files, verification, and remaining work. Save lasting project facts in the right instruction file. Use /compact for continuity or a fresh conversation for an unrelated task.

Stop further work. Inspect git status and the diff. Consider /rewind for eligible edits, but remember it cannot reverse all terminal or external actions. For committed shared code, plan a reviewed revert. Never paste a destructive reset command without understanding which work it discards.

Confirm the home machine is awake, online, and still running the required process. Check the signed-in Claude account and subscription eligibility. Follow the reconnect instructions in the local terminal. Remote access is not a replacement for an available host.

Run docker compose ps and docker compose logs --tail=50 in the folder containing compose.yaml. Confirm Docker is running and the files are in public/. Use the host’s browser or the documented SSH tunnel. The example deliberately binds to 127.0.0.1.

Another process already uses that host port. Identify it before stopping anything. For the practice example, change the host port from 8080 to an unused port, restart the Compose service, and update the browser or tunnel address.

Compare runtime versions, build commands, environment variables, file paths, and database migrations. Check actual server logs without exposing secrets. A local development server can mask missing production configuration.