Let's get you set up.
In about 15 minutes you'll have Claude installed, signed in, connected to Unreal — and you'll know exactly where to go next. No experience needed; every step shows you a picture of what your screen should look like.
First question: what kind of computer are you on?
Welcome back. You were partway through setup.
Open the Terminal app.
Hold the ⌘ command key and press the space bar. A search bar appears in the middle of your screen. Type terminal and press Enter.
A window with plain text opens. That's the terminal. It's supposed to look boring.
Copy, paste, Enter.
Select the whole line below, copy it (⌘C), click inside the terminal window, paste it (⌘V), then press Enter.
The terminal prints progress text for a minute. When it stops, it should look like this:
Downloading Claude Code…
✔ Claude Code installed successfully.
Restart your terminal, then run: claude
Restart the terminal, then check.
Quit Terminal completely (⌘Q), open it again the same way (⌘ + space, "terminal", Enter), then type this and press Enter:
2.1.x (Claude Code)
Any version number = success, keep going. "command not found" = you skipped the restart — close the terminal fully and try again.
Open PowerShell.
Press the Windows key (bottom row, four squares). Type powershell and press Enter.
A blue window opens, ending in PS C:\Users\yourname>. The "PS" at the start matters — it means you're in the right place.
Copy, paste, Enter.
Select the line below, copy it (Ctrl+C), click inside the blue window, right-click to paste (that's how PowerShell pastes), then press Enter.
Downloading Claude Code…
Claude Code installed successfully.
Restart PowerShell, then run: claude
"irm is not recognized"? Your window says C:\ without the PS — that's Command Prompt. Close it and redo the previous step.
Install Git for Windows.
In your web browser, go to git-scm.com/downloads/win, download the installer, run it, and click Next through every screen — the defaults are all correct.
Why: this quietly gives Claude a better set of tools for running commands. You'll never touch it directly. It takes two minutes.
Restart PowerShell, then check.
Close the blue window, open it again (Windows key, "powershell", Enter), then type this and press Enter:
2.1.x (Claude Code)
Any version number = success, keep going. An error = close the window fully, open a fresh one, try again.
Open a terminal inside the project folder.
Claude is most powerful when it's started inside our Unreal project folder — that's where it can see the code, our shared skills, and the Unreal connection. Your lead told you where the project folder lives.
On your Mac: find the project folder in Finder, right-click it, and choose New Terminal at Folder (near the bottom of the menu).
On your PC: open the project folder in File Explorer, click once in the address bar at the top, type powershell over what's there, and press Enter.
A terminal opens already "standing in" that folder. That's the whole trick.
Using the Claude Code desktop app instead? Even easier: open the app and choose the project folder when it asks where to work. Then skip ahead — everything else on this walkthrough looks the same in the app.
Type claude and press Enter.
✳ Welcome to Claude Code
Opening your browser to sign in…
Your web browser pops open a sign-in page. Sign in with your Lasting Light account — the one your lead gave you, not a personal one.
Sign in to Claude
Use your @lastinglight work account
Continue with your work email Continue with GoogleFirst time only: Claude also asks you to approve this project's connections (the MCP servers). Say yes — they're ours, committed in the repo.
Say something.
Back in the terminal there's a box waiting for your message. Type like you'd text a colleague — no special language needed:
If Claude answers with a summary of our game — congratulations, Claude Code is fully working on your machine. Two short connections left.
Unreal: already wired. Just check the light.
The Unreal connection ships with the repo — an editor plugin plus a config file Claude reads automatically. You install nothing. The one rule: the Unreal editor must be open for Claude to have hands in it.
1. Open our project in the Unreal editor (if it asks to enable or rebuild our MCP plugin, say yes).
2. In your Claude session, type /mcp and press Enter. You want to see this:
3. Prove it end to end:
Shows as failed? The editor probably isn't open, or the plugin isn't enabled (in Unreal: Edit → Plugins → find our MCP plugin → check the box → restart). The Setup page has the full checklist.
Skills: our playbooks, preloaded.
A skill is a how-to guide written for Claude instead of a human — it packages the exact way Lasting Light does something: our real build commands, our naming rules, our checklists. Skills live in the repo, so everyone's Claude follows the same playbook, and when one person improves a skill, the whole team gets it.
Using them requires almost nothing from you. Describe the task and Claude picks the right skill automatically. To call one deliberately, type / and its name, or just say it in plain English:
The six everyone uses, whatever your desk:
Build or check the project, and fix what breaks — also answers "is the nightly green?"
Makes Claude prove a change in the running game before calling it done.
Paste any error or crash; get back what broke, why, and the likely fix.
Clean changelists, binary-file locks, and untangling "who has this checked out?"
Transcript or messy notes in — decisions, owners, and action items out.
Turns a doc into a task breakdown with dependencies and open questions.
Your department page (last step) adds the specialist skills for your seat — and the full catalog lives in the Skill Library, filterable by department. Notice something a skill should know? Add it — that's the whole flywheel.
Two models, one habit.
Claude comes in different models — same teammate, different gears — and each runs at an effort level (how long it thinks before acting). You only need one habit:
Fable 5
The deepest reasoner. Use it on high effort to plan features, make architecture calls, and untangle the truly hairy bugs. Slower, worth it.
Sonnet 5
Fast and sharp. Use it on extra-high effort to execute the plan — write the code, run the lint pass, do the task. Our everyday workhorse.
Swapping takes five seconds: in the desktop app, click the model name next to the message box and pick from the menu (or type /model — same thing):
The rhythm: plan in Fable 5 (high) → swap → build in Sonnet 5 (extra). You'll do it without thinking within a week.
It asks permission a lot. Here's the fix.
Out of the box, Claude asks approval before editing files or running commands. Great safety default — but inside our own project it means clicking "yes" forty times an hour. We recommend auto mode for day-to-day work.
In the desktop app, click the mode control next to the message box and pick (in the terminal, Shift + Tab cycles the same modes):
Plan mode is the third stop on that same cycle — Claude researches and writes a full plan, and edits nothing until you approve it. Pair it with Fable 5 for anything big; approve the plan, then flip to auto mode + Sonnet 5 and let it build.
Auto mode isn't a blank check — genuinely risky or destructive actions still ask, and everything Claude does still goes through normal review before it ships.
Connectors: MCPs with a one-click switch.
The Unreal connection you just checked is an MCP wired into our repo — connectors are the same idea with a one-click switch. The Claude app has a gallery of them: Google Drive, Slack, Gmail, Calendar, Notion, and more. Flip one on, sign in with your work account, and Claude can read your meeting notes, draft in your docs, and pull from your channels.
Where: Claude app → Settings → Connectors → enable what you use. That's the whole setup — no commands.
In Claude Code, type /mcp anytime to see everything connected to your current session — connectors and hand-added MCPs side by side.
Two rules: work accounts only (never personal), and ask in the tools channel before enabling anything unusual. Connectors are the everyday-work superpower — meetings, docs, and email are where most people save their first hours.
Now put it on your phone.
Everything you just installed lives on your computer. This is the other half — a small companion app holding the six commands you'll actually type, prompt starters for your department you can paste straight into a session, and the fixes for the four things that go wrong. About ten seconds to install, no app store, no account, and it keeps working with no signal at all.
Point your phone's camera at this square
Your camera will offer to open a link — tap it. If scanning isn't your thing, just type this into your phone's browser instead:
Do this on your phone first. That's the one you'll reach for when you're away from your desk and can't remember whether it's /rewind or /undo.
1. Make sure you're in Safari. Chrome on iPhone can't install apps.
2. Tap Share — the square with an arrow coming out of the top, in the bottom bar. Scroll the grey list down a little.
3. Tap Add to Home Screen, then Add in the top-right corner.
1. Chrome often pops up an Install banner on its own. If it does, tap it — you're done.
2. If not, tap the ⋮ three dots in the top-right corner.
3. Tap Install app — or Add to Home screen on older versions. Either is correct.
On this computer too, while you're here. In Chrome or Edge, click the small install icon at the right-hand end of the address bar, then Install. In Safari, use the menu bar: File → Add to Dock.In Chrome or Edge, click the small install icon at the right-hand end of the address bar, then Install. No icon showing? Use the ⋮ menu — Install page as app in Chrome, Apps → Install this site as an app in Edge. It opens in its own window and pins to your Docktaskbar, and you get the dashboard layout instead of the phone one.
Every device, with pictures Open the full install guide iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows, and Mac — step by step, showing exactly what to tap on each one. Opens in a new page; use Back to come straight back here.Stuck, or on a locked-down device? Skip it — hit Done and pick your department. You can install the app any time from the Get the app section of the Setup page.
You're set up. What's your department?
Each department has its own page: what Claude does for your seat, the playbooks you'll use, and real prompts to try today. Pick yours and we'll take you there.
Print the Cheat Sheet, bookmark the Setup page for troubleshooting, and take the free official course Claude Code in Action this week.