← Blog · 2026-10-23

Claude Code Command Not Found? 12 Causes and Fixes

30-second test: open a brand-new terminal window and run claude --version. If it prints something like 2.1.211 (Claude Code), you're done and the old window just had a stale PATH (cause 2). If it still says not found, run ls -la ~/.local/bin/claude (Windows PowerShell: Test-Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.local\bin\claude.exe"). A file there means a PATH problem: start at cause 1. No file means Claude Code never installed: start at cause 6.

The native installer puts claude at ~/.local/bin/claude on macOS and Linux and at %USERPROFILE%\.local\bin\claude.exe on Windows. Your shell only finds programs in folders listed in PATH, so most "command not found" problems are that folder missing from PATH, a terminal that hasn't picked up the change, or an install that quietly didn't finish.

The error looks different on each platform, but it's the same problem:

• macOS: zsh: command not found: claude
• Linux: bash: claude: command not found
• Windows CMD: 'claude' is not recognized as an internal or external command
• PowerShell: claude : The term 'claude' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet

Installed, but the shell can't find it: 5 causes

1. ~/.local/bin isn't in your PATH. The installer tells you so under Setup notes: with Native installation exists but ~/.local/bin is not in your PATH., but it doesn't change PATH for you. Check with echo $PATH | tr ':' '\n' | grep -Fx "$HOME/.local/bin". No output means it's missing. Fix for Zsh (the macOS default): echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc then source ~/.zshrc. For Bash on Linux: the same two lines with ~/.bashrc. For Bash on macOS: use ~/.bash_profile, because Terminal starts Bash as a login shell that ignores ~/.bashrc (if you already have ~/.bash_login or ~/.profile and no ~/.bash_profile, put the line there instead). On Windows PowerShell: $currentPath = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable('PATH', 'User') then [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('PATH', "$currentPath;$env:USERPROFILE\.local\bin", 'User'), and restart the terminal. In CMD, add %USERPROFILE%\.local\bin to your User PATH in Environment Variables.
2. The terminal is older than the fix. A window that was already open keeps its old PATH, and a terminal inside VS Code, Cursor or JetBrains takes its PATH from the editor. Open a new window, or quit and reopen the whole editor, not just its terminal panel. This is also why claude isn't found right after a Homebrew, WinGet or PowerShell install: the session you installed from still has the old PATH.
3. The PATH line never got saved, or went to the wrong file. Run grep -n '.local/bin' ~/.zshrc (use your shell's file). No output means the line isn't there: run the two commands again. Run echo $0 to see which shell you're actually in; adding the line to ~/.bashrc does nothing if you use Zsh. If the echo printed zsh: permission denied: /Users/you/.zshrc or bash: /home/you/.bashrc: Permission denied, nothing was saved: check the owner with ls -l ~/.zshrc, then sudo chown $(whoami) ~/.zshrc if it's owned by root, or chmod u+w ~/.zshrc if it's yours but read-only. Fish and Nushell users need their own shell's PATH syntax.
4. You only installed the VS Code extension. The extension bundles a private copy of the CLI for its own chat panel and doesn't add it to PATH, so ~/.local/bin/claude won't exist. To use claude in a terminal, run the standalone install too: curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash on macOS, Linux and WSL, or irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex in PowerShell.
5. Windows: claude.exe vanished right after an update. To update, Claude Code renames claude.exe to a backup and moves the new one in. If that move fails, the folder can be left with only a file named claude.exe.old.<timestamp>. Restore it in PowerShell with Get-ChildItem "$env:USERPROFILE\.local\bin\claude.exe.old.*" | Sort-Object Name | Select-Object -Last 1 | Rename-Item -NewName claude.exe, then run claude --version. If there's no backup, rerun irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex. A related Windows case: an older Claude Desktop can register a Claude.exe in WindowsApps that wins on PATH, so typing claude opens the Desktop app. Update Claude Desktop.

It never actually installed: 4 causes

6. You ran the install command for the wrong shell. 'irm' is not recognized means you're in CMD: open PowerShell, or use the CMD installer curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.cmd -o install.cmd && install.cmd && del install.cmd. The token '&&' is not a valid statement separator means you ran that CMD command in PowerShell. A parameter cannot be found that matches parameter name 'fsSL' or 'bash' is not recognized means you ran the macOS/Linux command on Windows. If the command printed the script's text and nothing installed, you ran only half of it: irm must be piped to iex, and in CMD curl needs the -o install.cmd part.
7. The installer downloaded a web page instead of the script. You'll see syntax error near unexpected token '<' in Bash, < was unexpected at this time in CMD, System.Xml.XmlDocument or HTML-filled parse errors in PowerShell, or a bare curl: (22) The requested URL returned error: 403. If the output mentions "App unavailable in region", Claude Code isn't available in your country. Otherwise test the download host with curl -sI https://downloads.claude.ai/claude-code-releases/latest (Windows: curl.exe -sI ...): a 200 means it's reachable and the failure was probably temporary, so retry; 403 usually means a proxy or filter; no output or Could not resolve host means your network blocks it. Behind a corporate proxy, set HTTPS_PROXY and HTTP_PROXY before installing. On macOS, brew install --cask claude-code is an alternative, and on Windows winget install Anthropic.ClaudeCode; note that neither updates itself by default.
8. The install was killed or ran out of permissions. Killed or Installation was killed before it could finish (exit code 137) on Linux almost always means the server ran out of memory: installing needs about 512 MB free, and Claude Code needs at least 4 GB of RAM to run. Add a 2 GB swap file (sudo fallocate -l 2G /swapfile, sudo chmod 600 /swapfile, sudo mkswap /swapfile, sudo swapon /swapfile) and rerun the installer. EACCES: permission denied means a target folder isn't writable: check with test -w ~/.local/bin && echo writable, and fix with sudo mkdir -p ~/.local/bin and sudo chown -R $(whoami) ~/.local. In Docker, set WORKDIR /tmp before the install line, because running it from / makes it scan the whole filesystem and hang.
9. TLS errors stopped the download. curl: (35) TLS connect error, Could not create SSL/TLS secure channel or unable to get local issuer certificate mean the secure connection failed. Update your CA certificates (sudo apt-get install ca-certificates on Ubuntu/Debian). In Windows PowerShell 5.1, enable TLS 1.2 with [Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12 and rerun the installer in that window. Behind a TLS-inspecting proxy, pass its CA with curl --cacert /path/to/corporate-ca.pem -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash, then set NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS to the same file for Claude Code itself.

npm, duplicate and platform problems: 3 causes

10. Two installs are fighting. An npm global install, a legacy ~/.claude/local/ install from older versions, Homebrew and the native install can all coexist and give you the wrong version or a broken one. List them with which -a claude (Windows: where.exe claude), plus ls -la ~/.claude/local/ and npm -g ls @anthropic-ai/claude-code. Keep one, ideally the native install, and remove the rest: npm uninstall -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code, rm -rf ~/.claude/local, brew uninstall --cask claude-code or winget uninstall Anthropic.ClaudeCode.
11. The npm install left a placeholder. Error: claude native binary not installed means npm skipped the per-platform optional package or its postinstall script. Remove --omit=optional (pnpm --no-optional, yarn --ignore-optional), check .npmrc doesn't set optional=false, and reinstall. If you used --ignore-scripts, run node node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code/install.cjs. In PowerShell, running scripts is disabled on this system blocks npm's .ps1 launchers: run Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser, or call claude.cmd. npm error code ENOTEMPTY during a reinstall means a leftover folder: delete the directory named on the npm error path line and any .claude-code-* folders next to it, then reinstall. In WSL, exec: node: not found means you're using Windows Node from /mnt/c/; install Node inside Linux with your package manager or nvm.
12. The binary doesn't fit your system. These show up as errors when you run claude, not as "not found", but they're often mistaken for a failed install. cannot execute binary file: Exec format error in WSL means WSL1: convert with wsl --set-version <DistroName> 2. Error loading shared library libstdc++.so.6 means the musl/glibc variant is wrong; on Alpine run apk add libgcc libstdc++ ripgrep. Illegal instruction means the wrong architecture or a CPU without AVX (check uname -m and grep -m1 -ow avx /proc/cpuinfo). dyld: Symbol not found or Abort trap: 6 on a Mac means macOS is older than 13.0. Claude Code does not support 32-bit Windows on a 64-bit PC means you opened Windows PowerShell (x86); use the entry without x86.

Still stuck?

Once claude --version works, claude doctor gives an automated report for anything else, and Auto-update failed · Run claude doctor in the footer is best fixed by running claude update in your shell. If the command runs but sign-in fails, see Claude Code login not working. If it starts but ignores your config, settings not applying shows which file each key belongs in, and if your editor can't see it, try IDE not connecting.

Facts on this page come from Anthropic's Claude Code docs on troubleshooting installation and login and setup. This guide isn't affiliated with Anthropic.

Once claude runs, set it up properly in one go: our Claude Code Power Config Pack has 6 CLAUDE.md templates, permission presets and 8 tested safety hooks, $6 with the launch code while it lasts.