Environment Setup — Windows (no Mac needed)

Get your computer ready before Week 1. Do this at home if you can — it saves class time.

Everyone: Windows setup

Install WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) — open PowerShell as Administrator (right-click Start → "Terminal (Admin)"), run:
```
wsl --install
```
Restart your computer when it asks.
Open Ubuntu (installs automatically with WSL) from the Start menu, set a username/password when prompted.

Install Node.js — inside the Ubuntu terminal:

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_lts.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

Install Claude Code:

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

Verify:
```
claude --version
```

Install the Expo and EAS CLIs

npm install -g eas-cli

(create-expo-app runs via npx per-project, no global install needed — Claude Code will run it for you at Phase 2.)

Install Expo Go on your phone

Open the App Store on your iPhone, search "Expo Go", install (free).
That's it for now — you'll use it to preview your app live once Phase 2 scaffolds a project (scan a QR code Claude Code shows you, no cables, no Mac).

Create a GitHub account

Go to github.com, sign up (free).
Nothing else needed yet — Claude Code will walk you through connecting a project when you get there.

Create a Claude account

Go to claude.ai, sign up (free to create the account).
Subscribe to Claude Code — $20/month tier is enough for this course.
Run claude in your terminal for the first time — it'll ask you to log in through the browser. Do that once.

Create an EAS account

Go to expo.dev, sign up (free).
Run eas login in your terminal once you have a project (Phase 2) — logs your terminal into your Expo account so builds can run.

If something breaks

Don't fight it alone for more than 10 minutes — flag your instructor. Environment setup problems are the most common thing that eats class time; better to fix it fast than get stuck.