Dev Environment Setup Checklist: Verify Your Setup

You've installed a code editor, Node.js, Python, Git, and Claude Code. Before you move on to the next module, run one final check, it takes under two minutes and tells you exactly where you stand.

Key Takeaways

• Four terminal commands confirm your full setup: node --version, python --version, git --version, and claude --version
• A version number means the tool is installed and working — anything else means go back to that lesson
• If something fails, PATH is the most common cause — and every install lesson has the fix

Your developer environment setup checklist

Skipping this check is how developers spend an hour debugging the next module only to discover Python was never actually installed. Run each of these now. It takes under two minutes.

Open your terminal — that's Terminal on Mac, Command Prompt or PowerShell on Windows — and run these commands one at a time.

Node.js:

node --version

You should see something like v22.x.x. If you do, Node.js is installed and your PATH knows where to find it.

Python:

python --version

You should see Python 3.x.x. On a Mac you may need to run python3 --version instead, both are fine.

Git:

git --version

You should see git version 2.x.x. Git is the most reliably quiet installation, this one almost always passes.

Claude Code:

claude --version

You should see a version number like 1.x.x. If this one fails, it usually means Node.js wasn't installed when you ran the Claude Code install, reinstall Claude Code after confirming Node.js works.

What does "command not found" mean — and how do you fix it?

Seeing an error instead of a version number is more common than you'd think. The most likely cause is a PATH problem; your computer can't find the tool because the installer didn't add it to the list of folders your terminal searches.

The fix is almost always to reinstall the tool and tick the right option during installation.

Here's where to go for each one:

• node --version fails → go back to install Node.js and reinstall
• python --version fails → go back to install Python, if you're on Windows, make sure "Add Python to PATH" is ticked
• git --version fails → go back to install Git and reinstall
• claude --version fails → go back to install Claude Code, run it again after Node.js is confirmed working

What's next

If all four commands returned version numbers, your developer environment is ready. That's not a small thing — and we mean it. Most people who decide they want to learn to code never get their environment working. You did. You've installed real tools on your real computer and confirmed they work.

Module 04 covers Git and GitHub, the version control system that every developer uses, and the platform where all code lives. You've already installed Git in this module. Now you'll learn how to actually use it.

Start the next module on the Getting Started path.

Your Task

node --version

python --version

git --version

claude --version