Install Node.js on your Mac

Node.js is what lets JavaScript run outside the browser: on your own machine, in the terminal. Node comes with npm, the manager you use to install packages and tools written in JavaScript (including a pile of AI tools). Put plainly: without Node, half the dev internet won't start on your Mac.

If you don't have Homebrew yet, install it first. It's a single line and it's the base for everything else. Here it is step by step: install Homebrew.

Install it

With Homebrew already set up, Node is one line. Paste it into the Terminal and hit Enter:

brew install node

It takes a couple of minutes. This installs the latest stable version of Node and npm along with it, so you don't have to install them separately.

Check it works

Run these two lines. If each one gives you back a version number, you're done:

node --version
v22.11.0
npm --version
10.9.0

The exact numbers don't matter as long as they show up. That pair of versions is all the confirmation you need.

If it still says command not found

Two common causes, both quick:

• Stale terminal. The install finished, but your terminal is still on the old PATH. Close it, open a new one, and try again.
• Homebrew isn't on the PATH. On an Apple Silicon Mac (M1 through M4), Homebrew needs two extra lines so the terminal can find it. They're in the Homebrew tutorial, in the section about the step almost everyone skips.

Ready for what's next

With Node and npm working, you can now install tools written in JavaScript with a single line. One of them is Claude Code, the AI agent that lives in your terminal and writes code with you: install Claude Code.