Claude and Claude Code FAQ: Everything You Need to Know in 2026

What is Claude?

Claude is the AI assistant built by Anthropic, a company founded in 2021 by former OpenAI researchers. Claude is designed to be helpful, honest, and harmless, following an approach called “Constitutional AI”.

Claude is accessible via the web (claude.ai), mobile apps (iOS, Android), a desktop app (Mac, Windows), and an API for developers. It can analyze text, images, PDFs, generate code, write content, and reason through complex problems.

What sets Claude apart from competitors: a context window of up to 1 million tokens (roughly 750,000 words), a safety-first approach, and state-of-the-art performance in code and reasoning.

What Claude models are available in 2026?

Anthropic offers three model tiers, from lightest to most powerful:

Haiku 4.5: the fastest and most cost-efficient model. It matches Sonnet 4’s performance on coding and agent tasks. Ideal for simple tasks and high-volume API calls.
Sonnet 4.6: the versatile model. For the first time, a Sonnet outperforms the previous generation’s Opus in coding evaluations. It combines speed and intelligence for everyday tasks, with a 1M token context window (beta).
Opus 4.6: the most powerful model. 1 million token context window (GA since March 2026), native multi-agent collaboration, and the longest task-completion time horizon according to METR evaluations. The go-to model for complex, long-running tasks.

All current models support text, image input, multilingual capabilities, and extended thinking.

How much does Claude cost?

Anthropic offers several plans:

Individual plans:

Free: access to Claude on web, mobile, and desktop. Limited daily conversations.
Pro ($17/month annual, $20/month monthly): access to Claude Code in terminal, code execution, unlimited projects.
Max 5x ($100/month): roughly 5x the Pro plan limits.
Max 20x ($200/month): roughly 20x the Pro plan limits. Ideal for heavy usage.

Business plans:

Team ($25/person/month annual, $30 monthly): team collaboration, more capacity.
Enterprise: custom pricing. Governance, SSO/SCIM, audit logs, expanded context window, custom data retention.

API (pay-per-use):

Opus 4.6: $5 per million input tokens, $25 output.
Sonnet 4.6: $3 input, $15 output.
Haiku 4.5: the most cost-efficient in the lineup.

What is the difference between Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini?

The three major AI assistants in 2026 have different strengths:

Claude (Anthropic) excels at complex reasoning, long-form writing, and code. Its 1M token context window is the largest on the market. Claude Code is the most advanced AI development tool in CLI. Its Constitutional AI approach puts safety first.

ChatGPT (OpenAI) is the most widely adopted in Fortune 500 companies. It’s strong in image generation (DALL-E), real-time voice mode, and offers a broad plugin ecosystem. A versatile generalist assistant.

Gemini (Google) is the strongest in multimodal: video analysis, image understanding, and native integration with Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Gmail, Drive). Ideal if you work in the Google ecosystem.

In short: Claude for code and reasoning, ChatGPT for versatility and multimedia, Gemini for the Google ecosystem. Many professionals use all three depending on context.

What is Claude Code?

Claude Code is Anthropic’s command-line development tool (CLI). It lets you code with Claude AI directly in your terminal.

You launch Claude Code in your project, describe what you want (a feature, a fix, a refactoring), and it generates code, modifies files, runs tests. It works as an autonomous developer that understands your codebase through a 200K to 1M token context window.

It’s not a chatbot that gives you code snippets to copy-paste. It’s an agent that acts directly in your project: creating files, modifying existing code, running commands, and iterating until the result is correct.

Claude Code is available in the terminal, as a VS Code and JetBrains extension, in the Claude desktop app, and in the browser (claude.ai/code).

To get started, check our complete Claude Code guide.

Is Claude Code free?

Claude Code requires at minimum the Pro plan ($17/month annual, $20 monthly). Anthropic’s free plan does not include Claude Code access.

For heavy Claude Code usage, Max plans ($100 or $200/month) offer much higher limits. The Anthropic API also allows pay-per-use Claude Code access, suited for automated workflows.

How to install Claude Code?

Installation takes less than 5 minutes. Prerequisites: Node.js 18+ and an Anthropic account.

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

Run claude in your terminal to log in to your Anthropic account. Claude Code is available on macOS, Linux, and Windows (via WSL or natively).

For a step-by-step guide: Claude Code installation guide.

What is the difference between Claude Code and Cursor?

Claude Code and Cursor are both AI-assisted development tools, but with very different approaches.

Claude Code is a CLI (command-line interface). You use it in your terminal, it has access to your entire project, and works as an autonomous agent that can modify multiple files, run commands, and iterate. Its context can reach up to 1M tokens.

Cursor is a code editor (VS Code fork). It integrates AI into the GUI with autocomplete, inline chat, and real-time suggestions. It’s more visual and interactive.

Claude Code excels at complex, autonomous tasks (refactoring, multi-file features, debugging). Cursor excels at quick editing and autocomplete while typing. Many developers use both in parallel.

What is the 1 million token context window?

The context window is how much information Claude can “see” at once during a conversation. 1 million tokens is roughly 750,000 words, or the equivalent of 75 books.

Since March 2026, the 1M token context is generally available (GA) for Opus 4.6 and Sonnet 4.6, at no extra cost. You pay the same per-token price whether you use 10K or 1M tokens of context.

In practice, this lets you analyze entire codebases, read dozens of 100-page documents in a single prompt, or maintain very long conversations without Claude forgetting the beginning.

For Claude Code, this is a major upgrade: the tool can understand and navigate much larger projects without losing track.

What is extended thinking?

Extended thinking is a feature that lets Claude “think” before responding. Instead of generating its answer immediately, it first produces detailed internal reasoning, then formulates its final response.

This is particularly useful for complex problems: math, code, analysis, planning. The intermediate reasoning is visible in the API (thinking blocks), but thinking tokens from previous turns are automatically stripped from the context to preserve capacity.

All Claude 4.6 models (Opus and Sonnet) support extended thinking.

How to configure Claude Code with CLAUDE.md?

CLAUDE.md is Claude Code’s main configuration file. It gives context about your project at each session.

Place a CLAUDE.md file at your repo root with:

Your tech stack (framework, language, database)
Your code conventions (naming, folder structure, style)
Useful commands (npm run dev, npm test, etc.)
Project-specific rules

Claude Code reads this file automatically at the start of each session. The richer the context, the more precise the results.

You can also have a global CLAUDE.md at ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md for personal preferences (language, commit style, cross-project rules).

Learn more: CLAUDE.md best practices.

What is MCP (Model Context Protocol)?

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard created by Anthropic that lets you connect Claude to external tools and data sources securely.

Think of MCP as a “universal plugin system” for AI. Instead of each tool having its own proprietary connector, MCP provides a standard protocol. Pre-built MCP servers already exist for Google Drive, Slack, GitHub, Git, PostgreSQL, Puppeteer (web browsing), and hundreds of other tools.

In 2026, MCP has matured from experimental to a production-ready protocol adopted by major AI providers. It works with Claude Code (CLI), the Claude desktop app, and enterprise integrations.

For developers, it’s a powerful lever: you can connect Claude Code to your database, internal APIs, CRM, project management tool, all through MCP.

What are agents and skills in Claude Code?

Agents and skills are two advanced Claude Code mechanisms for specializing and automating your workflow.

An agent is an autonomous subprocess with a defined role. For example: a “Code Reviewer” agent that reviews your code, an “Architect” agent that plans structure, or a “TDD Guide” agent that writes tests before code. You can dispatch multiple agents in parallel to speed up work.

A skill is a reusable workflow, a step-by-step recipe that Claude Code executes. For example: a “debug” skill that follows your debugging method, a “deploy” skill that runs your deployment procedure, or a “review” skill that applies your quality criteria.

Both are configured in your project’s .claude/ folder or in ~/.claude/ for global use.

Can Claude access the Internet?

Yes, in several ways.

Claude (chat) can perform web searches directly from claude.ai. This feature is built-in and lets Claude search for up-to-date information.

Claude Code can run shell commands (curl, wget, npm install), giving it full network access. It can also use MCP servers to connect to external services (databases, APIs, search tools).

However, the Claude model itself doesn’t browse the web during its reasoning. Its access goes through the tools it uses (web search, shell commands, MCP).

Does Claude Code work with VS Code?

Yes, and very well integrated since 2026.

Official VS Code extension: Anthropic offers an extension with a dedicated sidebar panel and real-time inline diffs. You see Claude’s changes directly in the editor.
Integrated terminal: launch claude in VS Code’s terminal and work normally.

Claude Code also works with JetBrains (IntelliJ, WebStorm, PyCharm), Neovim, and any editor via the terminal. The tool is editor-agnostic since it operates at the filesystem level.

How does Anthropic handle Claude’s safety?

Anthropic uses an approach called “Constitutional AI”. Instead of training Claude solely with human feedback (RLHF), they give it a “constitution”: a set of ethical principles that the model uses to self-evaluate and improve.

In January 2026, Anthropic published a new version of this constitution: a 23,000-word document (up from 2,700 in 2023). The major shift: moving from a checklist of rules to an ethical reasoning framework. The idea is that Claude should exercise judgment in novel situations, not just follow mechanical rules.

Claude’s priority hierarchy is clear: (1) being safe and supporting human oversight, (2) behaving ethically, (3) following Anthropic’s guidelines, (4) being helpful.

What is Claude Hub?

Claude Hub is the go-to resource for mastering Claude and Claude Code. We publish practical guides, tutorials, experience reports, and curated resources for developers and AI users who want to get the most out of the Claude ecosystem.

Content is bilingual (French and English), free, and regularly updated.

Start with our guides or explore the blog for the latest articles.