Getting started
DoGoDev is a small, guided way to get from an idea to a running app with Claude Code. This page gets your computer ready, then walks your very first project — one step at a time, nothing assumed.
If you've ever bounced off developer setup — stared at a terminal, nearly wiped your machine for Linux, or given up and reached for a no-code shortcut just to feel progress — this is the on-ramp built to keep you going. The setup below is the steep part. You only climb it once.
The idea
DoGoDev turns the messy middle of building — “I know what I want, but how does it become a real, running thing?” — into a relay. You talk in plain English; each stage does its job and hands the next a single file, so nothing gets lost between steps.
What you’re building and why, with clear done-criteria.
Screens and flow, before a line of code.
Writes the code and runs the tests.
The part everyone forgets until the outage.
Deploy, release notes, support.
That’s the whole DoGoDev flow: workflow diagram → UI design → code → deployment → maintenance. The stages that don’t apply get skipped. You bring the vision and make the calls; the agents are your engineering staff, turning your direction into working software.
Four steps and your machine is ready to build. Tap any item to open the how-to; tick the box on the left as you finish — this page remembers your place. Everything here is free except one — Claude Code needs a paid plan, covered on its own step below. (GitHub and VS Code? They can wait — see “When you’re ready,” further down.) In a hurry? The one-command start in “Your first project” below re-checks all four and guides any you’re missing.
The terminal is the little window where you type commands — it’s how you’ll run everything below. Nothing to install; you already have one. Windows: press Start, type PowerShell, open it.
First command: one folder at the root of your C: drive, where every project will live. Why there: Windows quietly syncs your Desktop and Documents to OneDrive — and code living there gets synced, file-locked, and duplicated mid-build. A plain folder off C:\ stays fast, local, and out of OneDrive’s reach.
PS> mkdir C:\dev
Every project gets its own folder inside it — e.g. C:\dev\my-first-app. That’s where your work truly lives.
Mac: open Terminal (Cmd-Space → “Terminal”), then mkdir ~/dev — same idea, a plain folder in your home directory. Linux: you know where it is.
Node is the engine that runs your app’s code outside a web browser. DoGoDev’s starter uses newer built-in features, so you need 22.5 or higher.
Download the Windows installer, run it, and click through the defaults.
Download Node.js →PS> node --version
Should print v22.5.0 or higher. If it errors, close and reopen the terminal first.
Git keeps a full history of your work and is how you back it up to the cloud. Get the “Git for Windows” installer and accept the defaults.
Download Git →PS> git --version
Any version number means you’re set.
Claude Code is the tool that runs the DoGoDev agents and does the building alongside you. It lives in the terminal — one command installs it, then you sign in with your Anthropic account.
Cost: this is the one tool on this page that isn’t free. Claude Code needs a paid plan — Pro (~$20/mo) covers getting started; heavy daily building is what Max (from ~$100/mo) is for. The free claude.ai plan does not include Claude Code. Check claude.com/pricing for current numbers — they change.
PS> irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex
Mac/Linux: curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash
PS> claude --version
Open a NEW terminal first, then run it — a version number means you’re set. Then run claude to sign in the first time.
Already use the Claude desktop app? That’s a separate install — it doesn’t give your terminal the claude command. You still need the install command above. (We learned this the hard way, on a machine that uses the app every day.)
Your first project
Setup done? This is the whole loop — five motions, and your concept starts becoming real. You’re talking to Claude in plain English the entire time.
One command does it: it re-checks your four tools (guiding you through any that are missing — always from the official source, always asking first), creates the project folder, starts version history, and drops in the suite:
PS> irm https://dogodev.com/new.ps1 | iex
Cautious about piping a script from the internet? Good instinct. It’s short and readable — open dogodev.com/new.ps1 and see exactly what it does first. It hosts nothing, installs nothing without your yes, and every download comes from its vendor’s official source.
Prefer every move by hand? The same thing, seven commands (change my-first-app first):
PS> mkdir C:\dev\my-first-app PS> cd C:\dev\my-first-app PS> git init PS> git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/mellowcity1/dogodev.git $env:TEMP\dogodev-src PS> Copy-Item $env:TEMP\dogodev-src\.claude . -Recurse PS> Copy-Item $env:TEMP\dogodev-src\CLAUDE.md . PS> Remove-Item $env:TEMP\dogodev-src -Recurse -Force
Mac/Linux (by hand — the one-command script is Windows-only for now): mkdir -p ~/dev/my-first-app && cd ~/dev/my-first-app && git init && git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/mellowcity1/dogodev.git /tmp/dogodev-src && cp -r /tmp/dogodev-src/.claude . && cp /tmp/dogodev-src/CLAUDE.md . && rm -rf /tmp/dogodev-src
Open CLAUDE.md (VS Code, or any text editor) and fill in the “Your project’s house rules” section near the bottom. This is the one step that makes the agents build your thing instead of guessing — skip it and the analyst is flying blind.
For a brand-new idea, you don’t need every line answered — just what you already know. At minimum, say what you’re building and in what language:
Stack: Node 22.5+, plain JavaScript, no frameworks. The covenant: keep it simple — no paid services, nothing that needs an account to run.
Leave the rest as the template’s placeholder text for now. That’s not a shortcut you’re getting away with — it’s how DoGoDev is meant to work: an agent that needs something you haven’t answered yet writes the question down and stops, instead of guessing. You fill in more as the project actually takes shape.
From inside the folder, run claude. It reads your project and the DoGoDev rules automatically.
“claude is not recognized”? Revisit the checklist’s Claude Code step — the install command hasn’t run, or you need a fresh terminal window.
Before building anything, have Claude verify the machine itself. Type:
/setup-checkClaude runs through everything on this page — Node version, Git, whether Git knows your name yet (the most common silent trap on a fresh machine), whether the DoGoDev suite landed, whether CLAUDE.md got filled in — and reports back in plain language with the exact fix for anything that's off. It ships with the suite you copied in motion 1.
Type it inside Claude Code, not VS Code — the command is a file Claude reads, not a program your editor can run. (VS Code will offer a confusing “Markdown extension” prompt if you try to run it there.)
Just say what you want built. Then move it down the line as each stage finishes:
# plain English — no special syntax Have the analyst open a work item for a to-do list app. Send it to the designer, then the builder.
Each stage appends its work to one file for that task, so the next agent picks up exactly where the last left off. That’s it — your idea is becoming software.
When you’re ready
Come back to these when you’ve got something worth protecting, or want a nicer window into your files.
GitHub is your code’s home and backup in the cloud. Here’s the part nobody tells you: saving your work on your computer (a “commit”) is not the same as backing it up — “pushing” to GitHub is what actually protects it. A project can be one push away from vanishing if a laptop dies.
Cost: free for everything you’ll do starting out — private projects included. You’d only pay if your usage balloons (large teams, heavy automation, lots of storage).
Sign up for GitHub →Once you have an account, the push itself is Claude’s job. In Claude Code, just ask: “help me put this on GitHub.” It walks you through the whole thing, including the 5-minute “SSH key” setup that makes pushing painless from then on.
VS Code is a free, approachable place to see your files while Claude does the editing. It also has a built-in terminal, so everything lives in one window.
Download VS Code →Every experienced builder has stared at an error and considered quitting. The difference isn’t talent; it’s having a way through. You don’t need to switch to Linux. You don’t need to abandon this for something “easier.” When something breaks, describe it in plain words — Claude reads your project and the DoGoDev rules and gets you moving again.
Stuck? Type exactly what happened: “I ran node --version and it said command not found.” That’s enough to get help.
Decoder ring
Every term this page (and your first week) throws at you, decoded. Nobody was born knowing these.
PS> is just its prompt showing it’s ready — you never type that part.