Connect GitHub
GitHub is a free website where your code projects live safely online — like Google Drive, but built for code. Claude Code uses it to save its work on a branch (a safe copy) that you review before keeping.
What you'll get: a GitHub account, your first repository and Claude Code connected to it — with a first prompt ready to try the connection out.
Set it up in four steps
Create a free GitHub account
Go to github.com/signup, pick a username, email and password, and verify your email.
Create your first project (a “repository”)
Go to github.com/new, name it (e.g. my-first-app), tick Add a README, and click Create repository.
Connect GitHub in Claude
Open Settings → Connectors, find GitHub, click Connect, and approve access to your repositories.
Point Claude Code at your repo
Start a new session and choose the repository you just made. Claude now sees your project's files.
Your first request with the repo connected
With the repository selected in your session, try this as-is (swap in your repo's name):
This is my first session in this repository (my-first-app). Read the README, list the files you can see, and explain in plain words what this project contains. Then suggest one small first improvement — for example a better README — and wait for my OK before changing anything.
Want issues and pull requests too?
Add the GitHub MCP connector — see the MCP lesson. For your first project, the basic connection above is enough.
If GitHub doesn't appear: update the Claude app and sign in again with your claude.ai account (not an API key).
10-minute practice. Run the four steps above end to end: account, my-first-app repository, connection in Settings → Connectors, and a new session pointed at the repo. Then paste the example prompt. When Claude proposes its small improvement, give it the OK and review the change on the branch before keeping it — that propose → review → accept cycle is exactly how you'll work from now on.