[BUG] [DOCS] Blessed installation (non-deprecated) path rules out FreeBSD, other OSs

Resolved 💬 4 comments Opened Feb 2, 2026 by sgharms Closed Mar 3, 2026

Preflight Checklist

  • [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
  • [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
  • [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Since Claude Code has moved to using a native installer, a path to using Claude Code on FreeBSD is unclear.

Previously I was effectively using the npm installation. With that now deprecated, it'd be great to see the non-commercial Unix supported. Fundamentally, the issues are around portability as far as I can tell -- nothing seems to break due to kernel-level support.

Previously this issue was cataloged at #10673, but it seems to have been close despite activity in its final post.

What Should Happen?

  1. Add FreeBSD to native installer
  2. Designate npm as an advanced user installation path or a "self-support" path. It's fine for Anthropic to make that call, business is an exercise in responding to constraint, but provide a default fallback path

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Install freebsd
  2. Native installer breaks on OS type sniffing
  3. npm is stated as deprecated

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

Impossible to perform

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Other

Terminal/Shell

Xterm

Additional Information

_No response_

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