Installation script provides incorrect PATH export command on fresh macOS

Installation script provides incorrect PATH export command on fresh macOS

Summary

The official Claude Code installation script provides a PATH export command that doesn't work on fresh macOS installations, causing the claude command to remain unavailable after following the installation instructions exactly.

Environment

• OS: macOS Sequoia (fresh install)
• Shell: zsh (default)
• Installation method: curl -fsSL claude.ai/install.sh | bash
• Claude Code version: 1.0.84

Problem

After running the official installation command, the script shows this message:

⚠ Setup notes:
  • ~/.local/bin is not in your PATH
  • Add it by running: export PATH="~/.local/bin:$PATH"

However, following this exact command does not work:

export PATH="~/.local/bin:$PATH"
# claude command still not found

Root Cause

The tilde (~) in the suggested export command is not being expanded properly in this context on fresh macOS installations.

Reproduction Steps

1. Start with a fresh macOS installation
2. Run: curl -fsSL claude.ai/install.sh | bash
3. Follow the provided instructions exactly: export PATH="~/.local/bin:$PATH"
4. Try to run: claude --version
5. Result: zsh: command not found: claude

Working Solution

The fix is to use the full path instead of the tilde:

export PATH="/Users/$USER/.local/bin:$PATH"

Or for the .zshrc:

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc

Suggested Fix

Update the installation script to provide the correct PATH export command. Instead of:

Add it by running: export PATH="~/.local/bin:$PATH"

Use one of these alternatives:

Add it by running: export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

or

Add it by running: export PATH="/Users/$USER/.local/bin:$PATH"

Impact

• Severity: High - prevents successful installation for new macOS users
• Frequency: Affects all fresh macOS installations following official docs
• User Experience: Frustrating - users think installation failed when it actually succeeded

Additional Context

• The claude binary is correctly installed at ~/.local/bin/claude as a symlink
• The symlink correctly points to /Users/user/.local/share/claude/versions/1.0.84
• The binary has correct permissions (-rwxr-xr-x)
• Only the PATH configuration instruction is incorrect

This issue would be particularly problematic for new users who might not have the shell/PATH troubleshooting knowledge to resolve it independently.