Classes 10–12 (B): Get the code onto your computer
Part of the task-app setup for Classes 10–12. Work through the parts in order, doing every step yourself; Start here has the worksheet, the screenshot log, how to ask Claude when you’re stuck, and the list of all parts.
Time: about 5–10 minutes.
As of Oct 22, 2026 · Official docs: GitHub: Fork a repository · git clone · npm install
B1. Keep everything in one folder. You made the folder ~/projects/full-stack-demo-app on the Start here page (Before the steps). Everything for this project goes in it:
~/projects/full-stack-demo-app/
├── taskApp-setupWorksheet-v001.xlsx your worksheet: never in Git
├── taskApp-setupScreenshots-v001.docx your screenshot log: never in Git
└── task-app/ the code: your Git repository (Step B3)Git tracks only the files inside task-app, so it can never upload your worksheet’s keys to GitHub. When you ask Claude for help, it works in full-stack-demo-app, so it could open the worksheet; the help prompt tells it never to. Don’t use Documents or Desktop for code projects: on many computers iCloud or OneDrive syncs those folders, and syncing the thousands of files in a Node.js project causes problems (see “Where to keep your projects” in Your First Repository).
Move the worksheet there from your Downloads folder. In a terminal, type:
mv ~/Downloads/taskApp-setupWorksheet-v001.xlsx ~/projects/full-stack-demo-app/mv (“move”) moves a file. It takes two arguments: first the file to move (the worksheet, in the Downloads folder in your home folder), then where to put it (your project folder). The / at the end makes it clear that the destination is a folder.
If you get “No such file or directory”, your browser probably saved the file under a slightly different name (for example with (1) at the end). Move it with the mouse instead:
In Finder, open your Downloads folder and drag the worksheet into the projects > full-stack-demo-app folder in your home folder (in Finder, Go > Home opens your home folder). Open it with Excel or Numbers.
In File Explorer, open Downloads and drag the worksheet into C:\Users\YOUR-NAME\projects\full-stack-demo-app. Open it with Excel.
In the Files app, open Downloads and drag the worksheet into the projects > full-stack-demo-app folder in your home folder. Open it with LibreOffice Calc.
Move the screenshot log, taskApp-setupScreenshots-v001.docx, the same way. From now on, open both from that folder.
B2. Fork the repository. A fork is your own copy of someone else’s GitHub repository, stored in your GitHub account. You can change your fork freely; the original stays untouched. (The name comes from “a fork in the road”: the two copies start the same and then go their own ways.) Forks are explained in Sharing a Repository: Collaborators and Forks.
The course’s copy of the app is github.com/y-rosenthal/yr-2026-full-stack-demo. It is the code from the tutorial video (pixegami/task-app), updated so that it works with today’s Supabase and the other services. Fork this copy, not the video’s original.
- Sign in to GitHub and go to github.com/y-rosenthal/yr-2026-full-stack-demo.
- Click Fork (top right). On the “Create a new fork” page, change the Repository name to
task-app, then click Create fork. If GitHub says you already have a repository with that name (for example from an earlier attempt), first rename that old one: open it on GitHub, click Settings, and change its Repository name, for example totask-app-old. - You land on your fork, at
https://github.com/YOUR-USERNAME/task-app. Type your GitHub username into the worksheet’s My Info sheet.
B3. Clone your fork. Cloning downloads a copy of a GitHub repository to your computer. Go to your project folder in a terminal by typing this command and pressing Enter (cd means “change directory”, that is, go to a folder):
cd ~/projects/full-stack-demo-appThen, in the same terminal, run the git clone command. Copy it from the worksheet’s Commands sheet (it has your username in it), or type it with your own GitHub username in place of YOUR-USERNAME:
git clone https://github.com/YOUR-USERNAME/task-appgit clone copies a repository from GitHub to your computer: all its files and their whole history. The argument is your fork’s web address. Git makes a new folder named after the repository, so this creates the folder task-app inside full-stack-demo-app. The copy remembers where it came from, so later git push knows where to upload your changes.
B4. Open the project in VS Code. In VS Code, choose File > Open Folder (or Command Palette: File: Open Folder), choose projects/full-stack-demo-app in your home folder, and click Open (click Yes, I trust the authors if asked). Open full-stack-demo-app, not task-app: then VS Code’s terminal and its Claude panel start in that folder, next to your code.
B5. Install the packages. Use VS Code’s terminal from here on (see The terminal inside VS Code): open it with Terminal > New Terminal. It starts in full-stack-demo-app, so first go into the app’s folder:
cd task-appHere cd gets just the folder’s name, not a full path starting with ~: the shell looks for task-app inside the folder you’re already in. On Windows, check that the terminal panel says bash at the right (Step A5). Then type this command and press Enter:
npm installnpm install reads the file package.json, the app’s list of the packages it needs, and downloads every one of them (and the packages they need) into a folder named node_modules. The file package-lock.json records the exact version of each package, so everyone who installs gets the same versions. It takes a minute or two. Warnings about “deprecated” packages and “vulnerabilities” are normal. Don’t run npm audit fix --force: it upgrades packages to versions this code doesn’t work with. More in Step 2: Installing the Node.js packages with npm.
B6. Claude in VS Code, for when you’re stuck. Click the Claude icon in VS Code to open the Claude Code panel. That’s where you can ask for help from now on, next to your files and terminal: see When you’re stuck: ask Claude.