Anthropic Officially Releases Claude Code - Terminal-Integrated AI Coding Assistant Revolutionizes Development Experience with VS Code and JetBrains Support

On May 22, 2025, Anthropic announced the official release of Claude Code, a terminal-integrated AI coding assistant, at its first developer conference “Code with Claude”¹. The simultaneously announced Claude 4 Opus and Claude 4 Sonnet achieve world-class coding performance. With VS Code/JetBrains integration and GitHub Actions support, developers can now operate entire codebases using natural language and execute autonomous tasks for over 90 minutes. GitHub immediately began integrating Claude into Copilot, and Cursor has praised it as “cutting-edge in coding.”

Claude Code: A New Development Experience Starting from the Terminal

Revolutionary Approach as an AI Agent

Claude Code adopts an approach that sets it apart from traditional code completion tools. Operating within the terminal, it executes the following operations through natural language commands without changing developers’ existing workflows:

Code Search and Understanding: Grasps the entire project structure and explains complex codebases
File Editing and Refactoring: AI optimization suggestions and automatic implementation
Test Creation and Execution: Fixing failed tests and generating new test cases
Git Workflow: Creating commits, generating pull requests, and resolving merge conflicts
Command Line Tool Utilization: Claude Code directly operates tools used by developers

90 Minutes of Autonomous Task Execution

The demo at the Code with Claude conference showcased Claude Code autonomously executing tasks for 90 minutes. This demonstrates the ability to complete complex development tasks from start to finish, going beyond simple completion.

”Seamless Pair Programming” Realized through VS Code and JetBrains Integration

IDE Integration Details

Starting May 22, 2025, Claude Code began offering beta extensions for VS Code and the JetBrains family (PyCharm, WebStorm, IntelliJ, GoLand)². Key features:

Quick Launch

Launch Claude Code instantly with Cmd+Esc on Mac, Ctrl+Esc on Windows/Linux
Also accessible from the Claude Code button within the IDE

Inline Edit Display

Changes suggested by Claude Code appear directly in the editor
View changes in the IDE’s diff viewer rather than the terminal
Approve or reject with one click

Automatic Context Sharing

Automatically shares current selection and active tab contents with Claude Code
Accurate suggestions based on understanding of project structure

GitHub Actions Integration (Beta)

Claude Code’s GitHub integration enables:

Automatic Pull Request Responses: Code fixes based on reviewer feedback
Automatic CI/CD Error Fixes: Identifying and fixing causes of failed builds and tests
Automatic Code Updates: Updating dependencies and applying security patches

Installation is simple - just execute the /install-github-app command within Claude Code.

Claude 4 Models: World-Class Coding Performance

Claude 4 Opus: Optimized for Complex Tasks

Claude 4 Opus delivers sustained performance in long-duration complex tasks and agent workflows. Features:

Extended Thinking and Tool Use (Beta): Uses tools like web search during the thinking process
Alternating Reasoning and Tool Use: Generates more accurate and comprehensive responses
Approximately 7 Hours of Autonomous Execution: In Rakuten’s validation, it autonomously executed open-source project refactoring for about 7 hours

Claude 4 Sonnet: Fast and Accurate

Claude 4 Sonnet, a major upgrade from Claude 3.7 Sonnet:

Superior Coding and Reasoning Abilities: More accurate responses to instructions
GitHub’s Choice: Adopted as the AI engine for GitHub Copilot
Superiority in Agent Scenarios: Stable performance even in complex tasks

New API and Developer Features

Four New Features

New features added to the Anthropic API enable building more powerful AI agents:

Code Execution Tool: Code execution in a sandbox environment
MCP Connector: External system integration via Model Context Protocol
Files API: File read/write operations
Prompt Caching (up to 1 hour): Cost reduction and response speed improvement

Pricing Structure and Usage Methods

Two Access Methods

Max Subscription
- Fixed price including Claude Code
- Ideal for daily use
- Plans for power users also available
Pay-as-you-go (Anthropic Console)
- Consumes tokens at standard API pricing
- Claude 3.7 Sonnet: $3 per million input tokens, $15 per million output tokens
- Thinking tokens charged at the same rate

Cost Comparison

Average Usage: Approximately $6 per day
Comparison with Cursor: While Cursor costs $20 per month, Claude Code costs about $5 per session
Heavy Users: Some developers within Anthropic use over $1,000 per day

Industry Reaction and Evaluation

Support from Major Companies

Cursor: “Cutting-edge in coding and a breakthrough in complex codebase understanding”

GitHub: “Claude Sonnet 4 demonstrates excellent performance in agent scenarios and has been introduced as GitHub Copilot’s new coding agent”

Rakuten: “Validated 7 hours of sustained performance in demanding open-source refactoring”

Impact and Strategic Value for Japanese Companies

Dramatic Improvement in Development Productivity

Accelerated Code Understanding: Understanding and modifying large-scale legacy systems
Quality Improvement: Quality assurance through automatic test generation and bug fixes
Development Speed: Shortened development cycles through automation of routine tasks

Implementation Considerations

Security: Code protection through enterprise version usage
Cost Management: Appropriate selection between pay-as-you-go and subscription
Integration with Existing Tools: VS Code/JetBrains users can implement immediately

Future Outlook

The official release of Claude Code marks the beginning of a new era in AI-assisted development. A development environment seamlessly integrated from terminal to IDE and operable in natural language holds the potential to transform the very concept of programming.

Particularly noteworthy is the ability to execute autonomous tasks for over 90 minutes. This means AI functions as a true pair programmer, going beyond simple code completion. For Japanese companies, Claude Code will become a strategic option as a solution to the deepening developer shortage.

References and Sources

Introducing Claude 4 - Anthropic Official Announcement
Claude Code: Deep Coding at Terminal Velocity - Anthropic Official
Claude Code overview - Anthropic Official Documentation