Is Claude Down? Check This Before You Debug Claude Code.

When Claude Code fails, most people immediately start changing their setup. Sometimes the setup is fine. Claude is slow, the API is degraded, your account is rate limited, or the local command is waiting on a stale process.

Use this checklist before you start reinstalling anything.

1. Check the visible symptom.

• ✓If Claude.ai is not loading, treat it as a Claude service issue first.
• ✓If Claude Code starts but hangs mid-task, check status and rate limits before touching your repo.
• ✓If only one project fails, assume a local project issue until proven otherwise.

2. Separate Claude.ai from Claude Code.

Claude.ai, Claude Code subscription auth, and API-key usage can fail differently. A browser outage does not always mean the CLI is down. An API quota error does not always mean your Pro subscription is broken.

3. Check your account and usage.

• ✓Look for usage-limit or quota messages in the terminal.
• ✓Confirm whether you are authenticated with a subscription login or API key.
• ✓If using API credits, check the console balance before debugging local files.

4. Check the local basics.

• ✓Restart the terminal session.
• ✓Run Claude Code from a small folder, not your entire home directory.
• ✓Confirm Node and npm still work if the failure happens during install or command execution.

When to stop debugging.

If multiple Claude surfaces are degraded, stop changing your local setup. Wait, or switch to planning work: write the issue, outline the fix, prepare the test cases, and run the implementation when the service is stable.