If you’re installing Claude Code on macOS using Homebrew, the official instruction currently suggests:

brew install claude-code

While this works, it installs the latest stable version, not the latest available version. Depending on your use case, that can leave you behind on features and fixes.

Install the latest version

To install the most recent release, you should explicitly use:

brew install claude-code@latest

This ensures you’re running the newest version instead of the lagging stable cask.

Fix an existing installation

If you already installed claude-code using the default command, you’ll need to replace it:

brew uninstall claude-code && brew install claude-code@latest

That removes the stable version and installs the latest one cleanly.

Why this matters

Homebrew distinguishes between:

• Stable casks → default installs (claude-code)
• Versioned or alternative casks → explicit installs (claude-code@latest)

In this case, the naming is a bit misleading because @latest is not the default. This has already caused confusion in the community and is being discussed upstream.

More context

• Issue discussion: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/42176
• Homebrew PR: https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-cask/pull/255221

Takeaway

If you want the newest Claude Code features and fixes, don’t rely on the default install. Use:

brew install claude-code@latest

and you’ll avoid running an outdated version without realizing it.