Okay now, this is the tool that lets Claude Code make real images and video for you, right from the terminal built into Claude Code Desktop. No dashboard, no uploading files by hand. Let's get it running, one command at a time.
If you already know your way around a terminal, here's the whole install in five lines. Everyone else, keep scrolling, we break down each one below.
Ctrl + ` node -vnpm install -g @wavespeed/cliwavespeed loginwavespeed statusWhen you're building with Claude Code, stopping to open a website, log in, upload a file, and download the result breaks your whole rhythm. WaveSpeed is the AI model marketplace, images, video, audio, all of it. The CLI is what lets Claude Code talk to WaveSpeed directly, so you can just say "make me an image of X" and it happens without you ever leaving your terminal.
We're installing this with npm, the app store for your terminal. It's already on your computer if you've set up Claude Code, because Claude Code runs on the same engine, Node.js. The -g in the install command means "global", so once it's in, the wavespeed command works no matter which project folder you're standing in.
Follow these in order, right inside Claude Code Desktop. Don't skip ahead, each step confirms the last one worked.
Press Ctrl + ` (Ctrl and the backtick key, top left of your keyboard under Esc) to open the built-in terminal panel. Same shortcut on Mac and Windows, no Cmd needed. You can also click Views in the toolbar and choose Terminal.
This terminal is real and typed into directly, it's not the chat. If you'd rather not type it yourself, you can also just tell Claude in the chat "run npm install -g @wavespeed/cli" and approve it when it asks. Either way works, we'll show the typed-in version below.
This is the engine npm runs on. If Claude Code already works on your machine, you have it. Let's just confirm.
node -v
See a version number like v22.13.0? You're good, skip to step 2. See "command not found" instead? Go to nodejs.org, download the LTS installer, run it, then come back here.
This pulls WaveSpeed's command-line tool down and makes the wavespeed command work anywhere on your machine.
npm install -g @wavespeed/cli
Run this and it opens wavespeed.ai/accesskey in your browser.
wavespeed login
On that page, create a brand new key, this is your dedicated key, not one you borrow from a classmate or copy out of a group chat. Copy it, then paste it back into your terminal when the CLI asks. It saves quietly to your machine after that, you won't have to paste it again.
This is your proof. If it shows your API key and a status, you are ready to build.
wavespeed status
Don't just install it and move on. Run one real command right now so you know it's live.
wavespeed models "nano banana"
If a list of models shows up in your terminal, you're done. That's the whole install. Next time you're in Claude Code, just ask it to generate an image or video for you, it already knows how to reach for this tool.
wavespeed status any time you're not sure if you're logged insudo (Mac) or run as Administrator (Windows) unless you know whyYou didn't just install some software. You gave Claude Code a new set of hands. Now go build something with it.