diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
index 04fe9c1..db069ca 100755
--- a/install.sh
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -41,6 +41,23 @@ for src in "$repo_dir"/bin/*; do
     echo "link:  $link -> $src"
 done
 
+# Dependency: `rclaude` drives the `claude` CLI, so claude is a hard dep —
+# install it via the official installer if it's missing. Idempotent: skipped
+# when claude is already on PATH. (Auth is provisioned separately — login or
+# a copied ~/.claude/.credentials.json.)
+if command -v claude >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    echo "ok:    claude present ($(claude --version 2>/dev/null | head -1))"
+elif command -v curl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    echo "dep:   claude CLI missing — installing via official installer…"
+    if curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash; then
+        echo "ok:    claude installed ($("$HOME/.local/bin/claude" --version 2>/dev/null | head -1))"
+    else
+        echo "warn:  claude auto-install failed — install it manually" >&2
+    fi
+else
+    echo "warn:  claude missing and curl unavailable — install claude manually" >&2
+fi
+
 # Install tmux.conf if tmux is present and the user has no existing config.
 if command -v tmux >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     tmux_conf="$HOME/.tmux.conf"