4 ms·

Show HN: Claude-account – switch Claude Code accounts without logging in again

54 points by hamza_rehman 2mo ago

I use separate Claude Code accounts for work and personal projects. Having to log out and go through the login flow every time I switched accounts became annoying, so I built a small CLI to solve it. The commands are intentionally simple: claude account add myworkaccount claude account add mypersonalaccount claude account use myworkaccount claude account current After switching, Claude Code works normally: claude claude "fix this bug in main.py" Repository: https://github.com/hamzarehmandeveloper/claude-account https://github.com/hamzarehmandeveloper/claude-account Give it a try

pandoro 2mo ago
I use this: https://gist.github.com/KMJ-007/0979814968722051620461ab2aa01bf2 https://gist.github.com/KMJ-007/0979814968722051620461ab2aa0... Simple and works great but requires one alias per account
- orliesaurus 2mo ago
  simple and easy - thank you
- cowlby 2mo ago
  This is great. My enhancement was to create a .claude-profile file which specifies the account alias. "claude" can be aliased to read the file, set the correct env var, and launch claude. Another benefit was if no .claude-profile file exists, claude refuses to launch.
bdemirkir 2mo ago
Or use https://omp.sh https://omp.sh and add multiple accounts. omp tracks usage and when limit is reached it uses the next account.
- AlexErrant 2mo ago
  Sadly incompatible with Claude subs.
  - bdemirkir 2mo ago
    Subs are supported
    - AlexErrant 2mo ago
      Doesn't this require pi, which CC famously bans you for using?
- kn9 2mo ago
  Try https://www.onorca.dev/ https://www.onorca.dev/ too very good
dotancohen 2mo ago
Does it share the global ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md file? For some use case I'd like that, for others it could be problematic.
- cute_boi 2mo ago
  [flagged]
  - carloslfu 2mo ago
    thanks for sharing this one!
  - dotancohen 2mo ago
    > Do you expect vibe-coded slop to care about such things? I'm divorced - I no longer have any expectations. I ask.
brentmitchell25 2mo ago
Another way for those who use mise. You can auto-switch accounts by directory: ~/development/account1/mise.toml: [env] CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR = "{{ env.HOME }}/.claude-account1"
acuteaura 2mo ago
revolutionary. you can do this with 2 lines of shell code. i do this: https://github.com/acuteaura/universe/blob/main/overlays/claude-wrap.nix https://github.com/acuteaura/universe/blob/main/overlays/cla...
carloslfu 2mo ago
appreciate you building this! I have two Claude max accounts. The way I do it is that I have two app launchers (claude desktop). I use the desktop app and a different data directory for each launcher like `open -n -a /Applications/Claude.app --args --user-data-dir="<its profile directory>"`. I got my first Claude to make me two different launchers for the two apps, and it's been working perfectly. wdyt? The only problem I've noticed is with Claude in Chrome. It seems to not work well in the second account. And this makes sense because it was designed just for one app. Do you find yourself having the same problem with this setup? have you tried the second one with the Claude in Chrome ext?
baron3dl 2mo ago
don't people get banned for doing this kind of thing?
- dpoloncsak 2mo ago
  If it's honestly 'One account is paid for by my employer and used as a tool for my job' and 'One account is for personal use, where I work on passion-projects and the likes' I think it's fine....? Not a lawyer but I'd assume as long as you're not using it to bypass usage limits Anthropic wouldn't even really notice or care.
  - baron3dl 2mo ago
    not sure law matters, anthropic is draconian about bans/appeals.
- rew0rk 2mo ago
  The threat of account bans and a less than friendly appeal system does make me wary of trying it, even though this would be incredibly useful.
- ttoinou 2mo ago
  A lot of them also don’t get banned, right ? There are vibecoders youtubers switching accounts all the time So what’s the differenve ?
pwython 2mo ago
I use the Claude Code desktop app for work, and the CLI for personal, so I'm always logged into both accounts!
swyx 2mo ago
does this also extend to codex?
- hamza_rehman 2mo ago
  Not currently It is specific to Claude Code right now
hmokiguess 2mo ago
I built the same thing for myself, but I like your implementation so much better.
noobmax 2mo ago
[dead]
hassanmehdi98 2mo ago
Is it even safe to switch accounts frequently? worried about them imposing a ban
DobarDabar 2mo ago
[dead]
pdimitar 2mo ago
Cool but I would like to reuse my entire account directory and just switch accounts and nothing else. Now I just do `/logout` and then go through the login flow again because I don't want to lose access to all memories and transcripts. Is that supported?
- hamza_rehman 2mo ago
  No, I kept the whole CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR isolated because I didn’t want it to directly copying or replacing Claude’s credential files. It felt too easy to get wrong
lukasco 2mo ago
Can you be logged into two accounts at once? It's not the switching, but the different sessions on different accounts that I find myself doing. As some have said, easy enough to build yourself, but I think it' nice not to have to test it and make sure it works.
- spk_ 2mo ago
  Yes, you can, just need to set a separate config dir. I have the below in my zshrc. alias claude-personal='CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=~/.claude-personal claude'
- hamza_rehman 2mo ago
  Yep, that’s supported. Switching only affects newly started Claude processes, so you can keep work open in one terminal and personal in another using claude account
kingzabbu 2mo ago
Is this safe to use? as some print from other accounts may leak and will it not harm the accounts?
mlitwiniuk 2mo ago
And knowing Anthropic being developer friendly we can expect them to ban this in 3... 2...
hamza_rehman 2mo ago
[dead]

54 points by hamza_rehman 2mo ago

pandoro 2mo ago

I use this: https://gist.github.com/KMJ-007/0979814968722051620461ab2aa01bf2 https://gist.github.com/KMJ-007/0979814968722051620461ab2aa0... Simple and works great but requires one alias per account

orliesaurus 2mo ago
simple and easy - thank you
cowlby 2mo ago
This is great. My enhancement was to create a .claude-profile file which specifies the account alias. "claude" can be aliased to read the file, set the correct env var, and launch claude. Another benefit was if no .claude-profile file exists, claude refuses to launch.

bdemirkir 2mo ago

Or use https://omp.sh https://omp.sh and add multiple accounts. omp tracks usage and when limit is reached it uses the next account.

AlexErrant 2mo ago
Sadly incompatible with Claude subs.
- bdemirkir 2mo ago
  Subs are supported
  - AlexErrant 2mo ago
    Doesn't this require pi, which CC famously bans you for using?
kn9 2mo ago
Try https://www.onorca.dev/ https://www.onorca.dev/ too very good

dotancohen 2mo ago

Does it share the global ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md file? For some use case I'd like that, for others it could be problematic.

cute_boi 2mo ago
[flagged]
- carloslfu 2mo ago
  thanks for sharing this one!
- dotancohen 2mo ago
  > Do you expect vibe-coded slop to care about such things? I'm divorced - I no longer have any expectations. I ask.

brentmitchell25 2mo ago

Another way for those who use mise. You can auto-switch accounts by directory: ~/development/account1/mise.toml: [env] CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR = "{{ env.HOME }}/.claude-account1"

acuteaura 2mo ago

revolutionary. you can do this with 2 lines of shell code. i do this: https://github.com/acuteaura/universe/blob/main/overlays/claude-wrap.nix https://github.com/acuteaura/universe/blob/main/overlays/cla...

carloslfu 2mo ago

appreciate you building this! I have two Claude max accounts. The way I do it is that I have two app launchers (claude desktop). I use the desktop app and a different data directory for each launcher like `open -n -a /Applications/Claude.app --args --user-data-dir="<its profile directory>"`. I got my first Claude to make me two different launchers for the two apps, and it's been working perfectly. wdyt? The only problem I've noticed is with Claude in Chrome. It seems to not work well in the second account. And this makes sense because it was designed just for one app. Do you find yourself having the same problem with this setup? have you tried the second one with the Claude in Chrome ext?

baron3dl 2mo ago

don't people get banned for doing this kind of thing?

dpoloncsak 2mo ago
If it's honestly 'One account is paid for by my employer and used as a tool for my job' and 'One account is for personal use, where I work on passion-projects and the likes' I think it's fine....? Not a lawyer but I'd assume as long as you're not using it to bypass usage limits Anthropic wouldn't even really notice or care.
- baron3dl 2mo ago
  not sure law matters, anthropic is draconian about bans/appeals.
rew0rk 2mo ago
The threat of account bans and a less than friendly appeal system does make me wary of trying it, even though this would be incredibly useful.
ttoinou 2mo ago
A lot of them also don’t get banned, right ? There are vibecoders youtubers switching accounts all the time So what’s the differenve ?

pwython 2mo ago

I use the Claude Code desktop app for work, and the CLI for personal, so I'm always logged into both accounts!

swyx 2mo ago

does this also extend to codex?

hamza_rehman 2mo ago
Not currently It is specific to Claude Code right now

hmokiguess 2mo ago

I built the same thing for myself, but I like your implementation so much better.

noobmax 2mo ago

[dead]

hassanmehdi98 2mo ago

Is it even safe to switch accounts frequently? worried about them imposing a ban

DobarDabar 2mo ago

[dead]

pdimitar 2mo ago

Cool but I would like to reuse my entire account directory and just switch accounts and nothing else. Now I just do `/logout` and then go through the login flow again because I don't want to lose access to all memories and transcripts. Is that supported?

hamza_rehman 2mo ago
No, I kept the whole CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR isolated because I didn’t want it to directly copying or replacing Claude’s credential files. It felt too easy to get wrong

lukasco 2mo ago

Can you be logged into two accounts at once? It's not the switching, but the different sessions on different accounts that I find myself doing. As some have said, easy enough to build yourself, but I think it' nice not to have to test it and make sure it works.

spk_ 2mo ago
Yes, you can, just need to set a separate config dir. I have the below in my zshrc. alias claude-personal='CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=~/.claude-personal claude'
hamza_rehman 2mo ago
Yep, that’s supported. Switching only affects newly started Claude processes, so you can keep work open in one terminal and personal in another using claude account

kingzabbu 2mo ago

Is this safe to use? as some print from other accounts may leak and will it not harm the accounts?

mlitwiniuk 2mo ago

And knowing Anthropic being developer friendly we can expect them to ban this in 3... 2...

hamza_rehman 2mo ago

[dead]