brew install --cask quentincar0n/tap/multiclaude

Why

The Claude desktop app signs in to one account at a time. Plenty of people have more than one:

• a personal Pro or Max plan, and a Team or Enterprise seat from work,
• a separate organization per client, so their projects and data never mix,
• a test account to try a setup before rolling it out to a team.

Switching means signing out, signing back in, waiting for the email code and losing your place. The app can't run two accounts at once.

Claude desktop does accept --user-data-dir: give each copy its own folder and each one keeps its own sign-in, chats and settings. Power users wire that into shell aliases. It works, but you can't see what's open, re-running an alias doesn't bring the right window forward, and every new account means editing ~/.zshrc.

MultiClaude is that trick with a proper interface.

Features

• One profile per account. Each profile is its own Claude data folder, so sign-ins and chats never leak between accounts.
• Live status. An orange badge marks every account that is running. The menu bar shows how many are open.
• Click to open, click again to focus. No duplicate windows.
• Hover to quit a single account. The header switch opens or quits all of them at once.
• New Profile in one line: type a name, press Return, sign in to the new account in the window that opens.
• Right-click a profile to rename it, move it, show its data folder in Finder, copy a shell alias for it, or take it off the list.
• Imports your setup. First launch picks up your default Claude account, any --user-data-dir aliases in ~/.zshrc, and any Claude-* folder in Application Support.
• Global shortcut ⌃⌥⌘M opens the panel from anywhere.
• Launch at login, light and dark mode, colored menu bar icon.
• Tiny. A single Swift file, no dependencies, under 1.5 MB installed.

Install

Homebrew

brew install --cask quentincar0n/tap/multiclaude

Manual

1. Download MultiClaude-<version>.zip from Releases and unzip it.

2. Move MultiClaude.app to Applications.

3. MultiClaude is not notarized by Apple yet, so macOS blocks the first launch. Right-click the app and choose Open, or run:

   xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/MultiClaude.app
   

Requires macOS 15 or later and the Claude desktop app in /Applications.

Use

1. Click the ✳ icon in the menu bar.
2. Click New Profile, type a name such as Work, press Return.
3. Click the new profile. A fresh Claude window opens: sign in to your work account there.
4. From now on, click Work to open or focus it, and hover it to quit it.

Your default Claude account is always the first profile. It uses the app's normal data folder, so nothing changes for it.

How it works

• Opening a profile runs open -n -a Claude --args --user-data-dir=<folder>, exactly like the alias. The default profile runs open -a Claude.
• Status comes from the running Claude processes: MultiClaude reads each one's --user-data-dir argument and matches it to a profile.
• Profiles are a small list in MultiClaude's own preferences (me.somalabs.multiclaude). Data folders live in ~/Library/Application Support/Claude-<Name>, next to Claude's own.

Privacy

MultiClaude makes no network requests and has no analytics. It never opens Claude's data folders, so it never sees your chats, files or sign-in tokens. It does not modify the Claude app. Removing a profile only takes it off the list: the folder stays on disk until you delete it yourself.

FAQ

Is this made by Anthropic? No. MultiClaude is an independent open source tool. It launches the official Claude app and does not change it.

Does it work with Claude Code in the desktop app? Yes. Each Claude window, and the Code tab inside it, runs with the account of its profile.

Can I still use my aliases? Yes. MultiClaude reads the same folders, so an account opened from an alias shows as running in the panel. Right-click a profile and choose Copy Shell Alias to get one for a new profile.

How do I remove an account completely? Right-click it and choose Show Data Folder in Finder, quit it, choose Remove from List, then trash the folder.

What about Windows and Linux? MultiClaude is a native macOS app. A port is welcome.

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/QuentinCar0n/multiclaude.git
cd multiclaude
./build.sh              # builds, installs to ~/Applications and launches
./build.sh --no-install # stops after build/MultiClaude-<version>.zip

Needs Xcode command line tools with Swift 6. Everything is in main.swift: SwiftUI views inside an AppKit menu bar panel.

Screenshots for this README come from a demo mode with sample profiles:

MULTICLAUDE_DEMO=1 MULTICLAUDE_PREVIEW=panel MULTICLAUDE_APPEARANCE=dark \
  ~/Applications/MultiClaude.app/Contents/MacOS/MultiClaude

Releases

Push a v* tag and GitHub Actions builds a universal app, publishes the release with the matching CHANGELOG section, and bumps the Homebrew cask.

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md. Ideas on the list: notarized builds, per-profile keyboard shortcuts, a profile color, and a Windows port.

License

Apache License 2.0. You can use, share and modify MultiClaude freely, including commercially. Contributors grant a patent license with their code, and anyone who sues over a patent in this project loses theirs.

Claude is a trademark of Anthropic, PBC. MultiClaude is not affiliated with or endorsed by Anthropic.