[FEATURE] Install location option for `claude install`

[cemiu]

Preflight Checklist

• I have searched existing requests and this feature hasn't been requested yet
• This is a single feature request (not multiple features)

Problem Statement

My home directory is transient (gets reset every day) and all my persistent storage is on a mounted volume.

With npm builds I just installed CC globally (npm install -g) and set npm's install dir to my persistent storage. This no longer works.

1. Claude native builds default to ~/.local/bin with seemingly no way to change that.
2. Installing then moving makes CC complain about the binary not being at ~/.local/bin/claude (even though it's in the PATH in a different location)

As things stand, I have to reinstall claude code every day.

Proposed Solution

1. claude install [options] [target] should have a path/install directory option added
2. future CC updates should maintain that location
3. CC should look for the claude binary in the PATH, not in ~/.local/bin

Alternative Solutions

No response

Priority

Medium - Would be very helpful

Feature Category

CLI commands and flags

Use Case Example

No response

Additional Context

No response

[github-actions]

Found 3 possible duplicate issues:

1. [BUG] installMethod config setting ignored when ~/.local/bin/ exists #17289
2. [FEATURE] Detect that an installation cannot be updated automatically, or allow indicating claude is managed by a package manager #17532
3. [FEATURE] Add installMethod support for system package manager installations (pacman/AUR, apt, etc.) #13243

This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.

• If your issue is a duplicate, please close it and 👍 the existing issue instead
• To prevent auto-closure, add a comment or 👎 this comment

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically closed as a duplicate of #17289.

If this is incorrect, please re-open this issue or create a new one.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[gocursor]

This is not a duplicate of above listed bugs!

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically locked since it was closed and has not had any activity for 7 days. If you're experiencing a similar issue, please file a new issue and reference this one if it's relevant.