c5: The Claude Code IDE

C5 is the Claude Code IDE — an Electron desktop app wrapping the Claude Code CLI with a rich UI. "C5" originally stood for "Claude Code: Core, Configurator, Coordinator", but it is now just a name.

Authentication

C5 uses your local Claude Code CLI, so whatever authentication you have setup there is used. C5 has no direct authentication layer itself, it is just a local app running on top of Claude Code CLI.

Install

macOS (Homebrew)

brew install --cask redhale/c5-ide/c5-ide

Linux (Homebrew)

brew install redhale/c5-ide/c5-ide

Windows (winget)

winget install redhale.c5-ide

Direct download

Grab the latest .dmg, .AppImage, .deb, or .exe from GitHub Releases.

Platform	Artifacts
macOS	.dmg (arm64, x64), .zip (arm64, x64)
Linux	.AppImage (x86_64), .deb (x86_64)
Windows	.exe NSIS installer (x64)

Prerequisites

C5 requires Claude Code CLI to be installed and authenticated.

Development

Requirements

• Node.js 22+
• pnpm 10+
• go-task — all dev commands go through task

Setup

git clone https://github.com/redhale/c5.git
cd c5
task setup    # installs deps, git hooks, and Playwright browsers

Common tasks

task setup                          # Installs deps, git hooks, and Playwright browsers
task local-stack:list               # Show all running stacks
task local-stack:up -- <name>       # Start a named stack with auto-assigned ports
task local-stack:show -- <name>     # Show details for a stack
task local-stack:down -- <name>     # Stop a named stack
task build                          # Production build
task test:unit                      # Run unit tests (Vitest)
task test:e2e                       # Run E2E tests (Playwright, builds first)
task lint:fix                       # Auto-fix lint and formatting

Run task with no arguments to see all available commands.

Support

If you have questions, need help, or want to report a bug, please open a GitHub issue.