cenv

Manage isolated Claude Code configuration directories. Each env gets its own settings.json, plugins, hooks, and session history, independent of ~/.claude/. Think virtualenv for Claude Code.

See projects/cenv/2026-04-15-cenv-design.md in the pickleton repo for the full design.

Install

go install github.com/technicalpickles/cenv/cmd/cenv@latest

Anthropic OAuth users

cenv create auto-copies your OAuth login from ~/.claude into the new env, so new envs are already authenticated:

cenv create my-env           # copies OAuth (keychain + oauthAccount) from ~/.claude
cenv run my-env -- -p 'hi'   # env is authenticated

Cloning from another cenv env works the same way:

cenv create my-clone --from my-env   # my-clone is also authenticated

If you want to authenticate fresh (different account, or source has no OAuth), cenv login <env> drops you into Claude's REPL for /login. cenv login requires a terminal.

For scripts and agents, cenv run fails fast with a message pointing at cenv login if the target env has never been authenticated.

Running under Claude Code's sandbox

Claude Code's sandbox blocks writes outside an allowlist. cenv stores envs at ~/.local/share/cenv/ (or $CENV_BASE), so fresh installs hit operation not permitted on first cenv create.

Add the env base to your sandbox allowWrite list in .claude/settings.json:

{
  "sandbox": {
    "filesystem": {
      "allowWrite": [
        "~/.local/share/cenv"
      ]
    }
  }
}

If you set CENV_BASE, add that path instead.

Development

Common tasks are defined in mise.toml. With mise installed:

mise install       # install the Go toolchain pinned in mise.toml
mise run build     # build ./cenv
mise run install   # go install ./cmd/cenv
mise run test      # go test ./...
mise run check     # fmt + vet + test

Without mise, the raw commands work too:

go build -o cenv ./cmd/cenv
go install ./cmd/cenv
go test ./...

Layout

• cmd/cenv/ — CLI entry point and subcommands
• internal/ — supporting packages
• docs/plans/ — design docs
• scratch/ — throwaway exploration (gitignored where appropriate)