ccswap

A CLI tool for managing multiple Claude Code accounts with shared customizations.

Why ccswap?

Claude Code stores configuration, history, and customizations in ~/.claude. If you use Claude Code with multiple Anthropic accounts (e.g., personal and work), you need separate configurations for each. ccswap lets you:

• Switch accounts instantly - No re-authentication needed
• Share customizations - Skills, commands, and plugins work across all accounts
• Isolate data - Each account has its own history, projects, and settings

Requirements

• macOS or Linux
• jq - JSON processor
• Claude Code CLI installed

Install jq on macOS:

brew install jq

Installation

Quick Install (Recommended)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vvinhas/ccswap/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

Then add to your shell profile (~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc):

export PATH="$HOME/.ccswap/bin:$PATH"

Reload your shell:

source ~/.zshrc  # or source ~/.bashrc

Alternative: Clone Repository

git clone https://github.com/vvinhas/ccswap.git
cd ccswap
./bin/ccswap init

Then add ~/.ccswap/bin to your PATH as shown above.

Quick Start

# Initialize (requires ~/.claude to exist)
ccswap init

# Create accounts
ccswap add work
ccswap add personal

# Switch between accounts
ccswap use work      # Switch to work account
ccswap use personal  # Switch to personal account

# List all accounts (* marks active)
ccswap list

# Start Claude with active account
ccs

When you first run ccs with a new account, Claude will prompt you to authenticate. This creates the account's .claude.json with your OAuth credentials.

Usage

Commands

Command	Description
ccswap init	Initialize ccswap (first-time setup)
ccswap add <name>	Create a new account
ccswap new <name>	Alias for add
ccswap remove <name>	Remove an account
ccswap use <name>	Switch to an account
ccswap list	List all accounts
ccswap link skill <name>	Link a skill from ~/.agents/skills to account(s)
ccswap --help	Show help
ccswap --version	Show version

Launching Claude

Use ccs instead of claude to launch Claude Code with your active account:

ccs                    # Start Claude Code
ccs --help             # Pass arguments to claude
ccs -p "explain this"  # Use with any claude flags

Linking Skills

Link skills from ~/.agents/skills/ into account(s):

# Link to active account
ccswap link skill agent-browser

# Link to a specific account
ccswap link skill agent-browser --account=work

# Link to multiple accounts
ccswap link skill agent-browser --accounts=work,personal

# Link to all accounts (except main)
ccswap link skill agent-browser --all

If the skill already exists in the target account, it will be skipped with a warning.

Optional: Replace claude with ccs

If you want to use claude directly with ccswap, add this alias to your shell profile (~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc):

alias claude="ccs"

After reloading your shell (source ~/.zshrc), running claude will automatically use your active ccswap account.

How It Works

Directory Structure

~/.ccswap/
├── config.json           # Active account and account list
├── bin/
│   ├── ccswap            # Account management script
│   └── ccs               # Claude launcher
└── accounts/
    ├── main -> ~/.claude # Main account (symlink to original config)
    ├── work/             # Work account config
    │   ├── .claude.json  # OAuth credentials (created on first login)
    │   ├── settings.json
    │   ├── projects/
    │   ├── skills -> ../main/skills
    │   └── ...
    └── personal/         # Personal account config
        ├── .claude.json  # OAuth credentials (created on first login)
        ├── settings.json
        ├── projects/
        ├── skills -> ../main/skills
        └── ...

Shared vs Account-Specific

Shared (symlinked to main account):

• skills/ - Custom skills
• commands/ - Custom commands
• plugins/ - Installed plugins
• agents/ - Custom agents

Account-Specific (isolated per account):

• .claude.json - OAuth credentials (created fresh on first login)
• settings.json - Permissions and preferences (optionally linked to main)
• projects/ - Project memory
• todos/ - Task lists
• cache/ - Cached data
• History and telemetry

Environment Variable

ccs launches Claude with CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR set to the active account's directory:

CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=~/.ccswap/accounts/work claude

How Main Account Works

When you run ccswap init, your existing ~/.claude directory becomes the "main" account via symlink. This preserves your current configuration and makes shared resources (skills, commands, plugins) available to all accounts.

New accounts created with ccswap add <name> get:

• Symlinks to main's shared directories (skills, commands, plugins, agents)
• Their own .claude.json (created by Claude on first login - you'll need to authenticate)
• Optionally, a symlink to main's settings.json

Troubleshooting

"jq is required but not installed"

Install jq:

# macOS
brew install jq

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install jq

# Fedora
sudo dnf install jq

"ccswap not initialized"

Run the init command:

ccswap init

"Cannot remove active account"

Switch to another account first:

ccswap other-account
ccswap remove account-to-delete

Commands not found after installation

Ensure PATH is set correctly:

echo $PATH | grep -q ".ccswap/bin" && echo "OK" || echo "Add ~/.ccswap/bin to PATH"

License

MIT