How It Works

claude-account-switch manages separate Claude Code profiles by leveraging the CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR environment variable.

Directory Structure

~/.claude-profiles/
├── meta.json                  ← Profile metadata + active profile
├── .shell-integration.sh      ← bash/zsh integration script
├── .shell-integration.fish    ← fish integration script
├── .shell-integration.ps1     ← PowerShell integration script
├── .picker.mjs                ← Arrow-key picker script
├── _shared/
│   ├── settings.json          ← Shared settings (original)
│   └── commands/               ← Shared custom commands
├── work/
│   ├── .claude.json           ← Work account OAuth
│   ├── settings.local.json    ← Local settings (profile-specific)
│   ├── settings.json          → ../_shared/settings.json (symlink)
│   ├── commands/              → ../_shared/commands/ (symlink)
│   ├── plugins/               ← Installed plugins
│   ├── projects/              ← Project-specific settings
│   └── plans/                 ← Saved plans
└── personal/
    ├── .claude.json           ← Personal account OAuth
    ├── settings.local.json
    ├── settings.json          → ../_shared/settings.json
    ├── commands/              → ../_shared/commands/
    ├── plugins/
    ├── projects/
    └── plans/

Shared Settings

Shared files (settings.json, commands/) are stored once in _shared/ and linked into each profile:

• macOS/Linux: Symbolic links
• Windows: Symlinks are attempted first. If symlink creation fails (Developer Mode not enabled), files are copied with a one-time notice. Directories always use junctions (no special permissions needed).

Changes to shared settings automatically apply to all profiles.

Profile-Specific Files

Each profile independently manages:

• .claude.json — OAuth credentials
• settings.local.json — Local settings
• plugins/ — Installed plugins
• projects/ — Project-specific settings
• plans/ — Saved plans

Temporary Files

Files like cache/, sessions/, history.jsonl, session-env/, shell-snapshots/, paste-cache/, file-history/, backups/ are auto-created by Claude Code and not managed by claude-account-switch.

Auto Shell Detection

Every time you run any claude-account-switch command, it checks for newly available shells and installs integration automatically. If you install a new shell (e.g. fish), the next CLI run will detect it and set up integration.

Profile Switching

When you run cpf <name> or claude-pick, the tool:

1. Updates meta.json to record the new active profile
2. Sets CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR to point to the selected profile directory
3. Claude Code then reads its config from that directory