Claude Account Switcher

Advanced account manager for Claude Code CLI. Switch between multiple Claude accounts with ease, supporting dynamic account management, exports, and imports.

Manages both authentication and settings:

• ~/.claude.json (authentication/session data)
• ~/.claude/settings.json (user preferences, themes, environment variables)

How it works

File/Directory	Purpose
~/.claude.json	Active authentication config (read by Claude)
~/.claude/settings.json	Active settings: preferences, themes, env vars
~/.claude-profiles/	Directory containing all saved account profiles
~/.claude-profiles/<name>.json	Account authentication data
~/.claude-profiles/<name>.settings.json	Account settings and preferences
~/.claude-profiles/accounts.list	List of all registered accounts
~/.claude.json.active	Tracks which profile is currently active
~/.claude-profiles/export_*/	Exported setups with timestamps

The script saves both files before switching, ensuring authentication AND settings are preserved per account.

Features

✨ Dual-File Management

• Saves both authentication (~/.claude.json) AND settings (~/.claude/settings.json)
• Each account preserves: API endpoints, auth tokens, themes, preferences, environment variables

✨ Dynamic Account Management

• Add unlimited accounts with custom names
• Remove accounts you no longer need
• List all accounts with sizes and active status

🔄 Flexible Switching

• Switch by account name
• Switch by account number (e.g., --switch-to 1)
• Cycle through accounts sequentially

💾 Export & Import

• Export current setup (both files) with custom names
• Import saved setups as new accounts
• Timestamp-based export tracking

🔒 Safe Operations

• Automatic backup before switching
• Prevents removal of active account
• First-run detection and setup

⚡ Proxy Auto-Detection

• Detects proxy configuration in settings (ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL)
• Checks if proxy is already running
• Prompts to start proxy automatically when needed
• Seamless integration with hai proxy start

First run

If no profiles exist, it will prompt you to identify which account is currently active.

Usage

Account Management

# Add current ~/.claude.json as a new account
./switch-claude.sh --add-account work

# Add account interactively (will prompt for name)
./switch-claude.sh --add-account

# List all accounts with status
./switch-claude.sh --list

# Remove an account
./switch-claude.sh --remove-account work

Switching Accounts

# Switch by account name (backwards compatible)
./switch-claude.sh account2
./switch-claude.sh account1

# Switch by account number
./switch-claude.sh --switch-to 1
./switch-claude.sh --switch-to 2

# Switch interactively (will show list)
./switch-claude.sh --switch-to

# Cycle to next account
./switch-claude.sh --switch

# Show current status
./switch-claude.sh status
./switch-claude.sh --list

Export & Import

# Export current setup (both auth and settings) with a name
./switch-claude.sh --export my-important-setup

# Export interactively (will prompt for name)
./switch-claude.sh --export

# Import a saved setup as new account
./switch-claude.sh --import ~/.claude-profiles/export_my-important-setup_20260311_143022 new-account

# Import interactively
./switch-claude.sh --import

Help

# Show detailed help
./switch-claude.sh --help
./switch-claude.sh -h

Typical workflows

Basic switching

# Before starting Claude, switch to the account you want:
./switch-claude.sh work
claude

Setting up a new account

# 1. Log in to Claude with your new account credentials
claude logout
claude

# 2. Once logged in, add it as a profile
./switch-claude.sh --add-account personal

# 3. Now you can switch between accounts anytime
./switch-claude.sh work
./switch-claude.sh personal

Quick cycling between accounts

# Cycle through all your accounts
./switch-claude.sh --switch
claude

# When done, cycle to the next one
./switch-claude.sh --switch
claude

Backing up configurations

# Export your current setup before making changes
./switch-claude.sh --export before-update

# Make changes, test...
# If something breaks, import the backup
./switch-claude.sh --import ~/.claude-profiles/export_before-update_* restored
./switch-claude.sh restored

What gets saved per account?

Each account profile stores:

Authentication (<name>.json):

• Session tokens
• Login credentials
• Account identification

Settings (<name>.settings.json):

• Always thinking mode preference
• Custom environment variables (API endpoints, tokens, model names)
• Git attribution settings
• Theme preferences
• Telemetry/error reporting settings
• Any other user preferences

Setup (one-time)

# Make the script executable
chmod +x switch-claude.sh

# Optional: add an alias to your shell config (~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc)
alias claude-switch="$PWD/switch-claude.sh"
alias cs="$PWD/switch-claude.sh"  # short version

# Or create a symlink in your PATH
sudo ln -s "$PWD/switch-claude.sh" /usr/local/bin/claude-switch

Notes

• Profiles are stored in ~/.claude-profiles/ directory
• Both authentication AND settings are managed per account
• Always run this script before starting Claude to ensure the right account is loaded
• The script prevents you from removing the currently active account
• Export directories include timestamps for easy version tracking
• No API keys are stored in this repository – only local ~/. files are managed
• Backwards compatible: ./switch-claude.sh accountname still works

Why manage settings.json?

Different accounts may need different configurations:

• API endpoints: Personal account vs. corporate proxy
• Auth tokens: Different authentication mechanisms
• Model preferences: Different default models per account
• Themes/preferences: Keep your work setup separate from personal
• Environment variables: Custom API keys, base URLs, etc.

Proxy Auto-Detection

When switching accounts, the script automatically detects if your settings include a proxy configuration (e.g., ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL: "http://localhost:6655/anthropic/").

What happens:

1. Script detects proxy configuration in ~/.claude/settings.json
2. Checks if the proxy is already running (port 6655)
3. If not running, prompts: Start proxy with 'hai proxy start'? [Y/n]:
4. Default is Yes (just press Enter to start)

Example output:

  Activated profile → work (auth settings)

  ⚠️  Proxy detected in settings (localhost:6655)
  ⚡ Proxy is not running
  Start proxy with 'hai proxy start'? [Y/n]:

  Starting proxy...

This ensures your proxy is ready before starting Claude, preventing connection errors.

Comparison with cc-account-switcher

This tool is inspired by cc-account-switcher but simplified for direct .claude.json management:

Feature	This Tool	cc-account-switcher
Multiple accounts	✅ Unlimited	✅ Unlimited
Add/remove accounts	✅	✅
List accounts	✅	✅
Cycle switching	✅	✅
Export/import	✅	❌
Keychain integration	❌	✅ (macOS only)
OAuth handling	❌	✅
Platform	macOS/Linux/WSL	macOS/Linux/WSL

Choose this tool if you want a simple, transparent config file manager. Choose cc-account-switcher if you need full keychain and OAuth integration.