claudectx

Easily switch between multiple Claude Code contexts.

Use an account for work, but another for personal use? No problem. With claudectx, you can quickly switch between different Claude Code contexts, all from the comfort of your terminal.

Inspired by kubectx.

$ claudectx list
✓ work
  personal
  client-acme

$ claudectx personal
✓ Switched to context personal (~/.claude.json, ~/.claude/settings.json)
  Restart Claude Code for changes to take effect.

Table of Contents

• Why?
• Installation
• Usage
• How it works
• Tips
• Security
• AI usage disclaimer

Why?

Claude Code stores your identity, OAuth session, MCP servers, and settings in two files:

File	Contains
~/.claude.json	OAuth session, account, MCP server configs, preferences (theme, editor mode)
~/.claude/settings.json	Model selection, tool permissions, env vars, hooks

If you use Claude Code with a work account and a personal account (or multiple API keys / subscriptions), swapping between them means manually editing those files each time. claudectx automates that.

Installation

Install from source (requires Rust / cargo)

Pressuming you have Rust installed, and the repository cloned:

cd claudectx
cargo install --path .

Build from source (requires Rust / cargo)

Pressuming you have Rust installed, and the repository cloned:

cd claudectx
cargo build --release
# copy binary somewhere on your PATH
cp target/release/claudectx /usr/local/bin/

Pre-built binary

Download from the releases page and place on your $PATH.

Usage

claudectx [CONTEXT] [COMMAND]

Quick switch (kubectx style)

claudectx work        # switch to the "work" context
claudectx personal    # switch to the "personal" context

Commands

Command	Alias	Description
claudectx		List all contexts (default when no args)
claudectx list	ls	List all contexts
claudectx save <name>		Snapshot current config as a named context
claudectx use <name>		Restore a saved context (same as bare claudectx <name>)
claudectx current		Print the active context name
claudectx delete <name>	rm	Delete a saved context
claudectx rename <old> <new>		Rename a context
claudectx copy <src> <dst>		Duplicate a context
claudectx inspect <name>		Show files + top-level JSON keys stored in a context
claudectx version		Print the version (also available as --version)

Typical workflow

# 1. Log into your work account in Claude Code, configure it how you like
claudectx save work

# 2. Log into your personal account, set it up
claudectx save personal

# 3. From now on, switching is instant
claudectx work
claudectx personal

Shell prompt integration

Show the active context in your prompt (bash/zsh):

# Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc
claudectx_prompt() {
  local ctx
  ctx=$(claudectx current 2>/dev/null)
  [[ -n "$ctx" ]] && echo "(%ctx%)" | sed "s/%ctx%/$ctx/"
}
PS1='$(claudectx_prompt) \$ '

How it works

Contexts are stored in ~/.claudectx/:

~/.claudectx/
├── current              ← name of active context
└── contexts/
    ├── work/
    │   ├── claude.json       ← snapshot of ~/.claude.json
    │   └── settings.json     ← snapshot of ~/.claude/settings.json
    └── personal/
        ├── claude.json
        └── settings.json

When you save a context, both files are copied in. When you use a context, they are copied back out (the previous live files are backed up as .bak first, just in case).

Tips

• Partial contexts are fine. If you only have ~/.claude.json and no settings.json, that's saved and restored correctly.
• MCP servers per-account. Since ~/.claude.json stores user-scoped MCP servers, switching context also switches which MCP servers are active.
• Backups. Before overwriting your live files, the previous versions are saved as ~/.claude.json.bak and ~/.claude/settings.json.bak.
• Restart Claude Code after switching — it reads config at startup.

Security

Context files are stored unencrypted in ~/.claudectx/. On macOS, OAuth tokens inside ~/.claude.json may actually be references to Keychain entries, not raw secrets. On Linux/Windows, they may be stored in plaintext — keep ~/.claudectx/ permissions tight:

chmod 700 ~/.claudectx

Never commit your ~/.claudectx/ directory to version control.

AI usage disclaimer

This tool was built using Claude Code, and may contain inaccuracies or bugs. Use with caution and verify critical actions manually. Feedback and contributions are welcome to improve the tool!