Run multiple isolated Claude Code instances side by side. Each one gets its own provider, config directory, plugins, MCP servers, and claude-<name> command.
claude-multi-demo.mov
Claude Code is great. Switching between providers and model setups is not.
If you want to try GLM today and DeepSeek tomorrow, you usually end up editing settings.json by hand, juggling env vars, swapping keys, or maintaining a bunch of shell aliases nobody asked for.
The other option is to use each provider's own CLI tool. That sounds clean until you realize every tool has its own workflow, its own flags, its own way of doing things. Learning a new harness for every model gets old fast.
So I went the other way: keep one harness I already like, and put the providers behind it. That's claude-multi. One workflow, many providers.
And because it's still Claude Code under the hood, you keep everything you already use. /loop, /goal, skills, MCP servers, plugins, all of it. Switching providers does not mean rebuilding your setup from scratch.
claude # your normal Claude Code setup
claude-glm # Claude Code using GLM / Z.ai config
claude-deepseek # Claude Code using DeepSeek config
claude-minimax # Claude Code using MiniMax configEach instance is isolated. All of them run the normal, unmodified Claude Code binary.
- Multiple Claude Code instances, one
claude-<name>command each. - Provider templates for GLM/Z.ai, MiniMax, and DeepSeek.
- Isolated config directories. Every instance gets its own
~/.claude-<name>/. - A full terminal UI that covers adding, listing, plugins, MCP, and sync.
- Plugin management per instance: enable, disable, install, copy, remove.
- MCP management: list and copy server configs between instances.
- Optional auto-sync that symlinks plugins and skills from your default
~/.claude. - No fork. It wraps your existing
claudebinary instead of patching it.
- Node.js 18+ or Bun 1+
- Claude Code installed globally
If you don't have Claude Code yet:
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-codeBun:
bun add -g claude-multinpm:
npm install -g claude-multipnpm:
pnpm add -g claude-multiDeno:
deno install -g -A -n claude-multi npm:claude-multiLaunch the TUI:
claude-multiThat's the only command you need to remember. Everything else lives inside the terminal UI.
When the TUI opens, you get something like this:
🤖 Claude Multi - Interactive Mode
➕ Add new instance
📋 List all instances
ℹ️ Instance details
🔌 Manage plugins
🔄 Toggle auto-sync
🔗 Re-sync symlinks
🗑️ Remove instance
⚙️ MCP servers
🚪 Exit
Arrow keys to move. Enter to pick. ESC to go back. q to quit.
Pick ➕ Add new instance. The wizard has eight steps.
1. Instance name
Pick something short like glm, deepseek, or work. Letters, numbers, hyphens, and underscores only. Whatever you type here becomes your command, so glm gives you claude-glm.
2. Provider template
Pick one:
glmfor GLM / Z.aiminimaxfor MiniMaxdeepseekfor DeepSeekNone / Customif you want to set things up by hand later
3. API key (only if you picked a provider)
Paste your key. It's masked while you type and gets written into the instance's settings.json.
4. Confirm paths
The wizard shows where things will go:
- Config:
~/.claude-<name>/ - Binary:
~/.local/bin/claude-<name>
Hit y to accept. The defaults are fine for almost everyone.
5. Copy options
If you already have a ~/.claude setup, you can carry pieces of it into the new instance:
- Nothing. Start fresh, inherit nothing.
- Only
settings.json. Copy just the base settings file. - Select plugins. Cherry-pick plugins from your default setup.
- All files. Settings,
CLAUDE.md, plugins, skills, the whole thing.
6. Select plugins (only if you picked "Select plugins")
A multi-select list of every plugin in your default ~/.claude. space toggles. enter confirms.
7. Auto-sync (only if you picked "All files")
This asks whether to symlink plugins/ and skills/ back to ~/.claude. Say y if you want to install a plugin once and have it show up in every instance. Say n if you want this instance to have its own independent copies.
8. Done
The wizard prints the new instance and its paths:
✓ Instance 'glm' created successfully!
├─ Binary: /Users/you/.local/bin/claude-glm
└─ Config: /Users/you/.claude-glm
Run it:
claude-glmThat's a full Claude Code session on the provider you picked, with its own isolated config. Same claude you already know, just pointed at a different brain.
- 📋 List all instances. Every instance with its provider, paths, and sync status.
- ℹ️ Instance details. Pick one to inspect its full config.
- 🔌 Manage plugins. Pick an instance, then enable, disable, install, copy, or remove plugins for it.
- 🔄 Toggle auto-sync. Flip symlink syncing on or off for a chosen instance.
- 🔗 Re-sync symlinks. Rebuild broken plugin or skill symlinks after you've moved
~/.claudearound. - 🗑️ Remove instance. Delete an instance, its wrapper, and optionally its config dir.
- ⚙️ MCP servers. View MCP configs and copy them between instances.
If the menu shows a ! health hint, press ! to see what's wrong and fix it.
| Provider | Endpoint | Template name |
|---|---|---|
| GLM Coding Plan | api.z.ai |
glm |
| MiniMax | api.minimax.io |
minimax |
| DeepSeek | api.deepseek.com |
deepseek |
| Xiaomi MiMo | api.xiaomimimo.com |
mimo |
| Xiaomi MiMo (Token Plan) | token-plan-cn.xiaomimimo.com |
mimo-token |
| Moonshot Kimi | api.moonshot.ai |
kimi-k2.7-code, kimi-k2.6, kimi-k2.5 |
| Alibaba Qwen | dashscope-intl.aliyuncs.com |
qwen |
| Alibaba Qwen Coding Plan | coding-intl.dashscope.aliyuncs.com |
qwen-coding |
The templates write ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL, ANTHROPIC_MODEL, and a few related env vars into ~/.claude-<name>/settings.json. Edit that file if you want to tweak things further.
Every instance gets a config dir at ~/.claude-<name>/ and a wrapper script at ~/.local/bin/claude-<name>. The wrapper sets CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR and then runs the unmodified claude binary. No fork, no patch.
#!/usr/bin/env bun
process.env.CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR = "/Users/you/.claude-glm"
spawn("claude", process.argv.slice(2), { stdio: "inherit", env: process.env })Instance metadata sits in ~/.claude-multi/config.json. When auto-sync is on, plugins/ and skills/ are symlinks back to ~/.claude/, so installing a plugin once makes it show up everywhere.
| Path | Purpose |
|---|---|
~/.claude-multi/config.json |
claude-multi instance registry |
~/.claude-<name>/ |
config directory for one instance |
~/.local/bin/claude-<name> |
generated wrapper command on Linux/macOS |
~/.claude/ |
your default Claude Code config. Treated as the source for copy and sync operations. |
With auto-sync on, plugins/ and skills/ are symlinks pointing at your default ~/.claude/. Install a plugin once, and every instance that opted in picks it up.
Use manual mode when you want an instance that's fully independent. Just say n at the auto-sync step in the wizard. You can also flip this later from the main menu under 🔄 Toggle auto-sync.
Your global binary directory probably isn't on PATH.
For zsh on Linux/macOS:
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrcFor Bash:
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrcOpen the TUI and pick 🔗 Re-sync symlinks. Choose the broken instance (or all of them) and it rebuilds the links.
If the main menu shows a yellow or red banner, hit ! to open the health screen. It lists what's wrong (missing binary, broken symlinks, stale registry entries, that kind of thing) and offers fixes for each one.
If the Ink TUI doesn't render right on your terminal:
CLAUDE_MULTI_INK=false claude-multiYou get a basic prompt-based UI with the same flows.
- More provider templates
- Better docs for provider-specific models
- Import and export instance profiles
- Safer API key management
- Preset workflows for coding, planning, review, and cheap exploration models
MIT. See LICENSE for the full text. Copyright (c) 2026 hmziqrs.