Can I use two Claude accounts on one machine?

Yes. Claude Code keeps one active login at a time, but nothing stops you registering several accounts you own and rotating between them with cswap switch. cswap run can launch a second account in another terminal. Anthropic’s Consumer Terms prohibit sharing credentials with other people; they do not cap how many accounts one person holds.

How do I switch Claude accounts in VS Code?

There is no account picker in the editor. Run cswap switch from any terminal — including VS Code’s integrated one — then close and reopen the Claude Code tab. The extension reads the same on-disk credential store as the CLI, and Cursor and other VS Code forks install the same extension, so one switch covers them all.

Where does Claude Code store its credentials?

On macOS, the Keychain under the service name Claude Code-credentials. On Linux and WSL, a plaintext file at ~/.claude/.credentials.json. On Windows, a protected credential store plus the account section of ~/.claude/.claude.json. claude-swap’s own per-account backups live in a vault under ~/.local/share/claude-swap/ on Linux and WSL, or ~/.claude-swap-backup/ on macOS and Windows.

Does switching accounts log me out of Claude Desktop?

No. claude-swap is scoped to Claude Code — the CLI and the VS Code extension — and does not touch the Claude Desktop app, which signs into claude.ai with its own session. Switching in one has no effect on the other.

Can I move my Claude accounts to a new machine?

Yes. cswap export backup.cswap writes a portable file; cswap import backup.cswap restores it on the other machine. The file is plaintext JSON holding live OAuth tokens — treat it like a password, never commit it, and delete it after the migration.

Is claude-swap safe — where do my tokens go?

It uses OS-native storage where possible (macOS Keychain) and otherwise Claude Code’s own credential files. Convenience centralizes tokens on your machine, so a compromised laptop has a bigger blast radius. It is an independent MIT-licensed project by realiti4, not an Anthropic product, and it does not grant extra quota — each account keeps its own limits and billing.

CLI · MIT · realiti4

claude-swap — Switch Between Multiple Claude Code Accounts

Name: claude-swap
Author: realiti4

Install

uv tool install claude-swap

Or pipx install claude-swap. Then cswap add once per account.

claude-swap is an open-source CLI that switches Claude Code between multiple Anthropic accounts in under a second by swapping stored OAuth credential profiles — no browser re-login.

GitHub Full teardown

Python 3.12+

Runtime

CLI + VS Code

Works with

OS-native

Credential storage

MIT

License

Quickstart

THREE COMMANDS

Pay the OAuth cost once per account. Every switch after that is a single command.

STEP 01

Install claude-swap

Run uv tool install claude-swap (or pipx install claude-swap).
STEP 02

Register each account

Log into Claude Code as the first account and run cswap add. Switch the Claude Code login to the second account and run cswap add again.
STEP 03

Switch accounts

Run cswap switch to rotate, or cswap switch you@work.com for a specific account. In VS Code or Cursor, close and reopen the Claude Code tab so the extension picks up the new login.

Switch accounts in VS Code or Cursor

There is no account picker in the editor. Run cswap switch from any terminal, then close and reopen the Claude Code tab. The extension and the CLI share one credential store, so a switch made anywhere on the machine applies in VS Code, Cursor, and other forks that install the same extension.

Command reference

Every command is a subcommand of cswap. Early flag spellings (cswap --switch) still work; this table uses the current form.

Command	What it does	Typical use
cswap add	Register the currently logged-in account (re-run to refresh an expired token)	Setup
cswap switch	Rotate to the next account in sequence	Daily
cswap switch N\|email\|alias	Activate a specific account by slot, email, or alias	Daily
cswap auto	Watch usage and switch before a rate limit lands	Background
cswap run N	Launch Claude Code as that account in this terminal only	Parallel work
cswap list	Dashboard of every account with 5-hour and 7-day usage	Daily
cswap status	Show which account is active right now	Daily
cswap tui	Full-screen interactive dashboard (also: bare cswap)	Monitoring
cswap export / import PATH	Back up or migrate accounts as a .cswap file	New machine
cswap remove N\|email	Unregister an account	Cleanup

Frequently asked questions

This is an independent guide. claude-swap is an MIT-licensed community project by realiti4(opens in new tab), not an Anthropic product and not software I maintain. For how it works under the hood, what it still misses, and how it compares to ccswitch and the other switchers, read the full claude-swap teardown.