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Claude Accounts

CCS lets you create multiple Claude account profiles such as work, personal, and team. Different profiles normally use different Claude config directories. Launching the same profile twice reuses the same directory and shared state.

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How It Works

CCS uses CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR to point Claude at a specific account profile directory: 
~/.ccs/instances/work/        # Work account
~/.ccs/instances/personal/    # Personal account
When you run ccs work "task":
  1. CCS points CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR to ~/.ccs/instances/work/
  2. Claude loads that profile’s credentials and state from the directory
  3. The session reuses the work profile’s account lane
In practice:
  • ccs work + ccs personal normally use separate account directories
  • ccs work + ccs work reuses one account directory
  • Continuity inheritance can make different profile names reuse one account directory on purpose

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Quick Start

# Create accounts
ccs auth create work
ccs auth create personal

# Use them
ccs work "review this PR"
ccs personal "help with side project"

# Concurrent sessions (different terminals)
# Terminal 1: ccs work "implement feature"
# Terminal 2: ccs personal "research topic"

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Profile Management

# List all accounts
ccs auth list

# Set default account (used when running bare `ccs`)
ccs auth default work

# Remove account
ccs auth remove personal --force

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Bare vs Non-Bare Profiles

ModeDescriptionUse Case
StandardFull account profile with its own ~/.ccs/instances/<name>/Most users
--bareThin profile that wraps the default Claude config dirMinimal isolation
Standard profiles are recommended for most use cases. Non-bare profiles also reuse the shared CCS layout for commands, skills, agents, plugins, and settings.json. On supported platforms that is usually implemented with symlinks; on Windows, CCS may fall back to copying when symlink creation fails.

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Context Groups (Opt-in Sharing)

By default each account keeps its own project context. Use shared context only when you explicitly want multiple accounts to reuse the same project workspace. 
# ~/.ccs/config.yaml
accounts:
  alice:
    context_mode: shared
    context_group: "team-alpha"
  bob:
    context_mode: shared
    context_group: "team-alpha"   # Same group = shared context
  charlie:
    context_mode: shared
    context_group: "team-beta"    # Different group = separate project context
Accounts in the same context_group share:
  • Project workspace via the projects/ area
  • Optional deeper continuity artifacts when you enable deeper continuity
Shared context is explicit opt-in. Use an explicit context_group when configuring shared mode so the scope is obvious in both CLI and dashboard workflows.

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Deeper Continuity

Enable cross-session memory persistence with the --deeper-continuity flag: 
ccs work --deeper-continuity "continue the refactor from yesterday"
This keeps additional continuity artifacts aligned for that shared context group, including session-env, file-history, shell-snapshots, and todos.

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Concurrent Sessions

Running the same profile in two terminals is allowed, but both terminals reuse the same CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR and shared mutable state. Use different profiles when you want stronger separation.
# Separate state:
# Terminal 1
ccs work "implement auth"

# Terminal 2
ccs personal "write tests"

# Shared state on purpose:
# Terminal 1: ccs work "task A"
# Terminal 2: ccs work "task B"

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Instance Directory Structure

~/.ccs/instances/work/
├── .anthropic/        # Claude-managed metadata
├── session-env/       # Chat history and context
├── todos/             # Task lists
├── logs/              # Execution logs
├── file-history/      # Recent file context
├── shell-snapshots/   # Shell continuity artifacts
├── debug/             # Debug artifacts
├── commands/          # Shared link/copy in non-bare profiles
└── skills/            # Shared link/copy in non-bare profiles

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Default Account

# Set work as default
ccs auth default work

# Now bare `ccs` uses the work account
ccs "review this code"

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Cost

Each account requires its own Claude Pro (20/month)orMax(20/month) or Max (200/month) subscription.
TierAccessCost
Claude ProClaude Opus 4.6, Sonnet 4.6, Sonnet 4.5, Haiku 4.5$20/month
Claude MaxAll Pro models with extended usage limits$200/month

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Next Steps

API Profiles

Combine Claude accounts with API key providers

Provider Overview

Compare Claude accounts vs OAuth providers

Configuration

Config file format for accounts

Tutorials: Multi-Account

Step-by-step multi-account setup guide