Claude Code Profile Manager
Use a different Claude account for every VSCode profile — automatically.
Claude Code Profile Manager gives each VSCode Profile its own isolated Claude Code account and data directory. Switch profiles and the right Claude account is already active — no re-login, no manual token swapping.
Why you need this
If you use Claude Code across multiple contexts — personal projects, work, freelance clients — you know the pain: every time you switch contexts you have to claude logout, claude login, and wait through the OAuth flow again. Claude Profiles eliminates that entirely.
| Without Claude Profiles |
With Claude Profiles |
| One account shared across all contexts |
Each VSCode profile has its own account |
Manual claude login every time you switch |
Auto-restore on profile activation |
| Risk of committing under the wrong account |
Guaranteed correct identity per workspace |
Features
- Automatic account switching — activating a VSCode profile instantly restores the correct Claude account
- Isolated data directories — each profile gets its own
CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR (~/.claude-work, ~/.claude-personal, etc.)
- Cross-platform — works on macOS, Linux, and Windows
- Status bar indicator — always shows which Claude account is active
- One-time setup — configure once per profile, then forget about it
- Safe credential storage — OAuth tokens remain in the OS credential store (Keychain / libsecret / Windows Credential Manager); only metadata is stored in the profile directory
Requirements
| Requirement |
Version |
| VSCode |
≥ 1.85 |
| Claude Code extension |
latest |
Claude CLI (claude) |
latest — must be on $PATH |
Install the Claude CLI if you haven't already:
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
Quick Start
1. Install the extension
Install from the VS Code Marketplace, or search for Claude Code Profile Manager in the Extensions panel (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X) and click Install.
Use the profile picker in the bottom-left corner of VSCode (or Ctrl+Shift+P → Profiles: Switch Profile).
3. Run the setup wizard
Ctrl+Shift+P → Claude Profiles: Setup Profile
- Enter a short name (e.g.
work, personal, client-a)
- The extension creates
~/.claude-<name>/ and configures CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR for both the Claude Code extension and integrated terminals
4. Log in
Click Login to Claude now in the prompt (or run Claude Profiles: Login to Current Profile).
- A terminal opens pre-loaded with the correct
CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR
- Press Enter to start the OAuth flow and authenticate in your browser
- The extension detects the successful login and saves your account automatically
- The status bar updates to show your email
5. Repeat for each profile
Switch to your next VSCode profile and repeat steps 3–4 with a different Claude account.
Daily Use
Nothing changes about how you work. When you open a VSCode window in a configured profile:
- The extension activates automatically
- Your Claude account is restored from the saved snapshot
- Claude Code starts authenticated as the correct account
- The status bar shows
$(account) <profile>: you@example.com
Click the status bar item at any time to access:
| Action |
Description |
| Login / Switch Account |
Re-run claude login for the current profile |
| Capture account |
Manually save the current ~/.claude.json to this profile |
| Restore this profile's account |
Write the saved snapshot back to ~/.claude.json |
| Reconfigure profile |
Change the profile name or CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR path |
| Remove saved account |
Clear cached account info for this profile |
How It Works
Claude Code reads authentication state from ~/.claude.json and stores OAuth tokens in the OS credential store under a key derived from CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR. Claude Profiles takes advantage of this:
- Assigns each VSCode profile a unique
CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR (e.g. ~/.claude-work)
- After login, captures a snapshot of
~/.claude.json into that directory
- On profile activation, restores the snapshot to
~/.claude.json so Claude Code picks up the right account
VSCode Profile "work" VSCode Profile "personal"
CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR
= ~/.claude-work/ = ~/.claude-personal/
└── .vscode-claude-profile.json └── .vscode-claude-profile.json
(account snapshot) (account snapshot)
OS Credential Store:
Claude Code-credentials-<work-hash>
Claude Code-credentials-<personal-hash>
Settings
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
claudeProfiles.autoRestore |
true |
Automatically restore the saved account on profile activation |
claudeProfiles.autoCapture |
true |
Automatically capture account data after a successful login |
Known Limitations
Multiple windows open simultaneously: If you have two VSCode windows open in different profiles at the same time, ~/.claude.json reflects whichever profile activated last. Functional auth (OS credential store) is not affected — only the account metadata shown in Claude Code may be from the wrong profile. Workaround: click Restore this profile's account after switching focus.
API key users: This extension is designed for OAuth (Claude.ai) login. If you authenticate via ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, set the key directly in claudeCode.environmentVariables per profile in VSCode settings — no extension needed.
Privacy & Security
- OAuth tokens are never moved out of the OS credential store (macOS Keychain, Linux libsecret, Windows Credential Manager)
- The only file written by this extension is
.vscode-claude-profile.json inside each CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR, stored with mode 600 (owner-read-only on Unix)
- No data is sent to any server by this extension
Contributing
Issues and pull requests are welcome. See the GitHub repository for source code, build instructions, and contribution guidelines.
License
MIT © Sohan Yadav
