Multi-Account Management

Common Scenarios

"I have two Claude Max accounts (work + personal) and want easy switching"

This is the most common use case. Here's the full setup — takes about 2 minutes:

# 1. Create two profiles
arc create work --tool claude --auth-type oauth
arc create personal --tool claude --auth-type oauth

# 2. Login to each (opens browser for OAuth)
arc auth login work        # Login with your work account
arc auth login personal    # Login with your personal account

# 3. Verify both are set up
arc auth status

You'll see something like:

PROFILE      TOOL     AUTH    STATUS           TIER
work         claude   oauth   authenticated    pro / default_claude_pro
personal     claude   oauth   authenticated    pro / default_claude_pro

Now use them:

# Launch Claude Code with your work account
arc use work
arc launch

# Or launch directly
arc launch --profile personal

# Quick check: which account am I using?
arc auth whoami

Each profile is fully isolated — separate credentials, separate settings, separate MCP servers, separate session history.

"I also want Claude Desktop to use my work account"

Claude Desktop reads from ~/.claude/, not ARC's profile directories. Use the swap bridge:

# Push your work profile's credentials to ~/.claude/
arc swap from-profile work

# Switch Desktop to personal
arc swap from-profile personal

# Check what's active
arc swap status

Output:

claude     → profile:work (pro/default_claude_pro)
gemini     → (none)
codex      → (none)

"I want to sync settings but switch accounts"

Use profiles for isolated auth, but enable the shared layer for common settings:

# Enable shared MCP servers and CLAUDE.md across both profiles
arc shared enable work --mcp --claude-md
arc shared enable personal --mcp --claude-md

Now both profiles share the same MCP server config and custom instructions, but each has its own OAuth credentials.

"I use Claude, Gemini, AND Codex"

Create one profile per tool-account combination:

arc create claude-work --tool claude --auth-type oauth
arc create gemini-work --tool gemini --auth-type oauth
arc create codex-work --tool codex --auth-type oauth

# Login to each
arc auth login claude-work
arc auth login gemini-work
arc auth login codex-work

# Switch between them
arc use claude-work && arc launch
arc use gemini-work && arc launch

"I want workspace-specific defaults"

Put an arc.json in your project root:

{
  "profile": "work",
  "adapter": "claude-code"
}

Now arc launch in that directory automatically uses the work profile — no need to arc use first.

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How It Works

ARC provides two complementary systems:

	Profile Isolation	Credential Hot-Swap
What it does	Separate config directory per account	Swaps credential files in canonical tool dir
Best for	CLI tools (Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI)	Desktop apps (Claude Desktop, Codex Desktop)
What changes	Everything (creds, settings, MCPs, history)	Only credential files
Settings	Per-profile	Shared — nothing changes
How to switch	arc use <profile>	arc swap to <account> or arc swap from-profile <profile>

Profile Isolation

Each profile gets its own directory at ~/.arc/profiles/<name>/ with separate:

• .credentials.json (OAuth tokens)
• settings.json (tool settings)
• .claude.json (MCP servers)
• commands/, memory/, projects/

When you arc launch, ARC sets CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR (or GEMINI_CLI_HOME / CODEX_HOME) to point the CLI tool at the profile's directory. Complete isolation.

Credential Hot-Swap

Captures credential snapshots to ~/.arc/credentials/<name>/ and swaps them into the tool's canonical directory (~/.claude/, ~/.gemini/, ~/.codex/).

# Capture current credentials
arc swap capture personal --tool claude

# Swap to a different account
arc swap to work

# Bridge a profile's creds to Desktop
arc swap from-profile work

Experimental

Hot-swap is experimental. It works reliably but the API may change.

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Quick Reference

# Profile management
arc create <name> --tool claude --auth-type oauth
arc use <name>
arc auth login <name>
arc auth status
arc auth whoami [name]
arc launch [--profile name]

# Desktop app switching
arc swap capture <name> --tool claude
arc swap to <name>
arc swap from-profile <profile>
arc swap status
arc swap list

# Shared settings across profiles
arc shared enable <profile> --mcp --claude-md
arc shared disable <profile>

# Workspace defaults
echo '{"profile":"work"}' > arc.json

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Tips

• Quick switch: arc use work && arc launch is the fastest CLI workflow
• Dashboard alongside: arc launch --dashboard starts the web dashboard with your session
• Check auth anytime: arc auth whoami shows active account in one line
• Multiple tools: Create separate profiles per tool — work-claude, work-gemini, work-codex
• Desktop + CLI: Use profiles for CLI isolation, swap bridge for Desktop. They complement each other.
• Shared MCP servers: Enable the shared layer so both accounts get the same tool integrations