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Can I use two Claude Code accounts on one Mac?

4 min de leituraPor The Octuo team
Screenshot of Octuo for macOS showing delegated tasks

Give each account its own configuration directory. Claude Code's documentation says to set the CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR environment variable to a different folder when you start claude: each folder keeps its own settings, session history and login. A shell alias per account turns switching into one word, with no logging out and back in.

How do I set up a second account?

  1. Pick a folder per account. The docs use ~/.claude-work for a work account and leave the default ~/.claude for a personal one.
  2. Add an alias. In ~/.zshrc (or ~/.bashrc), add alias claude-work='CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=~/.claude-work claude'. Plain claude keeps using your personal account, and claude-work uses the work one.
  3. Sign in once per folder. Open a new terminal and run claude-work. On the first run, Claude Code walks you through login and setup for that folder.
  4. Check which account is active. Run /status inside a session. Recent versions also have claude auth status, which reports the configuration directory in use.

What stays separate, and what doesn't?

Each folder has its own settings, session history, and login or API key. A session you started under one account is not listed under the other. Three things catch people out:

  • User-level instructions don't carry over. With CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR set, the files that normally live in ~/.claude, including a personal CLAUDE.md, are read from the new folder instead. Copy across anything both accounts should follow.
  • An API key in your shell can win. If ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is set in your shell, Claude Code can use that key instead of a subscription login, in any folder, once you approve it. If the account looks wrong, check /status and remove the variable if you did not mean to use it.
  • One documented exception. The docs say separate folders do not keep two sign-ins apart when both are API-console sign-ins made without an API key, because that kind of sign-in is stored outside the folder.

How do I keep work and personal apart in practice?

The folders separate the logins. Habits keep the rules straight:

  • Use each account only for what its owner allows. Accounts your employer pays for are for employer work, and each service's terms and your employer's policy decide what is permitted.
  • Don't open or borrow accounts to get around a usage limit. Our post on what to do when you hit a usage limit covers the options the vendors themselves offer.
  • Keep a one-line inventory of which account is for what. The work-and-personal accounts guide has a template.
  • Codex is a separate case. Its docs say it keeps local state under CODEX_HOME (~/.codex by default) and stores credentials in an auth.json file or the OS keychain, so read its authentication page before assuming a second folder means a second login.

Where Octuo fits

Everything above works with only the CLI and your shell. Octuo is for when the account juggling is really about carrying context between tools. It is a personal assistant that coordinates your AI tools, agents and outside services for you: you say the goal, and it handles the preparation, delegation and follow-up.

Give Octuo a goal. It delegates work to supported tools and agents, carries the context they need and brings the results back. It coordinates work through your own authorized accounts under each service's terms; external service charges remain separate from Octuo. Octuo does not pool or merge accounts' usage, and it carries the context it hands over rather than importing each vendor's own chat history. You step in for your own account sign-ins, payments and sensitive approvals that must be yours; Octuo handles the surrounding work.

See what Octuo does, or watch the demo video.

FAQ

Can two Claude Code accounts be signed in at the same time? Yes, if each uses its own configuration directory, as Claude Code's documentation describes. Plain claude and an alias such as claude-work then keep separate logins.

Does a second account give me more usage? No. Each account has its own limits under its own service's terms. Use accounts you are authorized to use, for the work they are meant for.

Do I need Octuo to do this? No. The steps above need only the CLI and your shell. Octuo is optional, for coordinating work across accounts you have authorized.

Sources

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