Claude Desktop – Multi‑Window, Multi‑API Manager

What it is – A community‑built utility that lets you run several Claude Desktop instances side‑by‑side, each talking to a different backend (the official Anthropic API or any third‑party Claude‑compatible service via cc‑switch). It creates separate shortcuts, icons, and data folders so each window behaves like an independent app while sharing session files.

Key capabilities

• Official + third‑party windows simultaneously – Keep your paid Anthropic subscription in one window and open any number of additional windows that use custom APIs (Gemini, GPT, Perplexity, DeepSeek, etc.).
• Per‑window API selection – Choose a specific cc‑switch provider for a window, or let it follow whatever provider cc‑switch is currently set to.
• Unlimited windows – The manager GUI lets you add, launch, and remove instances at will.
• Distinct icons & shortcuts – Each instance gets its own coloured icon (custom palette or hex colour), desktop shortcut, task‑bar button, and system‑tray icon.
• Shared session data – New sessions, titles, pins, and MCP server settings are mirrored across windows; background windows silently refresh when idle.
• Multi‑account isolation – Supports multiple official Anthropic accounts and multiple third‑party accounts, each with its own isolated data folder, optional proxy, and per‑process timezone.
• Egress‑IP audit – check command reports the IP type (residential/datacenter), risk score, regional eligibility, and timezone alignment for each instance.
• Update‑proof – No files are patched; the tool resolves the real Claude Desktop install path on every launch, so updates from the Microsoft Store remain intact.

How to get started (Windows)

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/TonF1917/claude-desktop-multiple-windows-different-api
cd claude-desktop-multiple-windows-different-api

# Install icons, shortcuts and the manager GUI
.
claude-multi.ps1 install

# Open the manager GUI (or use the created desktop shortcut)
.
claude-multi.ps1 gui

From the GUI or the command line you can add new windows, e.g.:

.
claude-multi.ps1 add -Id gem -Name "Claude Gemini" -Palette gemini -Provider myGemini
.
claude-multi.ps1 launch -Id gem

After creating shortcuts, pin each to the taskbar manually (Windows blocks script‑based pinning).

macOS support – An experimental Python implementation lives in macos/. It reproduces most Windows features (icon recolouring, shortcut creation, launching) but lacks task‑bar pinning, tray icons, and claude:// routing. Use the same command‑line interface (python3 macos/claude_multi.py …).

Dependencies

• Claude Desktop from the Microsoft Store (AnthropicPBC.Claude).
• cc‑switch (https://github.com/farion1231/cc-switch) with a Claude Desktop provider configured.
• PowerShell 5.1+ on Windows; Python 3 (standard library only) on macOS.

License – MIT (see LICENSE).

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This tool is unofficial and not endorsed by Anthropic or the cc‑switch project. It works by manipulating environment variables, data‑folder locations, and Windows APIs to give each Claude Desktop instance its own identity.