# Claude Desktop Multi

> Run multiple Claude Desktop instances side by side on Windows, each with its own account/MCP/settings. One click, survives auto-updates.

- **Type:** MCP server
- **Install:** `agentstack add mcp-sypnose-cloud-claude-desktop-multi`
- **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior
- **Seller:** [sypnose-cloud](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/sypnose-cloud)
- **Installs:** 0
- **Category:** [AI & ML](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/ai-and-ml)
- **Latest version:** 0.1.0
- **License:** MIT
- **Upstream author:** [sypnose-cloud](https://github.com/sypnose-cloud)
- **Source:** https://github.com/sypnose-cloud/claude-desktop-multi

## Install

```sh
agentstack add mcp-sypnose-cloud-claude-desktop-multi
```

Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent.

## About

# Claude Desktop Multi-Instance (Windows)

Run **multiple Claude Desktop instances side by side on Windows**, each with its
own account, MCP servers, and settings — even though Claude ships as a
single-instance MSIX app.

One click. Survives auto-updates. Doesn't touch your normal install.

---

## Why this is needed

Claude Desktop for Windows installs as an **MSIX package** under
`C:\Program Files\WindowsApps`. That causes two problems if you want a second
instance:

1. **Windows blocks launching the `.exe` directly** from `WindowsApps`
   (`"Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file"`). So shortcuts
   pointing straight at the packaged exe fail.
2. The package is built to run **one instance**. Even with Electron's
   `--user-data-dir` flag, you can't reach the exe to pass it.

**The fix:** copy Claude to a normal folder *outside* `WindowsApps`
(`C:\ClaudePortable`), where Windows allows direct launch, then create one
shortcut per instance — each with its own `--user-data-dir`. Each instance gets
a fully isolated profile: separate account, separate MCP servers, separate
Cowork/settings.

> This is the part most guides miss: on Windows the MSIX exe can't be launched
> in place, so you have to run a portable copy. That's exactly what `install.ps1`
> does, and re-running it picks up Claude's latest auto-update.

---

## Quick start

1. **Download** this repo (green `Code` button → `Download ZIP`, then extract).
   Or `git clone https://github.com/radelqui/claude-desktop-multi`.
2. Double-click **`INSTALL.cmd`**. It asks for Administrator (needed once, to
   read the protected `WindowsApps` folder) and sets up **2 extra instances**.
3. On your Desktop you'll now have **`Claude 2`** and **`Claude 3`** shortcuts.

Want a different number? Run from an **admin** PowerShell:

```powershell
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts\install.ps1 -Instances 3
```

---

## Logging into different accounts (important!)

The first login of each new instance must be done **one at a time, with the
other Claude windows closed**.

Why: Claude's login opens your browser and returns to the app via a `claude://`
link. That link goes to whichever instance is currently open — so if several are
open, the login lands on the wrong one and they all end up on the same account.

**Do this:**

1. Close **all** Claude Desktop windows (check the system tray ▲ near the clock).
2. Open **only `Claude 2`** → log in (Google sign-in, or email + code — any
   method works) → finish the login.
3. Open **`Claude 3`** → log in with a different account.
4. Open your normal Claude (Start menu) → it keeps your main account.

After the first login, each session persists. You can then run all of them at
once, in any order.

---

## Updating

When Claude Desktop auto-updates, the portable copy stays on the old version.
To refresh it, just **run `INSTALL.cmd` again** (or `scripts\install.ps1`).
It detects the new version, recopies, and your existing Desktop shortcuts keep
working — no need to recreate them.

---

## Uninstall

```powershell
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts\uninstall.ps1
```

Removes the portable copy, the `Claude N` shortcuts, and the isolated profiles.
Your normal Claude install is left untouched. Add `-KeepProfiles` to keep your
logged-in instance data.

---

## What gets created

| Path | What |
|------|------|
| `C:\ClaudePortable\` | Portable copy of Claude (launchable, outside WindowsApps) |
| `%APPDATA%\Claude-Instance2`, `...3`, ... | Isolated profile per instance (account, MCP, settings) |
| `Desktop\Claude 2.lnk`, `Claude 3.lnk` | Shortcuts that launch each instance |

Your normal install and its data (`%APPDATA%\Claude`) are never modified.

---

## How it works (technical)

- `Get-AppxPackage *Claude*` finds the current MSIX install location (robust
  across version bumps).
- `robocopy /MIR` mirrors `…\app` into `C:\ClaudePortable`.
- Each shortcut runs `C:\ClaudePortable\Claude.exe --user-data-dir="%APPDATA%\Claude-InstanceN"`.
- Electron stores **all** per-instance state (auth tokens included) under that
  data dir, so instances are fully independent.

---

## Notes & limitations

- **Windows only.** On macOS use `open -n -a "Claude.app" --args --user-data-dir=...`;
  on Linux invoke the AppImage/binary with the same flag — no portable copy needed
  there.
- Re-run after each Claude update to keep the portable copy current.
- RAM: each instance is a full Electron app. Don't open more than you need.
- Not affiliated with Anthropic. Use at your own discretion.

---

## License

MIT — do whatever you want. PRs welcome.

## Source & license

This open-source MCP server is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [sypnose-cloud](https://github.com/sypnose-cloud)
- **Source:** [sypnose-cloud/claude-desktop-multi](https://github.com/sypnose-cloud/claude-desktop-multi)
- **License:** MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.

## Pricing

- **Free** — Free

## Security capabilities

Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access:

- **Network access:** no
- **Filesystem access:** no
- **Shell / process execution:** no
- **Environment & secrets:** no
- **Dynamic code execution:** no

*"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.*


## Versions

- **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source.

## Links

- Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/mcp-sypnose-cloud-claude-desktop-multi
- Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/sypnose-cloud
- Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse

---
Listed on AgentStack — the marketplace for AI agent skills and MCP servers. Every listing is security-reviewed. Creators keep 70%.