### Bypass Claude Max rate limits. Auto-fallback to your API key. Auto-revert when the window resets.
**Drop-in for Claude Code: keep typing `claude`, never wait 5 hours again. Multi-account aware. No new CLI to learn, no aliases, no shell hacks.**
**macOS ยท Linux ยท Windows**
---
## ๐ Install
> โ **Important** โ Requires **Node.js 20.12+** and Claude Code already installed.
```bash
npm install -g @sirtheo/claude-switch
claude switch setup
```
Then **open a new terminal** (the old one has a stale `PATH`) and verify:
```bash
claude switch --version
```
> ๐ก **Tip** โ **Already installed?** claude-switch checks for new versions in the background once a day and offers a one-keypress install on your next `claude` run. A release that fixes a security or data-loss bug is flagged with a louder notice so you don't miss it. Or run `claude switch update`. Nothing is ever installed without your `y`. Set `CLAUDE_SWITCH_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1` (or run in CI) to silence the check entirely.
---
## โจ Features
### ๐ช Drop-in wrapper
`claude` is still `claude`. claude-switch installs itself under the same name, so your existing scripts, editor integrations, shell history and aliases all keep working untouched. Anything that isn't `claude switch` is passed straight through to the real Claude Code. The **only** new word to learn is `switch`.
```bash
claude --version # โ real Claude Code, just as before
claude switch # โ our dashboard
claude --as work "โฆ" # โ run a one-shot as a different account
```
---
### ๐ Sub-second account switching
Type `claude switch`. Highlight a row. Hit `Enter`. Done.
- โก **Instant swap.** Changing account takes under a second, and a lock keeps two terminals from clashing if they both switch at once.
- ๐ **No browser.** Your logins are kept in a private vault on disk that only your own user can read โ on every platform.
- ๐ **No logout/login loop.** Your next session just starts as the new account.
---
### ๐ Rate-limit bypass with auto-revert
Stop losing 5 hours of momentum to the Max cap.
- ๐ **Per-account API key.** Each account can have its own Anthropic API key, kept in a private file only your own user can read.
- ๐ฆ **Auto-engage.** Once you've used **95%** of either your 5-hour or 7-day allowance, it switches over to the API key on its own.
- โฉ๏ธ **Auto-revert.** When both allowances drop back under **80%**, you're put back on your subscription.
- ๐ฅ **Burst mode.** If **3** subscription requests fail in a row, it leans on the API key until the subscription starts working again.
```text
๐ Subscription back online (5h:30%, 7d:15%) โ switched back to OAuth
```
**Nothing sits in the middle.** A small helper runs only on your own computer while `claude` is open, and shuts down the moment you quit. Your traffic still goes straight to Anthropic โ claude-switch never relays it through anywhere else.
---
### ๐ฏ Project-aware routing
Never `claude switch` again. The pain it kills:
> *"I `cd`'d into the work repo, typed `claude`, did half a session, and only then noticed the banner said `๐ personal@gmail.com`. I'd been burning personal quota on a work task."*
**Per-repo, committable.** Drop a `.claude-switch` at the repo root:
```json
{ "match": { "emailDomain": "acme.com" } }
```
Commit it. Every teammate who `cd`s in and runs `claude` is routed to **whichever of their saved accounts** has an `@acme.com` email. The file expresses a **constraint** (any acme account), not a specific identity. Works regardless of how teammates aliased their accounts locally.
```bash
$ cd ~/work/payroll-service
$ claude "refactor the auth middleware"
๐ฏ routed to theo@acme.com via .claude-switch (repo requires @acme.com)
๐ theo@acme.com
```
No match? Warning, not a crash. Falls back to active account, banner makes the misalignment obvious.
**Per-machine** (gitignored, in `~/.claude/accounts/.routing.json`):
```bash
claude switch route add '~/work/**' work@acme.com
claude switch route add '~/clients/foo/**' foobar
claude switch route test ~/work/payroll-service # dry-run
```
Order of priority (first match wins): a one-off `CLAUDE_SWITCH_ACCOUNT` override you set in your shell โ the repo's `.claude-switch` file โ your personal per-folder rules โ your currently active account.
---
### ๐พ Cache-health monitor
Your Max/Pro plan is draining 3ร faster than it should? You're probably hitting [Anthropic's documented billing bugs](#-why-is-my-maxpro-plan-exhausting-faster-than-expected), not a usage problem.
```bash
claude switch statusline install # live ๐พ N% ๐จX badge in Claude Code statusline
claude switch cache-health # CLI report: turns, hit ratio, flush count, billed tokens
```
If the "context wiped" count is high (more than 2โ3 in a short session), that bug is active and draining your plan. Save the session file and attach it as evidence on the Anthropic issue thread.
The same badge doubles as a **live usage gauge** โ discreet, turns **yellow at 75%** and **red at 90%**, so a rate limit never ambushes you. You see *why* your plan is draining, not just *that* it is.
---
### ๐ A real interactive dashboard
Not a wall of text โ a proper interactive screen right in your terminal: live updates, highlighted rows, keyboard shortcuts. `Tab` moves between sections, `โโ` navigates, single letters (`a` `k` `f` `c` `g` `p`โฆ) are shortcuts, and `?` shows inline help.
Plus: tab-completion for `bash`, `zsh`, `fish` and `powershell`; a one-shot `claude --as