Run Claude Code from a USB drive or any folder—no global installation required. Connect to multiple AI providers, including OpenRouter, Google Gemini, NVIDIA NIM, custom APIs, and more.
Plug in. Launch. Code. Take it anywhere.
🎥 Watch the Setup & Demo Video: https://youtu.be/xPfZyV20_RY
ClaudeCode-Portable is a fully portable AI coding workspace powered by the official Anthropic Claude Code runtime and Agent SDK. It bundles a self-contained Node.js runtime, nine provider configurations, a real Claude Code terminal, and a premium browser dashboard — all launched from START.bat on Windows or start.sh on Linux/macOS.
App-owned runtimes, provider settings, chat history, attachments, caches, and logs stay inside the project folder. Each operating system downloads its compatible runtime once and reuses it from the USB drive.
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Official Claude Code | Uses Anthropic's official CLI and Agent SDK — no replacement agent engine |
| 9 AI Providers | NVIDIA NIM · DeepSeek · OpenRouter · Google Gemini · Anthropic · OpenAI · Ollama · LM Studio · Custom API |
| Portable Runtime | Node.js, Claude Code, caches, settings, and app data stay in the project folder |
| Studio Dashboard | Streaming chat, Markdown, code highlighting, compact tool steps, approvals, attachments, and diagnostics |
| Shared Claude History | GUI and portable terminal sessions use real Claude Code conversation IDs and can resume the same history |
| Project + Normal Chats | Work inside a selected folder or start an agent conversation without attaching a project |
| Provider Switching | Switch directly between configured provider/model profiles from the composer |
| Three Adapter Modes | Built-in, external claude-adapter, and OpenAI Responses API support |
| Cross-Platform | Windows, Linux, and macOS runtimes can coexist on the same portable drive |
.\START.batchmod +x start.sh
./start.shOn first launch, the project downloads checksum-verified Node.js and installs the pinned official Claude Code packages inside engine/. Every later launch reuses that installation.
First-time setup requires internet. After setup, cloud providers still need internet; installed local Ollama models can run offline.
ClaudeCode-Portable/
│
├── START.bat Windows launcher
├── start.sh Linux/macOS launcher
├── RESUME.bat Resume a Claude session on Windows
├── resume.sh Resume a Claude session on Linux/macOS
│
├── dashboard/ Browser studio interface
├── lib/ Providers, adapters, sessions, runtime, and agent bridge
├── tests/ Automated, smoke, live-provider, and UI fixture tests
├── tools/ Launcher, runtime manifest, checks, and local-model setup
│
├── data/ Portable settings, credentials, chats, attachments, and logs
└── engine/ Per-platform Node.js and Claude Code runtimes
├── node-<os>-<arch>/
└── <os>-<arch>/current/
data/ and engine/ are generated locally and ignored by Git.
Run START.bat or start.sh to open:
1 Open studio dashboard
2 Launch Claude Code terminal
3 Configure providers
4 Set up local models
5 Repair / update pinned runtime
6 Roll back runtime
Pressing Enter selects the dashboard.
| Provider | Connection | Get Started |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA NIM | Chat Completions adapter | build.nvidia.com |
| DeepSeek | Anthropic-compatible API | platform.deepseek.com |
| OpenRouter | Anthropic-compatible API | openrouter.ai |
| Google Gemini | Chat Completions adapter | aistudio.google.com |
| Anthropic Claude | Native Messages API / terminal login | console.anthropic.com |
| OpenAI | Chat Completions adapter | platform.openai.com |
| Ollama | Local Anthropic-compatible endpoint | ollama.com |
| LM Studio | Local Anthropic-compatible endpoint | lmstudio.ai |
| Custom API | Chat Completions or Responses API | Provider base URL + optional API key |
Non-Claude models are experimental and are not supported by Anthropic. Tool calling, images, context limits, resume behavior, and other Claude Code features depend on the selected model and provider.
OpenAI-compatible providers can use:
- Built-in — streaming Chat Completions with tools and image support
- External claude-adapter — native/XML tool modes and optional model aliases; no image support
- Responses API —
/responsessupport with incremental text and tool-argument streaming
All adapters bind only to 127.0.0.1 and use a fresh local token for every run.
- Download and load a tool-capable model in LM Studio.
- Open Developer → Local Server.
- Start the server.
- In ClaudeCode-Portable, choose LM Studio.
- Keep
http://127.0.0.1:1234unless you changed the server address. - Discover the loaded model or enter its exact identifier.
LM Studio is managed by its own application. The dashboard connects to its running local server.
Run the interactive portable setup:
bash start.sh local-setup.\START.bat local-setupLocal inference needs enough RAM/VRAM, a useful context window, and a model capable of tool calling. Model downloads can require several gigabytes.
| Component | Pinned Version |
|---|---|
| Node.js | 24.21.0 |
| Claude Code | 2.1.247 |
| Claude Agent SDK | 0.3.247 |
| claude-adapter | 2.2.1 |
Each OS/architecture stores its own runtime under engine/. Windows, macOS, Linux x64, and Linux ARM64 installations can coexist and are reused after their first download.
Linux drives that cannot create symbolic links—including common NTFS USB mounts—automatically use a link-free Node/npm layout. npm binary links are disabled because the launcher resolves the verified package executable directly. The same install flow avoids npm 10.9.8's Windows save-step crash.
Use menu options 5 and 6 to repair, update, or roll back the pinned runtime.
- Dashboard and adapter servers bind to
127.0.0.1only. - Dashboard APIs require a fresh access token printed at launch.
- Provider credentials are excluded from normal bootstrap/configuration responses.
- API keys are stored as plaintext in portable
data/settings.json; protect the drive. - Uploaded attachments remain inside private per-session folders under
data/. - Markdown is sanitized before rendering.
- Unrestricted mode requires explicit confirmation.
- Prompts and relevant project content are sent to the provider you select.
Official account login and subprocess tools may still use operating-system facilities. This project is portable for app-owned files, but it is not a guaranteed zero-footprint sandbox.
| Platform | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Windows | Windows 10 or later, PowerShell, and internet for first setup |
| Linux | Bash, curl, tar, glibc, and internet for first setup |
| macOS | Bash, curl, tar, and internet for first setup |
Git is useful for agent-driven repository operations. Alpine/musl Linux is not supported by the bundled Node.js bootstrap.
| Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|
Cannot create symlink ... Operation not permitted on Linux USB |
Pull the latest version and start again. NTFS/link-free mode is detected automatically. |
Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'spec') on Windows |
Pull the latest version. Runtime installation now uses --save=false. |
Error: claude native binary not installed on a pen drive |
Pull the latest version and run option 5 (repair). The installer now detects the leftover placeholder and copies the native binary without hardlinks, which FAT32/exFAT drives block. |
| Node.js download looks stuck on Windows | Pull the latest version. START.bat now shows live progress with percent, MB downloaded, MB/s, and ETA, and retries interrupted downloads. |
Invalid session ID after using terminal mode on Windows |
Pull the latest version. Windows Claude history paths are now parsed correctly. |
| Runtime installation was interrupted | Run option 5 or start.sh install. The previous verified runtime is preserved. |
| Dashboard says disconnected | Use the newest tokenized URL printed by the currently running launcher. |
| Port 3000 is already in use | Stop the earlier dashboard or set PORTABLE_AI_PORT before launching. |
| Provider rejects the request | Read the full provider error shown in the chat and verify model/tool compatibility. |
Image says Unsupported content: image |
Choose a vision-capable model and the Built-in or Responses adapter. |
| Ollama or LM Studio is unavailable | Start the local model server and verify its base URL before discovering models. |
| USB installation is slow | Use a USB 3.x drive/port and allow the first runtime installation to finish. |
MIT — use it, fork it, ship it.
Claude Code, the Agent SDK, and other dependencies keep their own licenses and terms. ClaudeCode-Portable is an independent interface and is not an official Anthropic product.