
Claude Code Multi-Provider Profiles
FreeEasily manage multiple LLM profiles in Claude Code.
Free · Opens the source repo
What Claude Code Multi-Provider Profiles does
The Claude Code Multi-Provider Profiles skill enables users to set up and maintain multiple isolated profiles for the Claude Code CLI, allowing for the simultaneous operation of different language model providers such as Kimi, MiniMax, GLM, and Anthropic. Each profile maintains its own state while sharing common resources like skills and projects, ensuring that users can run various models in separate terminal windows without configuration conflicts. This setup is particularly beneficial for students and power users who require access to multiple models for testing or development purposes.
The skill operates by utilizing a dedicated configuration directory, CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR, where each profile resides in its own subdirectory. This structure allows for the independent management of each profile's settings while still sharing the underlying resources. The skill includes mechanisms for troubleshooting profile drift, ensuring that all profiles remain consistent with the default configuration unless specified otherwise. This is crucial for maintaining a clean and efficient workflow, especially when working with multiple models that may have different requirements.
In addition to profile management, the skill provides scripts for synchronization and setup, making it easy to install and configure the necessary components. The synchronization scripts ensure that any changes made to the default profile's settings are propagated to all other profiles, while also allowing for the preservation of unique profile-specific configurations. This dual-layer approach to configuration management streamlines the process of switching between different models and helps prevent common pitfalls associated with manual configuration.
Overall, this skill is designed for developers and designers who need to leverage multiple LLM providers in their work. By providing a structured and automated way to manage profiles, it enhances productivity and reduces the likelihood of errors that can arise from manual setups.
When to use it
Use this skill when you need to run different language model providers in separate terminal windows simultaneously.
When not to use it
This skill may not be suitable for users who only need to work with a single model or prefer a simpler setup without multiple profiles.
What you can build with it
Testing Multiple Models
A developer wants to test the performance of Kimi and Anthropic models side by side in different terminal windows.
Educational Use
Students can utilize different profiles to explore various LLMs for their assignments without overwriting configurations.
Development Environment Setup
A designer needs to switch between models frequently for a project, using isolated profiles to manage settings effectively.
How to install Claude Code Multi-Provider Profiles
View source1. Install with the skills CLI
npx skills add daymade/claude-code-skills/claude-switch-models-setup --agent claude-code2. Or install it manually
Download the skill folder and drop it into ~/.claude/skills/ for all projects, or .claude/skills/ to scope it to one repo. Restart Claude Code so it picks up the new skill.
Anthropic's agentic coding CLI, and the reference implementation of Agent Skills. Drop a skill folder into ~/.claude/skills and Claude Code loads it automatically whenever a task matches the skill's description. Claude Code docs
Inside SKILL.md
Written by daymadeClaude Code Multi-Provider Profiles
Overview
This skill creates an isolated-but-shared profile system for Claude Code CLI. Each profile gets its own .claude.json state file (credentials and session history) while sharing skills, projects, hook scripts, agents, and installed plugin state across all profiles — and converging each profile's settings.json (hook registration, marketplaces, env feature flags, permissions, preferences) from the default profile, so the only intended difference between profiles is the model/provider.
The result: you can open one terminal with Kimi, another with DeepSeek, another with Anthropic — each running as a fully independent Claude Code process, without configuration bleed.
How It Works
CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIRtells Claude Code CLI which directory to use as its config root.- Each profile lives in
~/.claude-profiles/<name>/with an isolated.claude.json. - Content directories (
skills/,projects/,hooks/,agents/,settings/) are symlinked back to the main~/.claude/directory so you only maintain one copy. Note this shares hook scripts, not hook registration — registration lives in each profile's ownsettings.json(next bullet). - Config layer —
settings.json: each profile has its ownsettings.json(Claude Code treats it as config-dir-local), so everything stored there — hook registration,extraKnownMarketplaces,enabledPlugins,envfeature flags,permissions, behavior preferences — silently drifts the moment it changes in the default profile (measured 2026-07-18: 9/9 real profiles had zero hook registrations).sync-profile-settings.pyis the converger: registered as a SessionStart hook, it copies every key from the default profile'ssettings.jsoninto the active profile's, except identity keys (top-levelmodel; and env vars that carry provider routing or Anthropic-native isolation —ANTHROPIC_*,CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL,ENABLE_TOOL_SEARCH,DISABLE_GROWTHBOOK/TELEMETRY/AUTOUPDATER— which the provider settings file deliberately sets differently). Profile-only keys are preserved; the sync never deletes. This is what makes "everything except the model works in every profile" actually hold. - Exception —
plugins/: marketplace content and install state are shared, but each profile keeps its ownknown_marketplaces.json. Claude validates a marketplace'sinstallLocationwithpath.resolve()(which does NOT resolve symlinks), so a single shared file would make every non-writing profile report "corrupted installLocation".claude-plugins-sync.pybuilds and maintains this per-profile structure. claude-plugins-sync.pyalso mirrorsenabledPluginsfrom the default~/.claude/settings.jsoninto each profile'ssettings.json(sharing cache files is not enough; Claude Code treats "enabled" state as config-dir-local). The SessionStart converger above covers the same key as part of its whole-settings sync;claude-plugins-sync.pyremains the owner of the per-profileknown_marketplaces.jsonstructure.- Local source sync is automatic on maintainer machines. Installed Claude plugin cache directories and Codex/agents skill copies are symlinked to the source repos, so normal source edits are live immediately.
sync-local-skill-sources.pyis the idempotent repair primitive;claude-profileinit/launch runs it automatically, andsync-local-skill-sources-daemon.sh --installinstalls a macOS LaunchAgent that watches default Claude install state plus local marketplace manifests for structural changes. When a skill is removed from a marketplace manifest, the same repair pass prunes only stale Codex/agents symlinks that point back into the managed source repos, plus superseded version-alias symlinks in the plugin cache and all but the newestKEEP_JSON_BACKUPScopies ofinstalled_plugins.json; it never deletes real skill directories.- Pitfalls with daemon-owned symlinks (both observed 2026-07): ① never hand-create a symlink into a daemon-owned directory (
ln -s <repo>/<skill> ~/.codex/skills/<skill>) — if the daemon already created it, BSDlnputs the new link inside the target directory, leaving a self-referential<skill>/<skill>stray that directory walks can recurse into; repair by hand only withln -sfn, or afterreadlinkconfirms the link is missing. ② Verify symlinks withreadlink, notls -la <link>— ls follows the link and lists the target's contents, which reads as "link created" even when the actual outcome was a stray inside the target.
- Pitfalls with daemon-owned symlinks (both observed 2026-07): ① never hand-create a symlink into a daemon-owned directory (
- Sync scripts use a shared cross-process lock. This is required because users often open several provider windows from tmux or multiple terminals at once; concurrent launches must serialize marketplace/cache rewrites while still allowing all profiles to start.
- For the full local-source architecture, read
references/local-source-sync-architecture.mdbefore changing these scripts. - Provider routing is done via
~/.claude/settings/<name>.json, which setsANTHROPIC_MODEL,ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL, andANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKENfor that window.
One-Click Setup Workflow
When the user says something like "set up Claude Code profiles" or "I want to use Kimi and DeepSeek in different windows":
-
Check prerequisites
claudeCLI is installed:which claude- Shell is zsh or bash: detect via
$SHELL python3is available
-
Install the profile manager scripts — symlink them, do not copy
On a machine that has this repo checked out (the maintainer case), run the bundled installer — it does exactly what the manual form below does:
<absolute-path-to-this-repo>/daymade-claude-code/claude-switch-models-setup/scripts/setup.shOr link them by hand.
REPOmust be an absolute path: with a relative one every command below still succeeds and exits 0, leaving five dangling links that breakcskand the LaunchAgent with no error to trace.REPO=<absolute-path-to-this-repo>/daymade-claude-code/claude-switch-models-setup DST=~/.config/claude-switch-models-setup mkdir -p "$DST" for f in scripts/claude-profiles.sh \ scripts/claude-plugins-sync.py \ scripts/sync-local-skill-sources.py \ scripts/sync-local-skill-sources-daemon.sh \ scripts/sync-profile-settings.py; do ln -sf "$REPO/$f" "$DST/$(basename "$f")" doneThe five paths are spelled out rather than globbed so that reading this file tells you which scripts exist and where —
scripts/*.shwould not. Nochmodstep: all five are committed executable, so setting the bit again would only dirty the checkout with mode changes that then ride into somebody else's commit.Why symlinks and not
cp:~/.config/…is what actually runs — the LaunchAgent andclaude-profileinvoke scripts by that path — while this repo holds their source. Copies drift, and nothing about a deployed copy looks different from its source, so "am I editing the SSOT?" is not a judgement anyone reliably makes. Measured on one machine before the switch: a lock-placement fix sat in the repo for 26 days while the deployed copy kept running the bug it fixed, and two cleanup routines written straight into the deployed copy never reached version control at all — drift in both directions, silently. A link removes both, for as long as it stays a link — an atomic-save editor, anrsyncor a straycpturns one back into a real file without saying so, which is why this is worth re-checking rather than declaring solved. It also letssync-local-skill-sources.pylocate its own source repo by resolving its own path, instead of falling back to guessing.Worth re-checking how? Any periodic check works; there is none bundled with this skill. One line, run wherever you keep such things:
for f in ~/.config/claude-switch-models-setup/*.py ~/.config/claude-switch-models-setup/*.sh; do [ -L "$f" ] && [ -e "$f" ] || echo "not a live link: $f" doneIf one has become a real file, move it aside before re-linking — it may hold edits that exist nowhere else, which is the whole problem being described:
mv "$f" "$f.local-edits" && ln -sf <source> "$f", then diff.On a machine without the repo, copy the five scripts out of this skill bundle instead — and accept that repo fixes will not reach it until you copy again.
-
Add shell integration
- Source the profile manager in
~/.zshrcor~/.bashrc - Add aliases:
csk,csks,csd,csg,css,cssp - Tell the user to run
source ~/.zshrc(or open a new terminal)
- Source the profile manager in
-
Generate provider settings files
- For each provider the user wants, create
~/.claude/settings/<provider>.json - Use the templates in
assets/templates/as a starting point - Prompt the user for their API key and base URL; never hardcode defaults
- Set the context window correctly for this specific provider —
[1m]suffix vs explicitCLAUDE_CODE_MAX_CONTEXT_TOKENS/CLAUDE_CODE_AUTO_COMPACT_WINDOW, see "Configuring Context Window Size" below. Do this explicitly for every new profile rather than copying whatever the nearest template happens to already have — the nearest template not needing it is not evidence that this one doesn't either. - Include the required isolation flags:
CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL(same asANTHROPIC_MODEL)ENABLE_TOOL_SEARCH: "false"DISABLE_GROWTHBOOK: "1"DISABLE_TELEMETRY: "1"DISABLE_AUTOUPDATER: "1"
- For each provider the user wants, create
-
Initialize profile directories
- Run
claude-profiles-init - This creates
~/.claude-profiles/<provider>/with isolated.claude.jsonand symlinks - On maintainer machines, this also repairs local source symlinks before syncing plugin metadata
Statusline wiring:
claude-profiles-initauto-detects a statusline script from~/.claude/settings.jsonor~/.claude/statusline.shand injects it into each new profile. If neither is present, profiles will work but without a status bar. It is the AI's job to decide whether the user needs a statusline, install thestatusline-generatorskill if appropriate, and run its installer — not the profile setup script. Do not hardcode dependency installs into shell scripts. - Run
-
Register the settings converger
- Add
~/.config/claude-switch-models-setup/sync-profile-settings.pyas a SessionStart hook in the default profile's~/.claude/settings.jsonhooks.SessionStartlist (it no-ops when the active profile IS the default; its job there is to propagate into every profile's ownhookskey on the first sync) - Run the initial alignment:
python3 ~/.config/claude-switch-models-setup/sync-profile-settings.py --all - From then on every profile converges its
settings.jsonfrom the default profile at each session start (changes apply next session). Audit without writing:--check --all
- Add
-
Verify isolation
- Run
claude-profiles-doctor - Confirm each profile directory has
.claude.jsonand valid symlinks
- Run
-
Install automatic local source sync for maintainers
- Skip this for normal students or users who do not edit the skill source repos
- On a maintainer macOS machine, run
sync-local-skill-sources-daemon.sh --install - This watches default Claude install state plus local marketplace manifests and repairs Claude/Codex installed copies automatically after install/uninstall or plugin topology changes
-
Show the user how to launch
csk→ Kimi K3 windowcsks→ Kimi K2.7 highspeed windowcsd→ DeepSeek windowcsg→ GLM windowcss→ StepFun windowcssp→ StepFun paid/account-specific window, whenstep-pay.jsonexistsclaude(no alias) → default Anthropic profile
Commands
After setup, the user can run:
claude-profiles-init # Re-scan settings/*.json, create missing profiles;
# reports symlink drift (real dirs that should be symlinks).
# Add --repair to archive drift and replace with symlinks.
claude-profile <name> # Launch a specific profile
claude-profiles-ls # List profiles
claude-profiles-doctor # Check symlink health
claude-profile-rm <name> # Remove a profile's isolation directory
python3 ~/.config/claude-switch-models-setup/claude-plugins-sync.py
# Repair per-profile plugin structure and enabledPlugins
python3 ~/.config/claude-switch-models-setup/sync-profile-settings.py --all
# Converge every profile's settings.json from the default
# profile (hooks, marketplaces, env flags, permissions,
# preferences); --check --all audits without writing
python3 ~/.config/claude-switch-models-setup/sync-local-skill-sources.py --apply
# Maintainers: one-shot repair for Claude/Codex source symlinks
~/.config/claude-switch-models-setup/sync-local-skill-sources-daemon.sh --install
# Maintainers: install automatic macOS watcher
These are not day-to-day commands. Normal source edits are live through symlinks. The one-shot commands are for repair, bootstrap, or non-macOS environments without the LaunchAgent watcher.
Provider Templates
Templates live in assets/templates/:
minimax.json— MiniMax-M3, global endpoint, 1M context, adaptive or disabled thinkingminimax-cn.json— MiniMax-M3, China endpoint, 1M context, adaptive or disabled thinkingminimax-m2-7.json— MiniMax-M2.7, global endpoint, 204800-token context, always-on thinkingminimax-m2-7-cn.json— MiniMax-M2.7, China endpoint, 204800-token context, always-on thinkingkimi.json— Kimi K3 (1M context via the[1m]marker — see "Configuring Context Window Size" below)kimi-highspeed.json— Kimi K2.7 highspeed (legacy 200K context)glm.jsondeepseek.jsonstepfun.jsonanthropic.json
Every template uses the <API_KEY> placeholder. Templates for configurable gateways also use <BASE_URL>; the MiniMax templates pin the documented regional endpoint. Ask the user for every real placeholder value; do not guess or reuse values from the current machine unless the user explicitly provides them.
MiniMax model behavior
| Templates | Model | Context configuration | Thinking behavior |
|---|---|---|---|
minimax.json, minimax-cn.json | MiniMax-M3 | Append [1m] to every routed model value and set CLAUDE_CODE_AUTO_COMPACT_WINDOW to 1000000. | Supports adaptive or disabled thinking. Keep ANTHROPIC_REASONING_MODEL on the same model. |
minimax-m2-7.json, minimax-m2-7-cn.json | MiniMax-M2.7 | Set CLAUDE_CODE_MAX_CONTEXT_TOKENS and CLAUDE_CODE_AUTO_COMPACT_WINDOW to 204800; do not append [1m]. | Thinking is always on; do not claim a template-level disable path. |
Configuring Context Window Size
Every provider template sets the model's context window one of two ways — get this wrong and Claude Code doesn't know how much context the model can actually hold. Undershoot and it compacts (summarizes, drops old detail) far earlier than the provider actually requires; overshoot and it won't compact until the real limit is already blown past.
The full client-side mechanism of the [1m] marker — what it strips off the model
field, what it adds to the anthropic-beta header, and why a missing [1m] does
not mean the provider can't hold a big prompt — is documented in
references/context-window-config.md. Reach for it when a context number looks
wrong, not at template-writing time.
Decision rule
When writing a new provider's settings/<name>.json, pick based on the provider's real, verified context window — not the model's marketing name, and not by copying whatever the nearest template happens to do:
| Provider's real context window | What to set | Example template |
|---|---|---|
| ~1M tokens, explicitly confirmed (not assumed from the model's tier/name) | [1m] suffix on every ANTHROPIC_MODEL / ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_*_MODEL / CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL value. Must be the exact 4 characters [1m] — Claude Code matches this literal string, not a made-up marker like [1million] or [max]. | kimi.json |
| A known, smaller size (e.g. 200K) | Explicit CLAUDE_CODE_MAX_CONTEXT_TOKENS and/or CLAUDE_CODE_AUTO_COMPACT_WINDOW set to the real number — no [1m]. | kimi-highspeed.json (200000) |
| Unknown / not yet verified | Don't guess, and don't copy another provider's number just because a template needs something there. Ask the user to check the provider's own docs/console first. An unverified [1m] or an unverified large CLAUDE_CODE_AUTO_COMPACT_WINDOW just moves the failure from "compacts too early" to "doesn't compact until well past the real limit" — worse, because it's silent until a request actually fails. |
deepseek.json and glm.json set both [1m] and an explicit CLAUDE_CODE_AUTO_COMPACT_WINDOW: "1000000". That's belt-and-suspenders, not redundant filler to strip out — the exact precedence between the marker and the explicit override hasn't been independently reverse-engineered, so if you're copying one of those two templates, keep both rather than dropping one.
The MiniMax-M3 templates use the same 1M marker plus an explicit 1000000 auto-compact value. The MiniMax-M2.7 templates use explicit 204800 limits with no marker.
The full step-2-16k template-correctness war-story (why an internally-consistent-looking context value is not the same as a currently-correct one — cross-check the model name against the provider's live docs, not just the numbers around it), plus a reusable recipe to verify whether any env var actually changes the bytes sent over the wire (a local http.server capture, since --debug api only shows internal state), live in references/context-window-config.md.
Common base URLs (verify with your provider)
| Provider | Typical base URL |
|---|---|
| Kimi | https://api.moonshot.cn or OpenRouter-compatible endpoint |
| GLM | https://open.bigmodel.cn/api/paas/v4 or OpenRouter-compatible endpoint |
| DeepSeek | https://api.deepseek.com or OpenRouter-compatible endpoint |
| StepFun | https://api.stepfun.com or OpenRouter-compatible endpoint |
| MiniMax | Global: https://api.minimax.io/anthropic; China: https://api.minimaxi.com/anthropic |
| Anthropic | https://api.anthropic.com |
Important: The exact endpoint depends on whether the user is calling the provider directly or through a compatibility gateway (e.g., OpenRouter). Always ask.
Shared vs. Isolated
| Data | Location | Shared? |
|---|---|---|
| Session history | ~/.claude-profiles/<name>/.claude.json | Isolated per profile |
| Auth tokens/cache | ~/.claude-profiles/<name>/.claude.json | Isolated per profile |
| Skills | ~/.claude/skills/ | Shared via symlink |
| Plugin content | ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces, cache, data, ... | Shared via symlink |
| Plugin install registry | ~/.claude/plugins/installed_plugins.json | Shared via symlink |
| Enabled plugin map | ~/.claude/settings.json -> <profile>/settings.json | Converged by sync-profile-settings.py (also mirrored by claude-plugins-sync.py) |
| Plugin marketplace index | <profile>/plugins/known_marketplaces.json | Per-profile (installLocation is config-dir-specific; can't be shared) |
| Projects/memory | ~/.claude/projects/, ~/.claude/memory/ | Shared via symlink |
| Hook scripts | ~/.claude/hooks/, ~/.claude/commands/ | Shared via symlink (scripts only — NOT registration) |
settings.json config: hook registration, marketplaces, env flags, permissions, preferences | <profile>/settings.json | Converged from default profile by sync-profile-settings.py at session start (identity keys like model and provider-routing/isolation env vars are never synced) |
| Provider settings | ~/.claude/settings/<name>.json | Shared source, loaded per profile |
Troubleshooting
A profile directory exists but claude-profiles-doctor reports it as an "orphan profile"
Symptom: claude-profiles-doctor reports
WARN: orphan profile — no settings/<name>.json; claude-profile <name> fails. Run: claude-profile-rm <name>.
Cause: the profile isolation directory exists under ~/.claude-profiles/ but
the corresponding ~/.claude/settings/<name>.json provider config file is
missing. claude-profiles-init only scans settings/*.json, so an orphan
profile's symlinks are never created or maintained, and claude-profile <name>
will fail to launch with "Error: Settings file not found." The profile directory
may still contain useful per-profile data (history.jsonl, .claude.json with
provider credentials, settings.json, skill workspaces).
Fix:
- If the profile is no longer needed:
claude-profile-rm <name>— this safely removes the isolation directory (it checks for unexpected files first). - If you want to revive it: recreate the settings file at
~/.claude/settings/<name>.json(use a provider template fromassets/templates/), then runclaude-profiles-init.
A shared directory (skills/projects/hooks/agents/...) shows as a real directory, not a symlink
Symptom: claude-profiles-doctor reports
<name> is a real directory (expected symlink to ~/.claude/<name>) — drift; run: claude-profiles-init --repair.
Cause: the profile was created before the symlink-convergence design landed (or
was hand-created), so a shared content directory ended up as a real per-profile
directory instead of a symlink. That profile's copy now silently diverges from the
main ~/.claude/ copy — its skills/projects/hooks/agents are not the same as every
other profile's. The broken-symlink check cannot see this (a real directory is not
a broken link); on a real machine this drift went undetected for months until the
dedicated real-directory check was added (2026-07-21: legacy profiles created
before this check existed carried real projects/ dirs for months, undetected).
Fix (reversible — data is archived, never deleted):
claude-profiles-init --repair
For each drifted directory this archives the real dir to
<name>.pre-symlink-bak-<timestamp> inside the profile directory, then creates the
symlink that should have been there. Run claude-profiles-doctor again to confirm
a clean bill. If an archive turns out to hold data you need, it is sitting right
there — nothing was destroyed.
Note on what gets shared: after repair, that directory points at the main
~/.claude/<name> copy, so the profile sees the same skills/projects/etc. as the
default profile — which is the entire point of the shared-symlink design. The
per-profile state that must stay isolated (.claude.json, settings.json
identity keys like model/provider env, plugins/known_marketplaces.json) is
never one of these symlinked dirs, so repair never touches it. Inspect the archive
before discarding it if the profile held session/history data you care about —
those would now resolve to the shared copy.
Marketplace says "corrupted installLocation"
Symptom: /plugin or claude plugin marketplace update reports
corrupted installLocation ... expected a path inside <config-dir>/plugins/marketplaces.
Cause: known_marketplaces.json ended up shared across profiles (or hand-edited). Its
installLocation is config-dir-specific because Claude validates with path.resolve()
(symlinks NOT resolved), so one shared copy cannot satisfy multiple profiles.
Fix: claude-plugins-sync.py rebuilds each profile's own copy + the shared-content
symlinks. It runs automatically at claude-profile init/launch; to run manually:
python3 ~/.config/claude-switch-models-setup/claude-plugins-sync.py
Skill exists in default Claude but is missing in Kimi/GLM/DeepSeek
Symptom: the default Anthropic profile can see a skill, but a third-party profile cannot.
Cause: Claude Code stores enabledPlugins in each config directory's settings.json.
Sharing plugins/cache only makes files available; it does not enable them.
Fix:
python3 ~/.config/claude-switch-models-setup/claude-plugins-sync.py
Then restart the affected Claude Code window.
Local source edits do not show up in Claude Code or Codex
Symptom: you edit a skill in a local source repo, but Claude Code or Codex still loads an old installed copy.
Expected design: normal edits to existing source files are live immediately because the installed locations are symlinks. Existing Claude Code/Codex sessions may still need a restart because skill metadata is loaded at session start.
If the edit is structural (new plugin, new skill entry, version bump, install/uninstall, or marketplace manifest change), the macOS LaunchAgent should run automatically. Check:
launchctl print gui/$(id -u)/ai.daymade.claude-skill-source-sync
Repair manually only if the watcher is not installed or you are on a non-macOS machine:
python3 ~/.config/claude-switch-models-setup/sync-local-skill-sources.py --apply
This moves existing real copies into timestamped .source-sync-backups/ folders, replaces them with symlinks to the source repos, and prunes stale managed symlinks after a skill is removed from the manifest.
It also cleans up after itself, which earlier versions did not:
- Version-alias symlinks. Each cache link is named after the marketplace's current version, so every version bump left the previous link behind pointing at the very same source directory. One plugin had six version directories, four of them aliases for one source. The pass now removes sibling links that resolve to the same source; real directories are never touched, since Claude Code installs those and a live session may still hold them through
.in_use. installed_plugins.jsonbackups. Every run that changes the JSON writes one, and nothing removed them — a month of runs left 453 files behind. TheKEEP_JSON_BACKUPSconstant in the script caps the retained set; the names end in aYYYYMMDD-HHMMSSstamp, so lexical order is chronological.
Both are visible in a dry run before --apply touches anything.
A profile is missing hooks, marketplaces, env flags, or other default-profile settings
Symptom: the default profile has hook guards, marketplaces, or feature flags configured, but a third-party profile behaves as if they don't exist (no PreToolUse guards fire, claude plugin marketplace list is empty, a feature enabled in the default profile is off).
Cause: those live in each profile's own settings.json, which is config-dir-local — symlinking directories does not cover the config layer, and it drifts silently the moment the default profile changes.
Fix:
python3 ~/.config/claude-switch-models-setup/sync-profile-settings.py --all
Then restart the affected window. Once the converger is registered as a SessionStart hook (setup step 6), every profile self-converges at session start, so this should only be needed after a manual settings edit you want propagated immediately.
Third-party profile tries to use Anthropic-specific features
Symptom: WebSearch or other Anthropic-native tools fail with 400 errors.
Fix: Ensure the profile's settings.json sets:
{
"env": {
"ENABLE_TOOL_SEARCH": "false",
"DISABLE_GROWTHBOOK": "1",
"DISABLE_TELEMETRY": "1",
"DISABLE_AUTOUPDATER": "1"
}
}
Subagent calls fall back to a different model
Symptom: Subagents inside a Kimi window call claude-opus-4-7.
Fix: Set CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL to the same value as ANTHROPIC_MODEL in the profile's settings.json.
A huge-context provider compacts/summarizes way too early, or the statusline context number looks wrong
Symptom: a provider whose own docs claim ~1M tokens of context gets auto-compacted by Claude Code well below that — long sessions get summarized when there's clearly no real need to yet, or the context percentage in the statusline tracks like it's looking at a ~200K model instead of the real ceiling.
Cause: the profile's ANTHROPIC_MODEL (and its ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_*_MODEL / CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL siblings) is missing the [1m] marker. Claude Code has no other way to learn the provider's real context size — the request itself succeeding with a huge prompt doesn't tell Claude Code anything, since that's a property of the upstream provider, not of the client. See references/context-window-config.md for the full mechanism.
Fix: add the literal [1m] suffix to ANTHROPIC_MODEL, every ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_*_MODEL, and CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL in the profile's settings.json (match kimi.json's pattern). Restart the affected window.
Adding a New Provider Later
- Create
~/.claude/settings/<new-provider>.jsonusing a template. - Check the provider's real, verified context window and configure it —
[1m]marker or explicitCLAUDE_CODE_MAX_CONTEXT_TOKENS/CLAUDE_CODE_AUTO_COMPACT_WINDOW, see "Configuring Context Window Size" below andreferences/context-window-config.md. Don't skip this because the template you copied from happened not to need it. - Run
claude-profiles-init. - Add an alias to the shell rc file if desired.
Security Notes
- API keys are written to
~/.claude/settings/<provider>.jsonin plain text, the same way Claude Code storesANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN. This matches Claude Code's own security model. - This skill never uploads keys or settings anywhere.
- For public distribution, the bundled scripts contain no hardcoded secrets, endpoints, or user-specific paths.
Next Step
After setup, the user can immediately test by opening two terminals and running csk (Kimi K3) in one and csd in the other. Each window is independent.
Frequently asked questions about Claude Code Multi-Provider Profiles
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