Claude Max: the multi-account playbook

The three accounts

Three separate Max subscriptions, each its own OAuth token and its own weekly reset day. The weekly quota is use-it-or-lose-it, so the reset day is the clock that matters.

Each account’s token lives at ~/.config/op/claude-<slug>.token. The statusline shows which one a session is burning as @KSD / @OFF in the machine segment.

See the burn: usage-board

One table, every account: 5h and 7d headroom left, the weekly reset, and how fresh each reading is.

usage-board            # the table
usage-board --json     # machine-readable

When a fresher account is worth swapping to (an expiring window with unused quota), a ⇆ swap → ACCT hint prints under the table, straight from the plan-router.

Swap the active account, or add a new one

/login, typed inside any Claude Code session, switches the whole box, running sessions included. To move one terminal pane instead, quit Claude there and run swap <slug>: it relaunches that pane on the account you name, back in the same session, and leaves the rest of the box alone.

claude-account              # show the box’s /login account + saved tokens
swap kme                    # this pane only: relaunch on KME, same session
claude-account run acme     # the long form; works for any saved account

Adding a token the safe way

A token is a secret. Do not pass tokens as arguments, since argv lands in shell history and shows up in ps output. Run claude-account add, which takes the token via stdin or the clipboard. It checks for the sk-ant-oat01- prefix, writes the token file at mode 600, and verifies length and tail without ever echoing the value. It also registers the HUD code for you.

claude setup-token                 # logged into the target account; copy the token
claude-account add acme            # paste it, then Ctrl-D  (input hidden)
pbpaste | claude-account add acme  # or pipe it
claude-account add acme --clip     # or pull it from the clipboard

Any slug works, so a client’s or a burner’s token drops in the same way. The slug becomes the account’s handle everywhere else.

Pin a project to an account: claude-peg

Pegging binds a project to an account so that entering it via cdc authenticates as that account, with no manual swap. This is how a client’s work always lands on the client’s subscription.

claude-peg acme              # peg the CURRENT repo to the acme account
claude-peg dye-client acme   # or peg a cdc-named project without cd’ing in
claude-peg --list            # show every peg
claude-peg --unpeg           # remove the current project’s peg

The peg map is stored $HOME-relative and committed, so a peg made on one machine propagates to the others. The statusline reads the peg map and shows the pegged @CODE. The account-swap nudge will not propose moving a client session off the account it is pegged to.

The client-burn move

Attach a client or burner token to a project and spend it hard before its window resets. Pegging picks the account (whose quota burns); cdc’s model arg picks the model. Two knobs.

1. Add the token

   Mint it logged into that account, then save it without it touching argv.

   claude setup-token
   claude-account add acme        # paste + Ctrl-D

2. Pin the project to it

   From inside the project, or by cdc name.

   claude-peg acme                # current repo → acme

3. Enter and burn

   Every launch now authenticates as acme. Add a model arg to spend it aggressively, say Fable while its 5-hour window is open.

   cdc dye-client              # launches on acme, HUD shows @ACME
   cdc dye-client claude-fable-5-1   # same account, Fable model: burn the 5h window

4. Watch it drain

   Keep an eye on the window so you spend it to the floor before it resets.

   usage-board                 # @ACME’s 5h + 7d headroom, live

Cheat sheet