claude-desktop-code

Connect Claude Desktop to any project instantly — one command, full filesystem and terminal access via MCP.

Features

• One-command setup — Run claude-desktop-code in any project directory
• Filesystem access — Claude can read and write files in your project
• Terminal access — Execute commands, run scripts, search code
• Session snapshots — Automatic git-based snapshots of your work
• Web dashboard — View project info and snapshots at http://localhost:11337

Prerequisites

• Claude Desktop installed
• Node.js 18+ and npm
• Git

Installation

npm install -g claude-desktop-code

Or use npx (no install):

npx claude-desktop-code

Usage

Start claude-desktop-code

cd your-project
claude-desktop-code

This will:

1. Configure Claude Desktop with MCP servers for your project
2. Start a file watcher for automatic snapshots
3. Launch the web dashboard at http://localhost:11337
4. Prompt to restart Claude Desktop

Available Commands

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | claude-desktop-code | Start claude-desktop-code for current project | | claude-desktop-code status | Show current project status and recent snapshots | | claude-desktop-code clean | Remove MCP config and session data |

Using with Claude Desktop

After running claude-desktop-code:

1. Restart Claude Desktop when prompted
2. Claude will have access to your project files
3. Use the terminal tool to run commands like:
   • ls -la
   • npm test
   • git status
   • grep -r "pattern" src/

How It Works

claude-desktop-code sets up two MCP servers in Claude Desktop:

1. filesystem — Provides read/write access to your project directory
2. terminal — Secure shell command execution within your project

Your project path is symlinked to ~/.claude-desktop-code/active-project, so Claude always accesses the correct directory.

Session Snapshots

Changes are automatically committed to a shadow git repository at ~/.claude-desktop-code/<project>/shadow.git. This lets you:

• Track history without polluting your project's git
• Revert to previous states via the web dashboard — click "↩ Revert" on any snapshot to restore your project to that point

Configuration

Session data is stored in ~/.claude-desktop-code/:

~/.claude-desktop-code/
├── active-project        → symlink to current project
├── terminal-mcp/         # MCP server with dependencies
│   ├── terminal-mcp.js
│   ├── package.json
│   └── node_modules/
└── <project-slug>/       # Per-project data
    ├── shadow.git/       # Snapshot repository
    └── ...

Requirements

• macOS, Linux, or Windows (WSL)
• Node.js >= 18
• Git

License

MIT