# ddev-codex-claude-cli

`ddev-codex-claude-cli` is a DDEV add-on that runs Codex CLI and Claude Code CLI inside the DDEV `web` container while keeping runtime state under the project's `.ddev` directory on the host (bind-mounted into the container).

## What it does

- exposes `ddev codex`
- exposes `ddev claude`
- optionally exposes `ddev claude-swap` for juggling multiple Claude accounts (opt-in; see [Multiple Claude accounts](#multiple-claude-accounts))
- optionally keeps read-only mirrors of sibling repos under `.ddev/claude-code/home/refs/` for Claude to grep (opt-in; see [Sibling repo mirrors](#sibling-repo-mirrors))
- installs Codex CLI lazily the first time you run `ddev codex` (or whenever the persisted binary is missing) by downloading the latest release from GitHub: `curl -fsSL https://github.com/openai/codex/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sh`
- installs Claude Code CLI during `ddev start` when the persisted binary is missing or broken by downloading the stable native build: `curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash -s stable`
- keeps normal `ddev start` fast by skipping Claude Code installation when the persisted binary is already runnable
- persists each CLI's binary, HOME, and XDG paths under **project-local** storage so each DDEV project has its own profiles
- seeds the project-local HOME from the container home on first bootstrap for `.gitignore_global` when present
- keeps its own artifacts out of the project's git via a managed block in `.git/info/exclude`, refreshed on every `ddev start` and `ddev claude` (see [Keeping add-on files out of git](#keeping-add-on-files-out-of-git))
- always runs Codex with `--sandbox danger-full-access --ask-for-approval untrusted`

## Runtime storage

Inside the web container, Codex CLI state lives under:

    ${DDEV_APPROOT}/.ddev/codex-cli

Claude Code CLI state lives under:

    ${DDEV_APPROOT}/.ddev/claude-code

On the host, those are your project's **`.ddev/codex-cli/`** and **`.ddev/claude-code/`** directories. They survive `ddev restart`, `ddev stop`, and `ddev poweroff` like any other project file. The same directories hold the add-on's **install scripts** (managed files) alongside runtime data created after the first start.

Codex layout:

| Path | Role |
|------|------|
| `.ddev/codex-cli/install.sh` | Codex install script |
| `.ddev/codex-cli/bin/codex` | Codex CLI binary |
| `.ddev/codex-cli/home` | `HOME` |
| `.ddev/codex-cli/config` | `XDG_CONFIG_HOME` |
| `.ddev/codex-cli/data` | `XDG_DATA_HOME` |
| `.ddev/codex-cli/state` | `XDG_STATE_HOME` |

Claude Code layout:

| Path | Role |
|------|------|
| `.ddev/claude-code/install.sh` | Claude Code install script |
| `.ddev/claude-code/home/.local/bin/claude` | Claude Code CLI binary |
| `.ddev/claude-code/home` | `HOME` |
| `.ddev/claude-code/config` | `XDG_CONFIG_HOME` |
| `.ddev/claude-code/data` | `XDG_DATA_HOME` |
| `.ddev/claude-code/state` | `XDG_STATE_HOME` |

Authentication and settings are **per project**: sign in once per project; they persist across container restarts.

## Install

From a DDEV project root:

    ddev add-on get /path/to/ddev-codex-claude-cli

Then restart:

    ddev restart

## Usage

    ddev codex

    ddev codex --version

    ddev claude

    ddev claude --version

    ddev claude update

    ddev claude-swap list              # opt-in; see "Multiple Claude accounts"

    ddev claude-refs                   # opt-in; see "Sibling repo mirrors"

## Updates

Codex CLI is installed lazily when `ddev codex` runs and the persisted binary is missing or broken.

Claude Code CLI is installed automatically on `ddev start` only when the persisted binary is missing or broken. Later starts run a fast health check and skip installation when Claude is already runnable.

To check for and install a newer Claude Code stable release, run:

    ddev claude update

## Multiple Claude accounts

The add-on can integrate [`claude-swap`](https://github.com/realiti4/claude-swap)
(`cswap`) so one project can hold several Claude accounts and swap between them —
mainly to keep working past a 5-hour or weekly rate limit. It is **opt-in**: nothing
is installed during `ddev start`; the first `ddev claude-swap` call (or first
`ddev claude --account …`) installs `uv` and `claude-swap` into the project-local
Claude profile under `.ddev/claude-code/`.

Accounts are stored **per project**, next to the rest of the Claude state:

    .ddev/claude-code/data/claude-swap/

They persist across restarts and are deleted when the add-on is removed. Back them up
first with `ddev claude-swap export backup.cswap` if you need to keep them.

### Swapping accounts without losing your session

A running `ddev claude` conversation is not tied to the auth token, and Claude Code
re-reads its credentials file whenever it changes. So:

1. Terminal 1: you are in `ddev claude`, working, and hit (or approach) the limit.
2. Terminal 2 (on the host): `ddev claude-swap switch <n|email|alias>`
   (or `ddev claude-swap switch --strategy best`).
3. Back in terminal 1: send the next message — it goes out on the new account, in the
   **same session** with all its context. If a request just failed with the limit
   error, resend it.

To automate step 2, run `ddev claude-swap auto` in a spare terminal (or an
`ddev ssh` shell); it watches usage and switches around 90%.

### One-time setup

    ddev claude                     # sign in as your first account
    ddev claude-swap add --alias a  # capture it
    ddev claude                     # /login inside Claude Code as the next account, then exit
    ddev claude-swap add --alias b  # capture it
    ddev claude-swap list           # all accounts with usage and reset times
    ddev claude-swap status         # currently active account

`ddev claude-swap` forwards every argument straight to `cswap`, so any `cswap`
subcommand works (`switch`, `run`, `map`, `disable`, `export`, `import`, `tui`, …).
`ddev claude-swap upgrade` updates `claude-swap` to the latest release.

### Starting a session pinned to an account

Separately from the hot-swap flow, you can launch a session bound to one account
(with its own per-account chat history):

    ddev claude --account b
    ddev claude --account b --resume    # remaining args pass straight to Claude Code

Set a project default so plain `ddev claude` always uses it:

    echo b > .ddev/claude-code/claude-swap-account
    # or export DDEV_CLAUDE_SWAP_ACCOUNT=b

Remove the file (or unset the variable) to go back to the normal single-account
launch.

### Requirements

The first install needs outbound network access to `astral.sh`, `pypi.org`,
`files.pythonhosted.org`, and `github.com` (for the `uv`-managed Python 3.12).
`claude-swap` captures whichever account is signed in at `cswap add` time, so the
initial multi-account setup is a few manual `/login` round-trips.

## Sibling repo mirrors

If a project works alongside sibling repos on the same self-hosted Git host, Claude can be given
read-only, auto-refreshing local clones of them to grep for prior art — plus, optionally, the
`gitea` MCP server for their issues and PRs. This is **opt-in per project** and driven entirely by
one manifest, `.ddev/claude-refs.txt`; projects without that file see no change at all.

`.ddev/claude-refs.txt` is **local by default**: the add-on's [managed git-exclude
block](#keeping-add-on-files-out-of-git) ignores it, since it typically names a LAN-only Git host,
a bot token, and mirrors specific to one person's sandbox. A project that wants the manifest shared
with the rest of the team can still track it with `git add -f .ddev/claude-refs.txt`.

### Manifest: `.ddev/claude-refs.txt`

```
# Settings: one per line, starting with @
@host  git.example.com                       # required
@user  claude-ro                             # bot account; with @token, drives git credentials
@token ~/.gitea-ro-token                     # default; 0600 file in the sandbox home, never committed
@depth 50                                    # default
@mcp   gitea https://mcp.example.com/mcp     # optional: name + URL, registered with the token as Bearer

# Mirrors: <dir-name> <owner/repo> <description, rest of line, becomes the README row>
sibling-api   org/sibling-api   Go service this project talks to over HTTP.
shared-lib    org/shared-lib    Shared component library, imported as a dependency.
```

Inline `#` comments are only allowed on setting lines, after all the values the setting reads.
Keep them off mirror lines, or they end up in the description.

Environment overrides, mainly for testing: `CLAUDE_REFS_MANIFEST`, `CLAUDE_REFS_HOME`,
`CLAUDE_REFS_MAX_AGE` (seconds), `CLAUDE_REFS_TIMEOUT` (seconds per clone or fetch), and
`CLAUDE_REFS_DETACHED` (set by `install.sh`; sends output to `refs/.sync.log`).

### What happens once a project has a manifest

- On `ddev start` and on every `ddev claude`, `install.sh` runs the sync in the background
  (`setsid nohup`) so neither command waits on the network. A stamp file throttles real syncs to
  at most one every 6h (`CLAUDE_REFS_MAX_AGE`), written only after a fully successful run, so a
  failure retries next launch. If the Git host is unreachable, the sync logs a line and exits
  cleanly rather than failing `ddev start`.
- Mirrors are shallow (`--depth 50 --single-branch` by default), live under
  `.ddev/claude-code/home/refs/` (gitignored, survives `ddev restart`), and are **throwaway**:
  every sync hard-resets them to the remote's current state, so local changes are lost and nothing
  is ever merged. A directory that drops out of the manifest is left in place with a warning
  rather than deleted.
- An entry whose repo resolves to the project's own `origin` is skipped, so the project never ends
  up with a second, stale copy of itself.
- `refs/README.md` is regenerated from the manifest on every sync — descriptions come from the
  manifest, so the table can't drift from what's on disk.
- The bot account's credential file and git config are rewritten from the manifest on every run,
  so a renamed bot account heals itself on the next `ddev claude` instead of failing silently.
- Run `ddev claude-refs` to sync immediately instead of waiting for the throttle; inside a Claude
  session, running `.ddev/claude-code/refs-sync.sh --force` does the same and is already on the
  permission allowlist.
- If `@mcp` is set, the MCP server is registered once at user scope (`claude mcp add --scope
  user`), and required permission-allowlist entries are added once — both idempotently, so re-runs
  never duplicate them.

Access control (which repos the mirrors can see) stays entirely in the Git host: the bot account's
collaborator access decides what's visible. The manifest only names repos; it grants nothing by
itself.

### Adopting in a project

1. On the Git host, add the bot account as a **read-only** collaborator to each sibling repo.
2. Create `.ddev/claude-refs.txt` with `@host`, `@user`, and the mirrors you want. It stays local
   unless you `git add -f` it (see above).
3. Put the bot's token at `.ddev/claude-code/home/.gitea-ro-token`, mode `0600` (matches the
   manifest's default `@token ~/.gitea-ro-token`; never commit it).
4. `ddev restart`, then check `.ddev/claude-code/home/refs/.sync.log` after a minute or so.
5. Paste this into the project's `CLAUDE.md`, adding a sentence about the most relevant sibling:

   ```markdown
   ## Sibling repos

   Read-only shallow clones of sibling projects live in `.ddev/claude-code/home/refs/`
   (gitignored, declared in `.ddev/claude-refs.txt`). Grep them for prior art before
   re-deriving a solution; `refs/README.md` says what each one is. They are reference
   material: never commit or push from them. They sync in the background at most every
   6h; run `ddev claude-refs` before trusting anything time-sensitive.
   ```

The container still needs to resolve and reach the Git host (and the MCP host, if used).

## Installed managed files

    .ddev/config.codex-claude.yaml
    .ddev/commands/web/codex
    .ddev/commands/web/claude
    .ddev/commands/web/claude-swap
    .ddev/commands/web/claude-refs
    .ddev/codex-cli/install.sh
    .ddev/claude-code/install.sh
    .ddev/claude-code/install-swap.sh
    .ddev/claude-code/refs-sync.sh
    .ddev/claude-code/git-exclude.sh

## Keeping add-on files out of git

Every artifact the add-on drops into a project — `.ddev/claude-code/`, `.ddev/codex-cli/`, the
`commands/web/*` wrappers, `.ddev/config.codex-claude.yaml`, `.ddev/addon-metadata/ddev-codex-claude-cli`,
`.ddev/plans`, and `.ddev/claude-refs.txt` — should stay out of the project's git history.

`.ddev/claude-code/git-exclude.sh` maintains a marker-delimited block for this in the project's
`.git/info/exclude` (not `.gitignore`): a per-clone file that every git process honours, including
git run from the host, regardless of `$HOME` or container config. `install.sh` runs it on every
`ddev start` and every `ddev claude` (and the codex installer runs the same script too), so the
block always matches the add-on's current file list — nothing to copy or keep in sync by hand.

Content outside the `>>> ddev-codex-claude-cli >>>` / `<<< ddev-codex-claude-cli <<<` markers is
left untouched; only the block between them is rewritten. Personal patterns (`.DS_Store`, `.idea`,
`CLAUDE.md`, …) are not part of this block — they belong in your own `~/.gitignore_global`, wired
up via `core.excludesfile` as described below, since whether a given project tracks its own
`CLAUDE.md` is not the add-on's call.

- if the container home has `.gitignore_global` (typically from host `~/.ddev/homeadditions/.gitignore_global`), it is copied into each project-local CLI `HOME` on first bootstrap; git's `core.excludesfile` is pointed at that project-local copy — this only affects git run *inside* the container, which is why the add-on's own artifacts use the `.git/info/exclude` block instead
- the first `ddev codex` in a project can take some time because it downloads the Codex CLI binary; later runs reuse `.ddev/codex-cli/bin/codex`
- the first `ddev start` after installing the add-on can take some time because it downloads Claude Code; later starts reuse `.ddev/claude-code/home/.local/bin/claude`

Removing the add-on deletes `.ddev/codex-cli/` and `.ddev/claude-code/` as well (local auth, config, and CLI binaries). Back up those directories first if you need to keep them. The `.git/info/exclude` block is left in place; an orphaned entry for a path that no longer exists is harmless.

## macOS / Linux / WSL2

This add-on runs Codex CLI and Claude Code CLI in the DDEV container, so host OS differences are minimized as long as DDEV works normally.