claude-code-termux

Install and run Claude Code on Android with Termux — no root, no proot, no Ubuntu chroot.

Claude Code has no official Android build. This fixes that: it installs Anthropic's real linux-arm64 binary and runs it natively under Termux via glibc-runner. Works on arm64 and x86_64.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bd-loser/claude-code-termux/main/install.sh | bash

That's the whole install. It pulls the dependencies, fetches Claude Code, sets up the launcher, and puts ~/.local/bin on your PATH. Then:

exec bash   # only needed the first time, to pick up PATH
claude

Prefer to read before you run? Same thing, in two steps:

curl -fsSL -o install.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bd-loser/claude-code-termux/main/install.sh
less install.sh && bash install.sh

If you landed here from one of these errors, you're in the right place:

• npm error 404 Not Found - GET https://registry.npmjs.org/@anthropic-ai%2fclaude-code-linux-arm64-android
• claude: command not found after npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
• getaddrinfo ENOTIMP when Claude Code tries to reach the API
• -G: cannot open shared object file from grep or find inside a session
• Claude Code is not supported on this platform / an installed claude that exits silently and does nothing

Why this exists

Claude Code 2.x ships as a native binary rather than JavaScript. Its npm postinstall picks a platform package based on process.platform, and on Termux that resolves to @anthropic-ai/claude-code-linux-arm64-android — a package Anthropic has never published. npm returns 404, the postinstall gives up, and claude is left as a stub that does nothing.

The binary itself is fine, though. It's an ordinary glibc linux-arm64 build, and Termux can run glibc binaries via the glibc-runner package. So this tool:

1. Reads the version of the @anthropic-ai/claude-code package you installed.
2. Downloads the matching @anthropic-ai/claude-code-linux-arm64 tarball — the glibc build, not the missing android one.
3. Installs a launcher at ~/.local/bin/claude that runs it through the glibc dynamic linker.

Install

Requires Termux (from F-Droid or GitHub — the Play Store build is too old), and roughly 1.5 GB free for glibc-runner plus the ~270 MB binary.

pkg install nodejs glibc-runner gcc-glibc
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code   # gives you the stub + version info

git clone https://github.com/bd-loser/claude-code-termux
cd claude-code-termux
./claude-code-termux install

(gcc-glibc is only needed if your device turns out to need the DNS shim. Harmless to install either way.)

~/.local/bin is not on Termux's default PATH. If install tells you so, add it:

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
exec bash

Then claude --version should print a version, and claude should start.

Usage

claude-code-termux install [version]   Download the glibc binary + install the launcher
claude-code-termux update              Re-download to match the npm package version
claude-code-termux uninstall [--purge] Remove binary, launcher, shim, manager copy
claude-code-termux doctor              Health check; exits nonzero if anything is broken
claude-code-termux build-shim          Rebuild the DNS fallback shim
claude-code-termux launcher-path       Print the launcher path
claude-code-termux manager-path        Print where this script installs itself

install with no version argument matches whatever @anthropic-ai/claude-code you have installed via npm, which keeps the binary and the package in sync. Pass a version to pin one:

claude-code-termux install 2.1.220

doctor is the thing to run first when something breaks. It checks dependencies, architecture, the glibc install, package/binary version drift, the launcher, PATH, the shim, and finally actually executes the binary.

What gets installed where

Path	What
$PREFIX/lib/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code/bin/claude-native	the real glibc binary, replacing the stub
~/.local/bin/claude	the launcher (launcher-path)
~/.local/share/claude-code-termux/	a copy of this script + shim sources (manager-path)
$PREFIX/lib/claude-dns-shim.so	the DNS shim, if it was needed

The manager copies itself to ~/.local/share/claude-code-termux/ because the launcher self-heals: if it finds the binary missing or reverted to a stub (an npm update will do that), it re-runs install automatically. Pointing that at the clone you happened to run from would break as soon as you deleted or moved it. Override with CLAUDE_TERMUX_HOME.

The DNS shim

Some Android ROMs symlink /etc to a read-only /system/etc that ships no resolv.conf. Bionic doesn't care — it gets its resolver config from the system property service — but glibc reads /etc/resolv.conf and finds nothing. With zero configured nameservers, every lookup fails immediately:

getaddrinfo ENOTIMP

If install detects no usable resolv.conf, it compiles shim_dns.c — a small getaddrinfo interposer — and the launcher preloads it. The shim tries the real getaddrinfo first and only steps in when that fails, at which point it does a plain UDP A-record query against the nameservers in $PREFIX/etc/resolv.conf, falling back to 8.8.8.8 / 8.8.4.4.

On a device with working resolver config the shim is never built and never loaded. To check, or to rebuild it by hand:

claude-code-termux doctor
claude-code-termux build-shim
CLAUDE_DNS_SHIM_DEBUG=1 claude --version   # trace shim decisions on stderr

Building it needs gcc-glibc (a separate package — glibc-runner does not pull it in). Two toolchain quirks build-shim.sh works around, in case you build by hand:

• the glibc sysroot has no kernel UAPI headers (its include/asm is a broken symlink), so the build adds -idirafter $PREFIX/include to borrow Termux's — UAPI headers are libc-independent, and -idirafter searches last so glibc's own headers still win;
• Termux's default ld is lld, which rejects the --fix-cortex-a53-835769 flag the glibc gcc passes, so the build puts the glibc bin first on PATH to get GNU ld.

Environment overrides

Variable	Default	Effect
APP_PREFIX	/data/data/com.termux/files/usr	Termux prefix
GLIBC_PREFIX	$APP_PREFIX/glibc	where glibc-runner lives
CLAUDE_TERMUX_HOME	~/.local/share/claude-code-termux	manager copy location
CLAUDE_DNS_SHIM	$APP_PREFIX/lib/claude-dns-shim.so	shim path
CLAUDE_NATIVE	(baked into launcher)	binary the launcher runs
CLAUDE_DNS_SHIM_DEBUG	unset	shim logs to stderr when set

Troubleshooting

claude: command not found — ~/.local/bin isn't on PATH. See Install.

getaddrinfo ENOTIMP — the shim isn't loaded. claude-code-termux doctor, then build-shim.

-G: cannot open shared object file from grep or find inside a session — Claude Code's shell snapshot re-invokes $CLAUDE_CODE_EXECPATH with a custom argv[0] to select its embedded tools. The installer builds a tiny Bionic launcher that preserves that tool name while invoking Termux's glibc loader, so tool flags reach ugrep/bfs instead of being parsed by the dynamic loader.

Version drift after npm update — claude-code-termux update.

claude was overwritten by something else — install adopts a foreign ~/.local/bin/claude but warns first. uninstall refuses to remove a launcher it doesn't recognise.

Uninstall

claude-code-termux uninstall           # binary, launcher, shim, manager copy
claude-code-termux uninstall --purge   # the above + npm uninstall -g

Neither touches ~/.claude/ or ~/.claude.json; remove those by hand if you want your config gone too.

FAQ

Does Claude Code work on Android? Yes, through this. There's no official Android build, but the Linux arm64 binary runs fine on a phone or tablet under Termux once you give it a glibc loader.

Do I need root? No. No root, no Magisk, no unlocked bootloader.

Do I need proot-distro, Ubuntu, or a chroot? No. Those work too, but they cost you a second filesystem and a slower shell. This runs the binary directly in your Termux environment, so claude sees your real files, your real $HOME, and your normal pkg-installed tools.

Will this work on a Chromebook / Android tablet / Samsung DeX? Anything that runs Termux on arm64 or x86_64 should be fine.

Is this safe? What is it downloading? Anthropic's own published npm tarball (@anthropic-ai/claude-code-linux-arm64), fetched with npm pack from the public registry. Nothing is patched or repackaged. The only original binary component is shim_dns.c, which is in this repo and compiled on your device. To build the shim you need gcc-glibc — note that glibc-runner does NOT pull it in as a dependency:

pkg install gcc-glibc

Does it work with a Claude Pro/Max subscription and with API keys? Yes — it's the stock binary, so authentication behaves exactly as it does on desktop.

Why does it need glibc? Android uses Bionic as its libc; the binary is linked against glibc. glibc-runner provides a glibc sysroot and loader, and the launcher invokes the binary through ld-linux-aarch64.so.1.

Will it survive npm update -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code? An update restores the broken stub, but the launcher notices and re-installs the real binary on the next run. claude-code-termux update does it eagerly.

Caveats

• Unofficial. Not affiliated with or supported by Anthropic. It downloads Anthropic's published binaries and runs them; it doesn't patch or repackage anything.
• Running glibc binaries under Termux costs a little startup latency and some disk for glibc-runner.
• If Anthropic ever publishes the android platform package, none of this is needed — npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code will just work.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

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