Claude Desktop for Linux

Unofficial Linux packages for Claude Desktop AI assistant with automated updates.

Installation

After installing, see Optional Dependencies to enable Computer Use, Cowork, and more.

Arch Linux / Manjaro (AUR)

yay -S claude-desktop-bin

# Optional: Computer Use dependencies
# Pick the line matching your session type (echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE and echo $XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP):
# X11/XWayland:
sudo pacman -S --needed xdotool scrot imagemagick wmctrl
# Wayland (Sway):
sudo pacman -S --needed ydotool grim jq
# Wayland (Hyprland):
sudo pacman -S --needed ydotool grim hyprland
# Wayland (KDE Plasma):
sudo pacman -S --needed ydotool xdotool spectacle imagemagick
# Wayland (GNOME):
sudo pacman -S --needed ydotool xdotool glib2 gnome-screenshot imagemagick python-gobject gst-plugin-pipewire
# Optional: socat (cowork socket health checks, has fallback)
# sudo pacman -S --needed socat

On Wayland, the ydotoold daemon must be running — see ydotool setup.

Updates arrive through your AUR helper (e.g. yay -Syu).

Debian / Ubuntu (APT Repository)

# Add repository (one-time setup)
curl -fsSL https://patrickjaja.github.io/claude-desktop-bin/install.sh | sudo bash

# Install
sudo apt install claude-desktop-bin

# Optional: Computer Use dependencies
# Pick the line matching your session type (echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE and echo $XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP):
# X11/XWayland:
sudo apt install xdotool scrot imagemagick wmctrl
# Wayland (Sway):
sudo apt install ydotool grim jq
# Wayland (Hyprland):
sudo apt install ydotool grim hyprland
# Wayland (KDE Plasma):
sudo apt install ydotool xdotool kde-spectacle imagemagick
# Wayland (GNOME):
sudo apt install ydotool xdotool libglib2.0-bin gnome-screenshot imagemagick python3-gi gstreamer1.0-pipewire
# Optional: socat (cowork socket health checks, has fallback)
# sudo apt install socat

Wayland users: Computer Use requires ydotool v1.0+, but Ubuntu/Debian ship v0.1.8 which is too old. Run the ydotool setup script — without this, clicks will not work.

Updates are automatic via sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade.

Manual .deb install (without APT repo)

wget https://github.com/patrickjaja/claude-desktop-bin/releases/latest/download/claude-desktop-bin_1.2278.0-1_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i claude-desktop-bin_*_amd64.deb

Fedora / RHEL (DNF Repository)

# Add repository (one-time setup)
curl -fsSL https://patrickjaja.github.io/claude-desktop-bin/install-rpm.sh | sudo bash

# Install
sudo dnf install claude-desktop-bin

# Optional: Computer Use dependencies
# Pick the line matching your session type (echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE and echo $XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP):
# X11/XWayland:
sudo dnf install xdotool scrot ImageMagick wmctrl
# Wayland (Sway):
sudo dnf install ydotool grim jq
# Wayland (Hyprland):
sudo dnf install ydotool grim hyprland
# Wayland (KDE Plasma):
sudo dnf install ydotool xdotool spectacle ImageMagick
# Wayland (GNOME):
sudo dnf install ydotool xdotool glib2 gnome-screenshot ImageMagick python3-gobject gstreamer1-plugin-pipewire
# Optional: socat (cowork socket health checks, has fallback)
# sudo dnf install socat

On Wayland, the ydotoold daemon must be running — see ydotool setup.

Updates are automatic via sudo dnf upgrade.

Manual .rpm install (without DNF repo)

wget https://github.com/patrickjaja/claude-desktop-bin/releases/latest/download/claude-desktop-bin-1.2278.0-1.x86_64.rpm
sudo dnf install ./claude-desktop-bin-*.x86_64.rpm

NixOS / Nix

# Try without installing
nix run github:patrickjaja/claude-desktop-bin

# Or add to flake.nix
nix profile install github:patrickjaja/claude-desktop-bin

For Computer Use, pass optional dependencies via override. Pick the block matching your session type (echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE and echo $XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP):

claude-desktop.override {
  # X11/XWayland:
  xdotool = pkgs.xdotool; scrot = pkgs.scrot;
  imagemagick = pkgs.imagemagick; wmctrl = pkgs.wmctrl;
  # Wayland (wlroots — Sway, Hyprland):
  # ydotool = pkgs.ydotool; grim = pkgs.grim; jq = pkgs.jq;
  # hyprland = pkgs.hyprland;
  # Wayland (KDE Plasma):
  # ydotool = pkgs.ydotool; xdotool = pkgs.xdotool;
  # spectacle = pkgs.kdePackages.spectacle; imagemagick = pkgs.imagemagick;
  # Wayland (GNOME):
  # ydotool = pkgs.ydotool; xdotool = pkgs.xdotool;
  # glib = pkgs.glib; gnome-screenshot = pkgs.gnome-screenshot;
  # Optional: socat (cowork socket health checks, has fallback)
  # socat = pkgs.socat;
}

NixOS flake configuration

{
  inputs.claude-desktop.url = "github:patrickjaja/claude-desktop-bin";

  # In your system config:
  environment.systemPackages = [
    inputs.claude-desktop.packages.x86_64-linux.default
  ];
}

Note: Update by running nix flake update to pull the latest version. nix run always fetches the latest.

Dispatch/Cowork: Requires Claude Code >= 2.1.86 (fixes CLAUDE_CODE_BRIEF env parsing). If nixpkgs ships an older version, install Claude Code manually and override with extraSessionPaths:

claude-desktop.override {
  extraSessionPaths = [ "/path/to/directory/containing/claude" ];
}

AppImage (Any Distro)

# Download from GitHub Releases
wget https://github.com/patrickjaja/claude-desktop-bin/releases/latest/download/Claude_Desktop-1.2278.0-x86_64.AppImage
chmod +x Claude_Desktop-*-x86_64.AppImage
./Claude_Desktop-*-x86_64.AppImage

Computer Use: Install optional dependencies using your distro's package manager — see the Computer Use packages table. On Wayland, ydotool v1.0+ is required — see ydotool setup.

Update: AppImage supports delta updates via appimageupdatetool. Only changed blocks are downloaded.

appimageupdatetool Claude_Desktop-*-x86_64.AppImage
# Or from within the AppImage:
./Claude_Desktop-*-x86_64.AppImage --appimage-update

Compatible with AppImageLauncher and Gear Lever for automatic update notifications.

From Source

git clone https://github.com/patrickjaja/claude-desktop-bin.git
cd claude-desktop-bin
./scripts/build-local.sh --install

Note: Source builds do not receive automatic updates. Pull and rebuild to update.

ARM64 / aarch64 (NVIDIA DGX Spark, Jetson, etc.)

ARM64 .deb and .rpm packages are available for platforms like NVIDIA DGX Spark (Ubuntu 24.04 arm64) and Jetson (JetPack/Ubuntu 22.04 arm64).

# Debian/Ubuntu ARM64 (via APT repo)
curl -fsSL https://patrickjaja.github.io/claude-desktop-bin/install.sh | sudo bash
sudo apt install claude-desktop-bin

# Fedora ARM64 (via DNF repo)
curl -fsSL https://patrickjaja.github.io/claude-desktop-bin/install-rpm.sh | sudo bash
sudo dnf install claude-desktop-bin

The APT and DNF repos serve both x86_64 and arm64 packages — your package manager picks the correct architecture automatically.

Optional Dependencies

Claude Desktop works without these — features degrade gracefully when tools are missing.

Feature	Packages	Notes
Computer Use	See table below	Install manually for your session type (X11 or Wayland) — the app auto-detects which tools to call at runtime
Cowork & Dispatch	claude-cowork-service	Agentic workspace and mobile→desktop task orchestration
Claude Code CLI	claude	Required for Code integration, Cowork, and Dispatch
Browser Tools	Claude in Chrome extension	Uses Claude Code's native host (~/.claude/chrome/chrome-native-host). Claude Code CLI must be installed
Custom MCP Servers	nodejs	Only needed for third-party MCP servers requiring system Node.js

Computer Use packages — check your session type (echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE) and desktop (echo $XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP), then install the matching packages. At runtime, the app auto-detects your compositor and calls the correct tools.

Operation	X11 / XWayland	Wayland — wlroots (Sway, Hyprland)	Wayland — GNOME	Wayland — KDE Plasma
Input automation	xdotool	ydotool (+ ydotoold running)	ydotool (+ ydotoold running)	ydotool (+ ydotoold running)
Screenshots	scrot, imagemagick	grim	Portal+PipeWire (GNOME 46+), gdbus, gnome-screenshot	spectacle, imagemagick
Clipboard	Electron API (built-in)	Electron API (built-in)	Electron API (built-in)	Electron API (built-in)
Display info	Electron API (built-in)	Electron API (built-in)	Electron API (built-in)	Electron API (built-in)
Window queries	wmctrl	swaymsg (Sway), jq	—	—
Cursor positioning	xdotool	ydotool	xdotool (read), ydotool (move)	xdotool (read), ydotool (move)

GNOME: On GNOME 46+ (Ubuntu 25.10+, Fedora 40+), screenshots use the XDG ScreenCast portal with PipeWire restore tokens — the first screenshot shows a one-time permission dialog, all subsequent screenshots are silent (requires python-gobject/python3-gi and gst-plugin-pipewire, typically pre-installed on GNOME). Token is stored in ~/.config/Claude/pipewire-restore-token. Falls back to gnome-screenshot and gdbus (glib2/libglib2.0-bin).

KDE: spectacle captures screenshots. imagemagick (convert) crops to monitor region on multi-monitor setups.

Custom screenshot command: Set COWORK_SCREENSHOT_CMD to override the auto-detection. Use placeholders {FILE} (output path), {X}, {Y}, {W}, {H} (region). Example: COWORK_SCREENSHOT_CMD='spectacle -b -n -r -o {FILE}'

ydotool setup (Wayland — all compositors)

Computer Use needs ydotool v1.0+ and the ydotoold daemon for mouse/keyboard input on Wayland. Without it, clicks won't reach native Wayland windows. Tested on KDE Plasma and GNOME.

Arch Linux / Fedora — ydotool v1.x ships in the repos:

# Arch
sudo pacman -S ydotool && sudo systemctl enable --now ydotool

# Fedora
sudo dnf install ydotool && sudo systemctl enable --now ydotool

Ubuntu / Debian — the repo ships v0.1.8 which is incompatible. Run the setup script to build and configure v1.0.4:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/patrickjaja/claude-desktop-bin/master/scripts/setup-ydotool.sh | sudo bash

GNOME users — also set flat mouse acceleration for accurate cursor positioning:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.peripherals.mouse accel-profile flat

Note: this changes acceleration for all mice, not just ydotool. KDE handles this per-device automatically.

Restart Claude Desktop after setup.

Features

• Native Linux support (Arch, Debian/Ubuntu, Fedora/RHEL, NixOS, AppImage) — x86_64 and ARM64, X11 and Wayland
• Claude Code CLI integration - Auto-detects system-installed Claude Code (requires claude-code)
• Local Agent Mode - Git worktrees and agent sessions
• Cowork support - Agentic workspace feature enabled on Linux (requires claude-cowork-service)
• Computer Use - Desktop automation via built-in MCP server (27 tools: screenshot, click, type, scroll, drag, clipboard, multi-monitor switch, batch actions, teach mode). No permission grants needed — see Optional Dependencies for required packages
• Dispatch - Send tasks from your phone to your desktop Claude via Anthropic's dispatch orchestrator agent (internally "Ditto"). Text responses, file delivery, task orchestration, and all SDK MCP tools work natively on Linux (requires claude-cowork-service). See Dispatch Architecture for details
• Browser Tools (Chrome integration) - 18 browser automation tools (navigate, read_page, javascript_tool, etc.) via the Claude in Chrome extension. Uses Claude Code's native messaging host (~/.claude/chrome/chrome-native-host) instead of the proprietary Windows/macOS binary
• MCP server support - Model Context Protocol servers work on Linux
• Custom Themes (Experimental) - 6 built-in color themes (Nord, Catppuccin Mocha/Frappe/Latte/Macchiato, Sweet) or create your own via JSON config — not all UI elements are fully themed yet
• Imagine / Visualize - Inline SVG graphics, HTML diagrams, charts, mockups, and data visualizations rendered directly in Cowork sessions via show_widget and read_me MCP tools. Enabled on Linux by forcing the GrowthBook feature flag
• Hardware Buddy (Nibblet) - BLE companion device (M5StickC Plus) showing animated session state. Access via app menu → Developer → Open Hardware Buddy… (requires bluez)
• Multi-monitor Quick Entry - Global hotkey (Ctrl+Alt+Space) opens on the monitor where your cursor is
• Automated daily version checks
• …and 38+ more patches for native Linux integration (tray icons, window management, enterprise config, detected projects, and more)

Claude Chat

The main Chat tab running natively on Linux.

Claude Code Integration

This package patches Claude Desktop to work with system-installed Claude Code on Linux.

To use Claude Code (and Cowork) features, install the CLI following the official setup guide, then verify it's accessible:

which claude  # e.g. ~/.local/bin/claude, /usr/bin/claude, /usr/local/bin/claude

The patch auto-detects claude in /usr/bin, ~/.local/bin, and /usr/local/bin.

Cowork Integration

Cowork is Claude Desktop's agentic workspace feature. This package patches it to work on Linux using a native backend daemon instead of the macOS/Windows VM.

Requires Claude Code CLI (see above) and claude-cowork-service. See its Installation section for distro-specific instructions (APT, DNF, AUR, Nix, or binary install).

CoworkSpaces

CoworkSpaces organizes folders, projects, and links into named Spaces for Cowork sessions. On macOS/Windows this is handled by the native backend (@ant/claude-swift). On Linux, fix_cowork_spaces.py provides a full file-based implementation:

• Stores spaces in ~/.config/Claude/spaces.json
• Full CRUD: create, update, delete spaces with folders, projects, and links
• File operations: list folder contents, read files, open with system handler
• Auto-memory directories per space (~/.config/Claude/spaces/<id>/memory/)
• Integrates with the SpaceManager singleton so resolveSpaceContext works for sessions

The Spaces UI is rendered by the claude.ai web frontend (loaded in the BrowserView).

Computer Use

Claude Desktop includes a built-in Computer Use MCP server with 27 tools for desktop automation — screenshot, click, type, scroll, drag, clipboard, and more. The learn tools (learn_application, learn_screen_region) generate interactive overlay tutorials that walk through any application's UI elements step by step.

Example prompt: "Can you use computer use MCP to explain me the PhpStorm application?"

Welcome	Menu Bar	Toolbar

How it works on Linux: Upstream Computer Use is macOS-only — gated behind process.platform==="darwin" checks, macOS TCC permissions, and a native Swift executor. The patch (fix_computer_use_linux.py) removes 3 platform gates, bypasses TCC with a no-op {granted: true}, and injects a Linux executor that auto-detects your session type and uses the right tools. See Optional Dependencies for the full package list.

App discovery for the teach/learn overlay scans .desktop files from /usr/share/applications, ~/.local/share/applications, and Flatpak directories. Each app is registered with multiple name variants (full name, first word, exec basename, icon name, .desktop filename) so the model can match apps flexibly (e.g., "Thunar" matches "Thunar File Manager").

Multi-monitor limitation: Computer Use on Linux is limited to the primary monitor only. Screenshots, clicks, and the teach overlay all target the primary display. On multi-monitor setups, coordinates are translated from display-relative to absolute screen space automatically. Use switch_display if you need to target a different monitor for screenshots/clicks, but the teach overlay always appears on primary.

Teach overlay on Linux: Since Electron's setIgnoreMouseEvents(true, {forward: true}) is broken on X11, the teach overlay stays fully interactive (buttons are clickable) but blocks clicks to apps behind it during the guided tour. The tooltip repositions between steps via anchorLogical coordinates pointing to UI elements.

See CLAUDE_BUILT_IN_MCP.md for the full tool reference and Optional Dependencies for required packages.

Hardware Buddy (Nibblet)

Hardware Buddy connects Claude Desktop to a Nibblet — a small M5StickC Plus BLE companion device that displays animated characters reflecting Claude's session state (idle, busy, celebrating, etc.).

Access: App menu → Developer → Open Hardware Buddy…

How it works on Linux: The BLE communication uses standard Web Bluetooth (Nordic UART Service) via Electron's Chromium layer — no native code needed. Upstream gates the feature behind a server-side flag. The patch (fix_buddy_ble_linux.py) forces the flag on Linux so the BLE bridge initializes.

Prerequisites: bluez package (sudo pacman -S bluez bluez-utils / sudo apt install bluez). Bluetooth must be enabled (bluetoothctl power on).

Pairing: Power on the Nibblet — it advertises as Nibblet-XXXX. Click "Open Hardware Buddy…" from the Developer menu, then pair from the buddy window. The device shows session activity, token counts, and responds to permission prompts with physical button presses.

Custom Themes (Experimental)

Themes override CSS variables in all windows (main chat, Quick Entry, Find-in-Page, About) via Electron's insertCSS() API. Set Claude Desktop to dark mode for best results with dark themes.

Quick start:

echo '{"activeTheme": "sweet"}' > ~/.config/Claude/claude-desktop-bin.json
# Restart Claude Desktop

Built-in themes: sweet, nord, catppuccin-mocha, catppuccin-frappe, catppuccin-latte, catppuccin-macchiato

Sweet	Nord	Catppuccin Mocha
Purple/pink warm tones (github.com/EliverLara/Sweet)	Arctic blue-grey (nordtheme.com)	Warm pastels (catppuccin.com)

See themes/README.md for the full theming guide: CSS variable reference, how to extract app HTML/CSS for inspection, custom theme creation, and screenshots.

Patches

The package applies several patches to make Claude Desktop work on Linux. Each patch is isolated in patches/ for easy maintenance:

Patch	Purpose	Debug pattern
add_feature_custom_themes.py	CSS theme injection — 6 built-in themes (sweet, nord, catppuccin-*)	Prepended IIFE, no regex
claude-native.js	Linux stubs for @anthropic/claude-native (Windows-only module)	Static file, no regex
enable_local_agent_mode.py	Removes platform gates for Code/Cowork features, spoofs UA	rg -o 'function \w+\(\)\{return process\.platform.*status' index.js
fix_0_node_host.py	Fixes MCP node host and shell worker paths for Linux	rg -o 'nodeHostPath.{0,50}' index.js
fix_app_quit.py	Uses app.exit(0) to prevent hang on exit	rg -o '.{0,50}app\.quit.{0,50}' index.js
fix_asar_folder_drop.py	Prevents app.asar from being misdetected as a folder drop on launch (#24)	rg -o 'filter.*\.asar' index.js
fix_asar_workspace_cwd.py	Redirects app.asar workspace paths to home directory (#24)	rg -o '__cdb_sanitizeCwd' index.js
fix_browse_files_linux.py	Enables openDirectory in file dialog (upstream macOS-only)	rg -o 'openDirectory.{0,60}' index.js
fix_browser_tools_linux.py	Enables Chrome browser tools — redirects native host to Claude Code's wrapper	rg -o '"Helpers".{0,50}' index.js
fix_buddy_ble_linux.py	Enables Hardware Buddy (Nibblet BLE device) — forces feature flag, uses Web Bluetooth via BlueZ	rg -o '2358734848.{0,50}' index.js
fix_claude_code.py	Detects system-installed Claude Code binary	rg -o 'async getStatus\(\)\{.{0,200}' index.js
fix_computer_use_linux.py	Enables Computer Use — removes platform gates, injects Linux executor (portal+PipeWire/grim/GNOME D-Bus/spectacle/scrot, xdotool/ydotool)	rg -o 'process.platform.*darwin.*t7r' index.js
fix_computer_use_tcc.py	Stubs macOS TCC permission handlers to prevent error logs	Prepended IIFE, UUID extraction
fix_cowork_error_message.py	Replaces Windows VM errors with Linux-friendly guidance	String literal match
fix_cowork_linux.py	Enables Cowork — VM client, Unix socket, bundle config, binary resolution	rg -o '.{0,50}vmClient.{0,50}' index.js
fix_cowork_sandbox_refs.py	Replaces VM/sandbox system prompts and tool descriptions with accurate host-system text	rg 'lightweight Linux VM|isolated Linux' index.js
fix_cowork_first_bash.py	Fixes first bash command returning empty output — events socket race condition	rg -o 'subscribeEvents' index.js
fix_cowork_spaces.py	File-based CoworkSpaces service (CRUD, file ops, events)	rg -o 'CoworkSpaces' index.js
fix_cross_device_rename.py	EXDEV fallback for cross-filesystem file moves	Uses .rename( literal
fix_detected_projects_linux.py	Enables detected projects with Linux IDE paths (VSCode, Cursor, Zed)	rg -o 'detectedProjects.{0,50}' index.js
fix_disable_autoupdate.py	Disables auto-updater (no Linux installer)	rg -o '.{0,40}isInstalled.{0,40}' index.js
fix_dispatch_linux.py	Enables Dispatch — forces bridge init, bypasses platform gate, forwards responses natively	rg -o 'sessions-bridge.*init' index.js
fix_dispatch_outputs_dir.py	Fixes "Show folder" opening empty outputs dir — falls back to child session outputs	rg -o 'openOutputsDir.{0,80}' index.js
fix_dock_bounce.py	Suppresses taskbar attention-stealing on KDE/Wayland	Prepended IIFE, no regex
fix_enterprise_config_linux.py	Reads enterprise config from /etc/claude-desktop/enterprise.json	rg -o 'enterprise.json' index.js
fix_imagine_linux.py	Enables Imagine/Visualize — forces GrowthBook flag for inline SVG/HTML rendering	rg -o '3444158716' index.js
fix_locale_paths.py	Redirects locale file paths to Linux install location	Global string replace on process.resourcesPath
fix_marketplace_linux.py	Forces host-local mode for plugin operations (no VM)	rg -o 'function \w+\(\w+\)\{return\(\w+==null.*mode.*ccd' index.js
fix_native_frame.py	Native window frames on Linux, preserves Quick Entry transparency	rg -o 'titleBarStyle.{0,30}' index.js
fix_office_addin_linux.py	Extends Office Addin MCP server to include Linux	rg -o '.{0,30}louderPenguinEnabled.{0,30}' index.js
fix_process_argv_renderer.py	Injects process.argv=[] in renderer preload to prevent TypeError	rg -o '.{0,30}\.argv.{0,30}' mainView.js
fix_quick_entry_position.py	Quick Entry opens on cursor's monitor (multi-monitor)	rg -o 'getPrimaryDisplay.{0,50}' index.js
fix_quick_entry_ready_wayland.py	Adds 200ms timeout to Quick Entry ready-to-show wait (Wayland hang fix)	rg -o 'ready-to-show.{0,50}' index.js
fix_read_terminal_linux.py	Removed in v1.2.234 — upstream now natively supports Linux	N/A
fix_startup_settings.py	Skips startup/login settings to avoid validation errors	rg -o 'isStartupOnLoginEnabled.{0,50}' index.js
fix_tray_dbus.py	Prevents DBus race conditions with mutex and cleanup delay	rg -o 'menuBarEnabled.*function' index.js
fix_tray_icon_theme.py	Theme-aware tray icon (light/dark)	rg -o 'nativeTheme.{0,50}tray' index.js
fix_tray_path.py	Removed — tray icon paths handled by fix_locale_paths.py	N/A
fix_updater_state_linux.py	Adds version fields to idle updater state to prevent TypeError	rg -o 'status:"idle".{0,50}' index.js
fix_utility_process_kill.py	SIGKILL fallback when UtilityProcess doesn't exit gracefully	rg -o 'Killing utiltiy proccess' index.js
fix_vm_session_handlers.py	Global exception handler for VM session safety	Prepended IIFE with fallbacks
fix_window_bounds.py	Fixes BrowserView bounds on maximize/snap, Quick Entry blur	Injected IIFE, minimal regex

When Claude Desktop updates break a patch, only the specific patch file needs updating. The debug pattern column shows the rg command to find the relevant code in the new version's index.js.

Automation

This repository automatically:

• Checks for new Claude Desktop versions daily
• Validates all patches in Docker before pushing to AUR
• Updates the AUR package when new versions are detected
• Creates GitHub releases for tracking updates
• Maintains proper SHA256 checksums

Patch Validation

The CI pipeline includes a test build step that validates patches before updating AUR:

1. Docker Test Build - Runs makepkg in an archlinux:base-devel container
2. Pattern Matching Validation - Each patch exits with code 1 if patterns don't match
3. Pipeline Stops on Failure - Broken packages never reach AUR users
4. Build Logs Uploaded - Artifacts available for debugging failures

If upstream Claude Desktop changes break a patch:

• The pipeline fails with clear [FAIL] output
• Build logs show which pattern didn't match
• AUR package remains unchanged until patches are updated

Repository Structure

• .github/workflows/ - GitHub Actions for automation
• scripts/ - Build and validation scripts
• patches/ - Linux compatibility patches
• packaging/ - Debian, RPM, AppImage, and Nix build scripts
• PKGBUILD.template - AUR package template

Environment Variables

Variable	Values	Description
CLAUDE_DISABLE_GPU	1, full	Fix white screen on some GPU/driver combos (#13). 1 disables compositing only, full disables GPU entirely
CLAUDE_USE_XWAYLAND	1	Force XWayland instead of native Wayland
CLAUDE_MENU_BAR	auto, visible, hidden	Menu bar visibility (default: auto, toggle with Alt)
CLAUDE_DEV_TOOLS	detach	Open Chromium DevTools on launch
CLAUDE_ELECTRON	path	Override Electron binary path
CLAUDE_APP_ASAR	path	Override app.asar path
ELECTRON_ENABLE_LOGGING	1	Log Electron main process to stderr

Set permanently in ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc, or pass per-launch: CLAUDE_DISABLE_GPU=1 claude-desktop

Debugging

Runtime logs are written to ~/.config/Claude/logs/:

Log File	Description
main.log	Main Electron process
claude.ai-web.log	BrowserView web content
mcp.log	MCP server communication

# Tail logs in real-time
tail -f ~/.config/Claude/logs/main.log

# Search for errors across all logs
grep -ri 'error\|exception\|fatal' ~/.config/Claude/logs/

# Launch with DevTools + full logging
CLAUDE_DEV_TOOLS=detach ELECTRON_ENABLE_LOGGING=1 claude-desktop 2>&1 | tee /tmp/claude-debug.log

Dispatch Architecture

Dispatch lets you send tasks from the Claude mobile app to your Linux desktop. It's fully native — no VM, no emulation.

Claude Desktop spawns a long-running dispatch orchestrator agent (Anthropic internally calls it "Ditto"). This agent receives messages from your phone, delegates work to child sessions, and sends responses back via SendUserMessage.

Phone → Anthropic API → SSE → Claude Desktop → Ditto agent (via cowork-service)
  ├── Ditto calls SendUserMessage → response appears on phone
  ├── Ditto calls mcp__dispatch__start_task → child session spawned
  │     └── Child does the work (code, files, research, etc.)
  │     └── Child completes → Ditto reads transcript → Ditto replies to phone
  └── Ditto has access to all SDK MCP servers (Gmail, Drive, Chrome, etc.)

On Windows/Mac, dispatch runs inside a VM. On Linux, claude-cowork-service handles it natively with several adaptations (stripping VM-only tool restrictions, path mapping, local present_files interception). See the Dispatch Support section in claude-cowork-service for full technical details.

History: SendUserMessage was broken in CLI v2.1.79–2.1.85 (anthropics/claude-code#35076). Fixed in v2.1.86. See SEND_USER_MESSAGE_STATUS.md for the investigation.

Known Limitations

Global hotkey on Sway / GNOME

The Ctrl+Alt+Space global hotkey works on X11, KDE, and Hyprland. On Sway and GNOME, the compositor doesn't yet implement the desktop portal GlobalShortcuts interface — the hotkey won't fire. Workaround: configure a compositor keybind to focus the Claude Desktop window, or set CLAUDE_USE_XWAYLAND=1 to fall back to XWayland (where X11 hotkeys work).

Tips

• Press Alt to toggle the app menu bar (Electron default)

See Also

• tweakcc — A great CLI tool for customizing Claude Code (system prompts, themes, UI). Same patching-JS-to-make-it-yours energy. Thanks to the Piebald team for their work.

Legal Notice

This is an unofficial community project for educational and research purposes. Claude Desktop is proprietary software owned by Anthropic PBC.

This repository contains only build scripts and patches — not the Claude Desktop application itself. The upstream binary is downloaded directly from Anthropic during the build process.

This project is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Anthropic. "Claude" is a trademark of Anthropic PBC.