Claude++

Claude++ is a generic, unofficial Tweak platform for Claude Code Desktop on Windows. It was copied from Codex++ v1.0.0, retains the required attribution, and started with new Git history rather than preserving Codex++ history as a fork. See THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md for exact provenance and licensing.

Claude++ has four parts:

• SDK: host-neutral Tweak manifests, lifecycle types, storage, IPC, filesystem, and Settings APIs.
• Runtime: discovers and isolates Main and Renderer Tweaks in the managed Claude app.
• Loader: starts the external Runtime before the original Claude entry point.
• Installer and maintenance commands: install, status, doctor, repair, Safe Mode, launch, and uninstall.

Claude-specific workflows do not belong to Claude++ core. They are implemented by separately installed Tweaks that may discover the capabilities of the current Claude Desktop build. Core Doctor checks the official installation, state, managed app, Loader, Runtime, Settings bundle, config, public Store shape, optional Watcher, integrity fuse, and Safe Mode. It does not test workflow-specific behavior.

Install

Download and extract the Windows release, then run install.ps1. The release includes its own minimal Node.js runtime. Stable and Prerelease channels do not require a system Node.js or npm installation. The Custom source channel builds an explicitly trusted GitHub repository and requires system Node.js 24+.

To install from source, install Node.js 24 or newer with npm, clone the repository, and run:

pwsh -File .\install.ps1

The script builds the checkout with npm before installing it. It does not download or install Node.js; when Node.js 24+ or npm is unavailable, it prints the requirement and exits without starting installation. A successful source install records the exact Node.js executable it used. Settings can reuse that executable for Stable or Prerelease updates only while it still exists and reports Node.js 24 or newer; those official update channels do not need npm. Re-run install.ps1 after moving or replacing Node.js. Custom source updates still require both Node.js 24+ and npm.

The command name used below is claudeplusplus. In an extracted or installed Windows package, its launcher is bin\claudeplusplus.cmd.

claudeplusplus install [--cleanup-all-old]
claudeplusplus watcher enable
claudeplusplus watcher disable
claudeplusplus watcher status
claudeplusplus update
claudeplusplus update --repo owner/repo --ref ref
claudeplusplus uninstall [--purge]

• install installs or maintains the managed Claude++ mirror. --cleanup-all-old removes every non-current managed mirror only after installation succeeds.
• watcher enable|disable|status explicitly manages the logon and five-minute auto-repair tasks.
• update follows the configured Stable channel. Add --prerelease for Prerelease, or use --repo with --ref for a trusted Custom source.
• uninstall preserves Tweak data by default. --purge removes the preserved Claude++ user data as well.

Watcher and automatic refresh are off by default. The Watcher is never installed by the normal install command, and automatic refresh cannot be enabled until the Watcher is present.

Settings and Tweaks

Claude++ adds Config, Tweaks, and Tweak Store pages to Claude Desktop Settings. The source checkout intentionally keeps store/index.json as an empty schema-valid seed. The reviewed production registry is published separately from the gh-pages branch and accepts only Tweaks pinned to an approved full Git commit. Private workflow Tweaks must be distributed and installed separately. Start with the Tweak author workflow. The advanced Claude capability guide covers startup environment, exact-path Claude Code settings, in-process MCP, and session titles.

Review-only update indicators

Claude++ starts a product metadata check when the CLAUDE++ navigation group mounts or remounts and that mount is visually eligible. A hidden mount defers the check until that mounted group first becomes visually visible. The reviewed Store has a separate trigger: it warms on each visual false-to-true Settings transition. For an initially visible Settings shell, both requests start before injector setup returns, after navigation is attached; navigation waits for neither request.

When a newer Claude++ release is available, the CLAUDE++ heading shows an Update review action. It opens the current GitHub release URL, or the official kpkhxlgy0/claude-plusplus releases page when the result has no release URL. Stable and Prerelease checks use kpkhxlgy0/claude-plusplus; Custom uses its saved repository. The Tweak Store item shows the count of installed-version mismatches against the reviewed registry. Store memory survives reopening Settings until manual Refresh, a successful Store installation, or Renderer restart.

Automatic checks download JSON metadata only. They never download a release archive or executable, install an update, enable Watcher, or change automatic-refresh or other Settings state. Config's explicit Check Now publishes through the same controller-owned product state as the automatic check and uses the same validity-aware advisory writer, so it does not replace a present malformed, non-object, or unreadable config merely to cache a result. The separate opt-in maintenance policy above remains unchanged.

The automatic Store warm attaches only a success continuation and has no local rejection handler, matching Codex++. An explicit Store-page render catches a load failure, clears the Store badge, and renders the page's error and Refresh state. The group-heading Update review click is likewise fire-and-forget with no local rejection handler; the automatic product-check IPC does catch rejection and hides the action. Config's separate Download Update action starts the installed updater explicitly and reports launch, download, verification, extraction, build, installation, completion, or failure state in Settings. Downloads show a real percentage and progress bar only when the response supplies a valid total size; otherwise Settings reports the actual bytes received without inventing a percentage.

Installation boundary

Claude++ creates and patches only a managed mirror of the official Claude app. It does not modify WindowsApps or the Windows registry, and it does not install a localhost service or resident receiver. The Windows release contains its own minimal command runtime, so users do not need to install Node.js or npm separately. No native-host component is used. Normal install and maintenance retain every old managed mirror, matching Codex++. To remove all non-current mirrors after a successful install, run claudeplusplus install --cleanup-all-old. Claude++ does not provide a previous-version-only cleanup mode. Maintenance preserves config, Tweak Junctions, Tweak data, Safe Mode, enabled flags, and old managed mirrors.

Claude and Claude Code are products of Anthropic. Claude++ is not affiliated with or endorsed by Anthropic.