Getting started

Install, check, then start

Open a new terminal after installation if the command is not found. Setup preserves pairing, configuration and slot sign-in, verifies its digest-pinned helper, and keeps a backup when it adjusts PATH. Setup and the readiness check make no model request and upload no project files. The check may wait for the selected slot to become ready.

When gateway access is enabled, setup saves a separate private connection key and the HTTPS address. ccfleet local launches original Claude Code on your computer. Files, tools, settings and history run locally; supported model requests go through the gateway and your selected own slot. If this computer is already paired but has no gateway configuration, run ccfleet gateway setup. Installing the client alone does not enable a slot that the operator has not activated.

Choose the accounts your model connection may use

Think of a connection as a saved delivery address plus a key, and a slot as one signed-in account environment. The website manages these choices; the CLI is an alternative way to save them. You do not need to configure both.

On the website: open Your slots → Connect Claude. Give A priority 1 and B priority 2; leave any excluded slot blank. Priorities must be unique. Choose your routing mode, then save. Only your own held slots are selectable, and each needs a usable Claude sign-in before it can receive requests.

In the CLI: after pairing, choose one of these examples. Replace A and B with your actual slot names. --replace is an explicit replacement of an existing saved connection; it creates a new key.

For one launch, ccfleet local --slot A pins a slot already selected for that connection and disables backup switching for that launch. It cannot add an unselected slot or someone else's account.

Safe switching has limits. A known failure before sending, or a supported explicit upstream rejection marked safe to retry, can try the next selected slot. If sending has begun and the result is uncertain, the gateway stops instead of guessing. Once public response headers are sent, a broken stream ends without switching or replay, even before any text appears. An invalid connection key or malformed request needs correction, not another account.

Sticky selection needs a usable conversation identifier. Native Claude Code supplies supported identifiers; compatible clients can send X-CCFleet-Session. Without one, priority order applies. The gateway remembers an assignment in bounded runtime memory for up to 24 hours after a normal response starts; restarts, configuration changes or eviction can reset it. Switching does not move files, merge credentials or combine plan limits. Your conversation history stays local.

The Base URL is the service address saved by your client; saving it does not create a local server or store messages there. /v1/messages is the Messages API-compatible path on our service. The path name does not mean this hostname is owned by Anthropic. Our gateway receives the HTTPS request, selects your slot, and that slot connects to Anthropic. The connection key authenticates you to CC Fleet; it is not a Claude credential or an Anthropic paid API key.

Privacy: your laptop encrypts the connection to the gateway, but the gateway decrypts it to route the request and can read model messages and replies. The slot keeps its native Claude credential. Local tools may include file contents in model context; keeping files local does not mean that no file content can leave the computer.

Machine administrators have root access and can inspect your slot. They may also alter relayed replies, which can influence local tool actions. Choose local permissions accordingly and keep only data you trust them to handle.

For diagrams and the comparison with CC Host, read the comparison guide. The recorded verification on October 11, 2026 used one actual live account; multi-slot routing and faults used controlled peers, not two live accounts. See verification scope for the evidence.

Your local files and conversations

ccfleet local launches the original local Claude CLI. It does not upload a project, mount your filesystem on the slot, or require push/pull. There are no CC Fleet filesystem count/size caps or Git-ignore filters. Use cd or --project PATH to choose where you work.

Running ccfleet local again starts a new conversation; --new makes that choice explicit. Existing history is kept. --resume uses Claude's native history picker or an ID/name; --continue selects the last local conversation for this directory. Quit with /exit and resume later. Native Claude settings/history, including an existing CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR, stay on this computer.

The working directory is not a sandbox. Native Claude permissions govern file and tool access, including outside that directory. New conversations default to bypassPermissions, Opus and max effort, so tools can modify, delete or transmit data without individual approval prompts. Choose --mode plan or another supported mode when appropriate. Inside Claude, /model and /effort change your choices. Higher effort usually uses more of your plan allowance.

A temporary private settings overlay fixes the gateway route and authentication, clears conflicting provider overrides and disables supported optional telemetry. Ordinary customizations remain; native settings files are not permanently rewritten. Only supported model endpoints use the gateway. MCP servers, hooks, plugins, shell tools, updates and other native services can connect directly from the laptop. Optional telemetry controls are not an all-traffic firewall.

Three versions, three different updates

CC Fleet on your computer: run ccfleet update to update the Fleet launcher and connection helpers. This does not update either copy of Claude Code.

Claude Code on your computer: update your original local installation separately, outside a CC Fleet session. Existing sessions keep the process they started; open a new local session to use an updated executable.

Claude Code on your slot: open Your slots, find the Claude Code row and choose Update to the offered version. This also selects the Latest channel. Back to Stable selects the stable channel instead. An operator-held version has no update button. New Claude processes use the new version; existing ones are not interrupted. Updating the slot does not change your local Claude Code.

Everyday commands

Use the menu to start a new conversation, continue your last one, or resume a saved conversation. Your native Claude history stays private on this computer; CC Fleet does not import or synchronize conversations.

Preferences apply to new local sessions in this project, or use --project PATH. Explicit launch choices win. Resuming keeps the saved model and effort unless changed deliberately. Clearing preferences does not clear history.

With the current native-local client, run this in your normal terminal, not inside Claude. It checks installation and slot readiness. It does not scan projects, start a Claude session or make a model request.

Doctor separates installation, pairing, connection and account-health problems. The support report is a new local file, not an upload. It omits prompts, file contents, local paths, tokens and account email; review it before sharing. Reported readiness is an observation, not proof that Anthropic will accept the next request. Keep an existing working pairing while you investigate an error.

For an optional basic response check, open ccfleet local and paste this prompt. It makes a model request and may use your plan allowance:

Do not use tools, read files, or inspect my system or network.
Reply only: CCFLEET_OK

A matching reply checks basic responsiveness only. The no-tools instruction is not an enforced privacy safeguard: native context or hooks can still exist. Do not ask Claude to print real IPs, locations or environment values just to check privacy. The gateway can read model requests and replies, and Anthropic sees the selected slot's outbound IP for those requests. Other tool or native network connections can go directly from the laptop.

You can explicitly add the local management MCP to Claude. Nothing is registered automatically. Its tools report cached slot health, quota percentages/reset times and numeric relay usage with observation age and sample coverage. Missing observations are unknown, not zero.

These fixed health codes and numeric results become available to the calling AI. They omit account/device identifiers, names, emails, IP addresses, local paths, prompts, logs and model/session identifiers. The tools cannot invoke Claude, refresh quota, scan projects, run commands or change account state. Pairing/account changes require a fresh MCP process. Usage covers seven UTC calendar days, not billing or just today.

The updater verifies the signed release channel with its pinned Ed25519 key, then the immutable manifest and every helper before activation. A failed verification or download leaves the current client in place. Rollback selects the preserved previous client without changing pairing, local files or native history. An absent or expired signed channel is an error. These commands update CC Fleet, not Anthropic's original Claude executable.

Local background tasks

A managed task keeps local Claude print-mode work running after you close the starting terminal. Your computer must stay running and connected. Copy the job ID returned by start, then use it to view output or stop the task.

For existing context, choose --resume NAME_OR_ID or --continue. The default timeout is one hour, with a maximum of 24 hours; the default concurrency is four, with at most 16. Prompts and output stay in private local files. Each log is capped at 4 MiB, can contain sensitive content, and is not included in support exports. Jobs never automatically restart or replay failed inference.

Stop, timeout, revocation or loss of the supervisor ends the owned process group. Authorization is checked periodically. Only verified cleanup is reported as confirmed; an unresponsive record is not proof it stopped. Tools that deliberately detach are not sandbox-contained. Native permissions still govern local files. Archive an inactive record to preserve its private files while freeing capacity; archiving never stops an active job.

Look after your slot

A slot is signed in to one Claude account, your own. Sign in again uses that account only. To bind another Claude account of yours, choose Change account (once a week). To use two accounts at once, hold two slots. Keep each account on one machine; a duplicate machine sign-in is flagged to you and the operator.

Account changes keep files and settings but invalidate requests using the previous binding. CC Fleet does not automatically close your local Claude process or delete its history. It cancels an in-flight request if that account changes. Wait for the slot to show In use before retrying deliberately; new requests then use its current bound account. An account change is visible to the operator.

Your slot name is also its hostname, which Anthropic can see: pick anything but your email address. Other slots on the same machine use separate Linux accounts. There is no administrator access (sudo) in a slot.

The 5-hour and weekly bars cover the whole Claude account. The token count covers what Claude Code used on this slot, not complete local-relay usage. Quota is read every five minutes; Refresh reads it now. Pair more devices with Connect another computer; each device is independently revocable.

Your slot is not backed up. Before choosing Give this slot back, save any slot files in Git or storage you own. Giving it back deletes the Linux account and every file in it; it does not delete your Claude account or local history. For a connection problem, keep your working pairing, check status and ask your operator.

Questions: ask cdcupt@gmail.com. The privacy page explains what the service processes and stores.

Choosing a slot and its rate

The homepage’s Slots & pricing section shows up to three real configuration examples. Open the full public slot catalogue for machine providers, network types, current availability and Alpha price breakdowns. Search host/IP-provider brands or a public label such as Machine 7, filter by provider and IP type, and browse pages of up to 20 machines. The purple Residential, blue ISP and gray Datacenter badges name network types; their text and color do not rank quality or guarantee Claude compatibility. Browsing does not reserve a slot. Sign in and use Browse available slots to choose and claim a machine within your allowance.

Your slots keeps your held slots, controls and usage together. To add a slot, choose Browse available slots. This signed-in page lets you search by host provider, IP provider or public machine label such as Machine 7, and filter by provider and network type (ISP, Residential or Datacenter). Results appear in pages of up to 20 machines. Review a machine’s price and cost breakdown, then claim that machine; you return to Your slots to manage it. Your allowance and the existing eligibility checks still apply, and claiming does not charge you automatically.

Alpha pricing. Each machine has its own monthly USD rate in the public slot catalogue. Alpha pricing passes through recorded VPS and exit-IP costs, plus a monthly service fee of 10% of resource cost, with a $2 minimum per slot. Your Claude subscription or Anthropic API usage is billed separately.

Recorded costs are normalized to a calendar month. A 30-day cost is multiplied by 365/360; an annual cost is divided by 12. For a customer quote, round the normalized USD resource cost to cents, half up; calculate 10% of that amount, round the service fee half up to cents with a $2 minimum, then add the two displayed amounts. Resource costs of $8.68, $10.83, $22.28 and $27.44 therefore give totals of $10.68, $12.83, $24.51 and $30.18 per month. The fee remains $2 through $20 of resource cost.

The public breakdown shows VPS cost, separately recorded exit-IP cost, service fee and total. When hosting includes the exit IP, it shows the recorded bundled resource cost without inventing a split. A normalization rounding line explains any cent-level difference between individually rounded components and the rounded combined resource cost. Missing costs or costs not converted to USD make pricing unavailable. The host and IP-provider brands remain visible. ISP, Residential and Datacenter describe network types, with the same pricing formula and no separate residential premium; none guarantees quality, speed or Claude compatibility.

Alpha — Early Access. The service is still being tested and has not launched commercially. The operator has personally used one residential slot with encouraging results; reliability across providers, configurations and multiple users is still being evaluated. Alpha pricing is introductory and may change for future billing periods. You will receive an updated quote before renewal if pricing changes; an already agreed billing period retains its agreed price.

Agree the price and paid period with the operator; the website does not charge automatically, renew automatically or rewrite past payments.

Retired machines are removed from the rental catalogue. A temporarily offline machine that remains in service still appears on Status. Retirement does not release an existing holder or delete their account and payment history.