From 0ef716c094014239aa68be5c5f1b99436e8070a3 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Lex Christopherson <lex@glittercowboy.com>
Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2026 08:59:25 -0600
Subject: [PATCH] feat: support CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR environment variable
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Global installs now respect CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR when set, allowing users
to customize their Claude config location. Handles tilde expansion for
paths like ~/custom-claude.

Closes #10

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 bin/install.js | 24 +++++++++++++++++++++---
 1 file changed, 21 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/bin/install.js b/bin/install.js
index 407fab8c0..7baa99593 100755
--- a/bin/install.js
+++ b/bin/install.js
@@ -35,6 +35,16 @@ const hasLocal = args.includes('--local') || args.includes('-l');
 
 console.log(banner);
 
+/**
+ * Expand ~ to home directory (shell doesn't expand in env vars passed to node)
+ */
+function expandTilde(filePath) {
+  if (filePath && filePath.startsWith('~/')) {
+    return path.join(os.homedir(), filePath.slice(2));
+  }
+  return filePath;
+}
+
 /**
  * Recursively copy directory, replacing paths in .md files
  */
@@ -65,8 +75,10 @@ function copyWithPathReplacement(srcDir, destDir, pathPrefix) {
  */
 function install(isGlobal) {
   const src = path.join(__dirname, '..');
+  const configDir = expandTilde(process.env.CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR);
+  const defaultGlobalDir = configDir || path.join(os.homedir(), '.claude');
   const claudeDir = isGlobal
-    ? path.join(os.homedir(), '.claude')
+    ? defaultGlobalDir
     : path.join(process.cwd(), '.claude');
 
   const locationLabel = isGlobal
@@ -74,7 +86,10 @@ function install(isGlobal) {
     : claudeDir.replace(process.cwd(), '.');
 
   // Path prefix for file references
-  const pathPrefix = isGlobal ? '~/.claude/' : './.claude/';
+  // Use actual path when CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR is set, otherwise use ~ shorthand
+  const pathPrefix = isGlobal
+    ? (configDir ? `${claudeDir}/` : '~/.claude/')
+    : './.claude/';
 
   console.log(`  Installing to ${cyan}${locationLabel}${reset}\n`);
 
@@ -108,9 +123,12 @@ function promptLocation() {
     output: process.stdout
   });
 
+  const globalPath = expandTilde(process.env.CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR) || path.join(os.homedir(), '.claude');
+  const globalLabel = globalPath.replace(os.homedir(), '~');
+
   console.log(`  ${yellow}Where would you like to install?${reset}
 
-  ${cyan}1${reset}) Global ${dim}(~/.claude)${reset} - available in all projects
+  ${cyan}1${reset}) Global ${dim}(${globalLabel})${reset} - available in all projects
   ${cyan}2${reset}) Local  ${dim}(./.claude)${reset} - this project only
 `);