Claude Code on Unraid.md

This will install node js and allow you to use claude code in a docker container on unraid use the compose manager plugin.

Use at your own riskThis will give AI access to whatever files you pass to the container (if using filesystem mcp).

services:
  claude-code:
    image: node:20-alpine
    container_name: claude-code-simple
    restart: unless-stopped
    
    command: sh -c "apk add --no-cache bash && npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code && tail -f /dev/null"
    
    volumes:
      - /mnt/user/appdata:/appdata:rw
      - /mnt/user/downloads:/downloads:rw
      - /mnt/user/media:/media:rw
      
      - /mnt/user/claude-workspace:/workspace:rw
      
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:rw
    
    working_dir: /workspace
    
    user: root
    
    environment:
      - NODE_ENV=development
      - SHELL=/bin/bash
    
    labels:
      - "com.unraid.docker.managed=composeman"
      - "com.unraid.docker.icon=https://nodejs.org/static/images/logo.svg"

• Go to Docker Compose Manager in Unraid - Create a new stack called "claude-code"
• Paste the compose file above
• Click "Compose Up"

SSH into your server and run:

docker exec -it claude-code-simple sh
echo '#!/bin/bash' > /usr/local/bin/claude-code
echo 'node /usr/local/lib/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code/cli.js "$@"' >> /usr/local/bin/claude-code
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/claude-code
claude-code

Normally you just run claude for claude code, but its aliased claude-code in our wrapper script

If the container gets stopped/restarted:

Access the container:docker exec -it claude-code-simple sh

Create wrapper script(run step 3 above)** Start Claude Code**:claude-code

to add the filesystem mcp server to give claude access to your files, you can run:

claude-code mcp add filesystem -s user -- npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem /appdata /downloads /media

or whatever directories you want it to have access too

• Bash and Claude Code are automatically installed on container startup
• The wrapper script needs to be recreated after each container restart
• All your Unraid directories are accessible within the but for Claude Code to actually access them, you'll need to use the File System MCP.