# Show HN: Claude-CLI – Run Claude Code in a throwaway Docker container

> Source: <https://github.com/shirozuki/claude-cli>
> Published: 2026-06-27 21:51:56+00:00

A lightweight shell wrapper that runs [Claude Code](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code) inside a Docker container, keeping your host system clean while persisting your Claude configuration across sessions.

[Docker](https://docs.docker.com/get-docker/)with[Buildx](https://docs.docker.com/reference/cli/docker/buildx/)plugin[dmenu](https://tools.suckless.org/dmenu/)— mode selection prompt (not required when using`-f`

)[fzf](https://github.com/junegunn/fzf)— directory picker; also used for mode selection with`-f`

- Current user must be a member of the
`docker`

group

```
git clone https://github.com/shirozuki/claude-cli
chmod +x claude-cli/claude-cli.sh
ln -s "$PWD/claude-cli/claude-cli.sh" ~/.local/bin/claude-cli
claude-cli [-b] [-c] [-f] [-h] [DIR...]
```

| Option | Description |
|---|---|
`-b` |
Build (or rebuild) the `claude-cli:latest` Docker image |
`-c` |
Remove all `claude-cli` containers; optionally remove the image |
`-f` |
Use `fzf` instead of `dmenu` for the mode selection prompt |
`-h` |
Show help |

Running without any option or argument launches a `dmenu`

prompt to choose a mode. Pass `-f`

to use `fzf`

instead — useful on setups without dmenu or when you prefer a terminal picker.

You can skip the menu and pickers entirely by passing directories directly on the command line:

```
claude-cli ~/projects/app            # single-dir mode
claude-cli ~/projects/app ~/shared   # multi-dir mode (first arg is the working dir)
```

- One argument runs
`single-dir`

mode with that directory. - Two or more arguments run
`multi-dir`

mode, mounting every directory and using the**first** as the working directory.

Relative paths are resolved against the current working directory, so `claude-cli .`

mounts `$PWD`

. When directories are passed this way, `dmenu`

and `fzf`

are not required.

Launches Claude without mounting any project directories. Useful for general questions, quick tasks, or exploring Claude's capabilities without exposing local files.

Mounts the current working directory $PWD directly.

Opens an `fzf`

picker to select one directory from your home tree (up to 3 levels deep). The selected directory is mounted and set as the working directory inside the container.

Opens `fzf`

in multi-select mode to pick several directories (use `Tab`

to select), then asks you to designate one of them as the working directory. All selected directories are mounted simultaneously — useful when working across multiple repos or sharing common config directories.

Claude's configuration (`~/.claude/`

and `~/.claude.json`

) is bind-mounted into the container on every run, so your account, settings, and session history survive container restarts.

The mount source is resolved in this order:

`$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/claude/`

— if`$XDG_CONFIG_HOME`

is set`$HOME/`

— fallback

The following environment variables can be set to override defaults without editing the script:

| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
`CLAUDE_IMAGE` |
`claude-cli:latest` |
Docker image name to use |
`NOTIFY_ERROR_ICON` |
`$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/dunst/critical.png` |
Icon used in desktop error notifications |
`CLAUDE_CLI_FLAGS` |
(none) | Extra flags passed through to the `claude` binary inside the container |
`CLAUDE_CLI_DOCKERFILE` |
(see below) | Path to a custom Dockerfile used to build the image (highest precedence). |

Examples:

```
CLAUDE_IMAGE=my-claude:dev claude-cli

# Pass flags through to Claude Code itself
CLAUDE_CLI_FLAGS="--resume $session_id --dangerously-skip-permissions" claude-cli

# Build the image from a custom Dockerfile
CLAUDE_CLI_DOCKERFILE=~/my-claude.dockerfile claude-cli -b
```

`CLAUDE_CLI_FLAGS`

is word-split, so each space-separated token becomes a
separate argument. Quote arguments that contain spaces is not supported — pass
only flags whose values have no spaces.

On first run (or after `-b`

), the script builds a Docker image based on `node:lts`

with `@anthropic-ai/claude-code`

installed globally. The container user is created with the same UID/GID as the host user to avoid file permission issues on bind-mounted volumes.

The Dockerfile is selected in order of precedence:

- Custom Dockerfile path (
`CLAUDE_CLI_DOCKERFILE`

) - Dockerfile next to the script (
`claude-cli-dockerfile`

) - Inline Dockerfile baked into the script (the default)

The customization is purely additive: with none of the above set, the script writes its built-in Dockerfile to `/tmp`

and builds from that, so `claude-cli.sh`

stays self-contained and can be fetched and run entirely on its own.

To customize the image, drop a `claude-cli-dockerfile`

next to the script and it will be preferred when present:

```
# create claude-cli-dockerfile to taste, then rebuild
claude-cli -b
```

Alternatively, point `CLAUDE_CLI_DOCKERFILE`

at a Dockerfile anywhere on disk.

The image is tagged `claude-cli:latest`

and reused on subsequent runs until you explicitly rebuild with `-b`

.