You need work Claude and personal Claude on the same machine — without mixing transcripts, memory, or project history. This step-by-step guide shows how to name groups, assign any accounts, isolate context, and switch the active group with Power Claude account groups (dashboard + CLI).
5 steps: Create Work + Personal (isolation on) → drag each login in → Use this group when you switch roles → verify under ~/.power-claude/claude-shared/scopes/ → add more named groups for clients/projects/sandbox as needed.
Full reference: Account groups deep dive · Setup docs.
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Create groups named Work and Personal (isolation on) |
| 2 | Drag each login into the correct group (any linked account can go in either) |
| 3 | Click Use this group (or pc scope use) when you switch roles |
| 4 | Confirm separate trees under ~/.power-claude/claude-shared/scopes/ |
| 5 | Optional: more named groups for clients, projects, or sandbox |
Why “just switch accounts” is not enough
Switching the active Claude login changes who pays / which seat answers. It does not automatically give you a named set of seats for work vs home, a hard boundary so work memory never lands in personal sessions, or a durable “I am in personal mode now” selection you can re-apply tomorrow.
Without groups, people improvise with sticky notes, shell aliases, or hope. That fails the first time a personal experiment inherits enterprise conventions — or a work agent sees side-project clutter. Account groups add three things manual switching lacks: name, membership, and optional isolation.
Before you start
- Power Claude installed; at least one Claude account linked under Your Profiles.
- Prefer official Claude Code logins per profile (Architecture B).
- Decide names:
Work/Personalis enough for most people. Free-form names also work. - If you only have one login today, still create both groups so the second seat has a home when you add it.
Step 1 — Name the groups
Dashboard
- Power Claude → Your Profiles → Account groups.
- + New group → type
Work→ create (isolation defaults on). - + New group → type
Personal.
CLI
pc scope create Work
pc scope create Personal
pc scope list
You can name groups anything: Day-job, Side-projects, Client-Acme, Project-Alpha. Stable short names work best with shell aliases and direnv.
Step 2 — Put accounts in the right groups
Dashboard: drag each account chip from Ungrouped onto Work or Personal. Any linked account can join any group — there is no special account type.
pc scope add <work-scope-id> you+work@company.com
pc scope add <personal-scope-id> you@personal.com
Rule: one account → one group. For multi-label without dual isolation, use tags.
pc scope move you@personal.com <personal-id>
pc scope move you@personal.com none
Step 3 — Activate the persona you are right now
| Moment | Action |
|---|---|
| Starting work | Use this group on Work / pc scope use <work-id> |
| Side project after hours | Use Personal |
| Switching mid-day | Use the other group before opening that repo |
| Done for the day | Clear active group / pc scope use none |
Activating applies the group’s projects layout without touching credentials. OAuth stays private per account.
Step 4 — Verify separation
pc scope list
ls ~/.power-claude/claude-shared/scopes/
- Use Work → leave a short throwaway note in a work session.
- Use Personal → open Claude Code.
- Confirm you are not continuing the Work memory tree.
If both personas still share history, re-check isolation is isolated and that Use this group ran after membership changes.
Step 5 — Optional: more groups (clients, projects, sandbox)
| Group name | Typical members | When to activate |
|---|---|---|
Client-Acme | Seats used only for Acme | Before Acme monorepo |
Client-Beta | Seats for Beta | Before Beta work |
Project-Q3 | Seats billed / tracked to Q3 | During that engagement |
Sandbox | Throwaway experimental seats | Risky agent runs |
You can group any accounts into these sets and name them for how you actually work — not only Work/Personal.
Decision: groups vs tags vs config dirs
| Tool | Job |
|---|---|
CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR / official profiles | Separate logins |
| Account groups | Separate personas + local memory + active set |
| Tags | Soft labels only — no isolation |
Deep dive: Account groups full guide · Official multi-account vs relay.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| Only tags, no groups | Tags do not isolate memory — create Work/Personal groups |
| Isolation set to global for Work | Use isolated unless you intentionally want shared memory |
| Personal email still in Work | pc scope move you@personal.com <personal-id> |
| Created groups but never activated | Use this group or pc scope use before deep work |
| Expecting double quotas from groups | Groups do not multiply Anthropic limits |
| One giant “Everything” group | Split on persona or billing boundaries |
Daily habit
- Morning → Use Work.
- Work repos only under that group.
- Evening / learning → Use Personal.
- Client day → Use that client group before opening the repo.
- Optional: wire
pc scope use <id>into direnv per checkout.
Frequently asked questions
Is this the same as CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR?
Related but different. Config dirs separate logins; groups separate persona + local projects/memory and the active set. Use both.
Can I rename a group later?
Prefer a stable name from day one. If rename is not in the UI, create the correctly named group, move members, delete the empty old group. Keep account-scopes.json backed up.
What about only one account?
You can still create Work/Personal for future seats, or skip groups until you link a second login.
How do I group more than two personas?
Same flow: name a group per persona (or client/project), drag any accounts in, activate before work in that role.
Can I put any account in any group?
Yes. Membership is free-form. Drag or pc scope add any linked login into any named group.
Do groups share OAuth or passwords?
No. Credentials stay private per account.
Will this delete my old Claude sessions?
No. Isolation re-homes context roots; it does not wipe history.
Does separating work and personal bypass rate limits?
No. Limits remain per Anthropic account/plan.
How do I clear the active group?
Dashboard Clear active group or pc scope use none.
CLI and dashboard disagree — which wins?
They write the same store: ~/.power-claude/state/account-scopes.json. Reload if a view looks stale.
Can I use this for project billing boundaries?
Yes as local organization: name a group per project or client, put those seats in it, activate while on that engagement. It does not replace Anthropic billing.
Where do I read the full model?
Power Claude account groups deep dive and docs: account groups.
Setup checklist
- Link work and personal Claude accounts.
- Create isolated groups named Work and Personal (or your preferred names).
- Drag each login into the correct group.
- Use Work before work sessions; Use Personal before personal sessions.
- Verify with
pc scope listand a quick memory-tree check. - Add client/project groups when you need more boundaries.
- Optional:
pc scope usein direnv per repo.
Related
- Account groups: full guide
- Docs: account groups
- Official multi-account vs relay
- Stop hitting Claude usage limits
- Product feature · Pricing / trial · Download
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