8/21/26Less than 1 minute
Its own directory
Everything it owns lives in ~/.clauded (a folder of the same name under your user directory on Windows):
| Contents | Notes |
|---|---|
| Device identity and signing key | Created at login; identifies this machine |
| Self-signed certificate | Used by the local proxy; only enters the system trust store when you run clauded cert install |
| Logs | logs/daemon.log; runtime logging only unless you turn on per-request logging |
| Managed Claude Code | The copy downloaded under the "Managed by Clauded" preference; only the most recent versions are kept |
| Managed desktop app | The Claude desktop app installed by clauded app (macOS) |
Your original login is put back
clauded also writes ~/.claude/settings.json and ~/.claude/.credentials.json — Anthropic's own directory, which it does not own. So:
- A full backup is taken before anything is touched;
clauded logoutandclauded uninstallrestore your original login exactly as it was;- turning a platform's "Enable" switch off in the GUI immediately returns your editor extensions and desktop app to your own configuration.
In other words, your own account and the hosted one stay isolated while you use it, and you do not have to clean anything up afterwards.
Living alongside other clients
The data directory and key storage are kept separate from comparable clients, so command-line usage can coexist on one machine without interference. The desktop app is the exception — there is only one Claude desktop application and one local state on a system, and switching back and forth between clients clears the other's configuration. Pick one and stay with it.