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Claude Max

Uses your Claude Max subscription via the Claude Code CLI — no extra API cost.

Setup

  1. Install Claude Code CLI: 
    npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
  2. Authenticate: 
    claude auth
  3. Sidekick auto-detects Claude Code when sidekick.inferenceProvider is set to auto

How It Works

  • Uses @anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk via Claude Code CLI authentication
  • No API keys needed — authentication is handled by the CLI
  • Completions are covered by your existing Max plan

Session Monitoring

Claude Code sessions are monitored from ~/.claude/projects/. The dashboard shows:

  • Token usage with elapsed-time quota projections
  • 5-hour and 7-day subscription quota gauges with projected end-of-window utilization
  • Cost tracking (included in subscription)

If quota data becomes unavailable, Sidekick now keeps the quota surface visible and classifies the failure: missing credentials / expired Claude Code sign-in, rate limits, transient network or server failures, and unexpected API responses are shown as distinct states instead of a single generic error.

Multiple Accounts

If you have multiple Claude Max subscriptions (e.g., personal and work), Sidekick can switch between their Claude Code CLI credentials natively — no manual claude login / logout cycles. This feature manages Claude Code sign-in credentials specifically; it does not apply to Claude API keys or other providers.

VS Code

  1. Sign in to Claude Code with your first account
  2. Run Sidekick: Save Current Claude Account — optionally add a label like "Personal"
  3. Sign in to Claude Code with your second account (claude login)
  4. Run Sidekick: Save Current Claude Account — label it "Work"
  5. Run Sidekick: Switch Claude Account to switch via QuickPick

When 2+ accounts are saved, a status bar item shows the active account. Click it to switch. Switching automatically resets the auth client and refreshes quota — no restart needed.

You can also reach account actions from the main Sidekick · Claude status bar menu — click it and select Switch Account (when 2+ accounts are saved) or Save Current Account (to start multi-account setup). These entries only appear when the inference provider is Claude Code.

CLI

sidekick account --add --label Personal   # save current account
sidekick account --add --label Work       # save another account
sidekick account                          # list all accounts
sidekick account --switch                 # switch to next account
sidekick account --switch-to work@co.com  # switch to specific account
sidekick account --remove work@co.com     # remove an account

Account data is stored in ~/.config/sidekick/accounts/ with 0o700 directory and 0o600 file permissions. Credential swaps use atomic writes with rollback on failure.

macOS note: Claude Code stores active credentials in the system Keychain (not a file). Sidekick reads and writes Keychain credentials automatically via the security CLI. One limitation: if you run claude login externally, VS Code cannot detect the change automatically — run Save Current Claude Account to pick up the new credentials.

Best For

  • Heavy daily use of inline completions (no per-token cost)
  • Users already paying for Claude Max ($100-200/month)
  • Teams wanting to consolidate AI tooling costs

Troubleshooting

"Claude Code CLI not found"

  • Verify installation: claude --version
  • If installed via pnpm/yarn/volta, set sidekick.claudePath to the full path
  • Find the path: which claude (Linux/Mac) or where claude (Windows)

"Quota is unavailable"

  • If Sidekick says sign-in is required, run claude and complete Claude Code sign-in again
  • If Sidekick shows a rate limit, wait for the suggested retry window and refresh
  • If Sidekick shows a network or server issue, retry once connectivity or Anthropic service health recovers