WSL Claude Code Launcher

A simple collection of scripts to easily launch Claude Code from Windows using WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux).

Prerequisites

1. Windows 10/11 with WSL installed and configured
2. Claude Code installed in your WSL environment
3. An Anthropic account with Claude Code access

Installation

1. Clone or download this repository to a location on your Windows machine
2. Open a WSL terminal and ensure Claude Code is installed and working
3. Run setup.bat to create shortcuts on your desktop and Start Menu (optional)

Usage

Basic Usage

Simply double-click launch-claude-code.bat to start Claude Code in your WSL environment. This script will:

1. Enter your WSL environment
2. Source your .bashrc file to load environment settings
3. Load NVM if you're using it
4. Launch Claude Code

Advanced Configuration

For more control, edit the config.ini file to customize:

• Working directory where Claude Code will be launched
• Whether to use NVM to find the Claude Code executable
• Custom path to the Claude Code executable (if not using NVM)
• Additional arguments to pass to Claude Code

Then use advanced-launcher.bat which will read these settings.

Available Launchers

• launch-claude-code.bat - Standard launcher using NVM
• launch-claude-code-direct.bat - Launcher using a direct path to Claude Code executable
• launch-claude-code.ps1 - PowerShell version of the launcher
• advanced-launcher.bat - Configurable launcher that reads settings from config.ini

Creating a Windows Shortcut Manually

You can also create a Windows shortcut manually:

1. Right-click on your desktop and select New > Shortcut
2. For the location, enter:

   C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /c "wsl -e bash -c 'source ~/.bashrc && cd /mnt/d/claudecode && export NVM_DIR=\"$HOME/.nvm\" && [ -s \"$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh\" ] && \. \"$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh\" && claude'"
   

3. Name the shortcut (e.g., "Claude Code") and click Finish
4. Optionally, right-click the shortcut, select Properties, and change the icon

This creates a direct shortcut that opens WSL, navigates to your project directory (/mnt/d/claudecode - change this to your preferred location), and runs the Claude Code command.

Customization

If the default launchers don't meet your needs, you can easily modify them:

Finding Your Claude Code Path

In your WSL environment, you can find where Claude Code is installed with:

which claude

The output will be something like:

/home/username/.nvm/versions/node/v22.14.0/bin/claude

You can use this path in the direct launcher or config.ini.

Using a Custom Working Directory

To launch Claude Code in a specific directory, either:

1. Edit config.ini and set the WorkingDirectory value
2. Or modify the launchers to change the cd command

Troubleshooting

"Command not found" Error

If you get "claude: command not found", ensure:

1. Claude Code is properly installed in your WSL environment
2. Your .bashrc file correctly loads NVM if you're using it
3. Try using the direct path launcher with the correct path to your Claude Code executable

WSL Not Found

If you get an error about WSL not being found:

1. Ensure WSL is installed on your Windows system
2. Run wsl --list --verbose to verify your distributions
3. You might need to specify the distribution in the launcher with -d Ubuntu (replace Ubuntu with your distro name)

NVM Not Loading

If NVM isn't loading properly:

1. Check if your NVM setup is in .bashrc or .profile
2. Modify the launcher to source the correct file
3. Try the direct path launcher instead

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request or just Fork the source code.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Anthropic for creating Claude Code
• Microsoft for Windows Subsystem for Linux