BigPizzaV3/ClaudeMom

What it does

Claude Desktop has two modes: signing in with a Claude account, which exposes Chat, Code, Cowork, computer control and voice input, or entering an API key, which works but removes many of those features. ClaudeMom adds a third route: it runs a local compatibility service that answers the desktop app's account and feature-flag requests as if a user were signed in, then forwards chat traffic to the upstream Base URL and key you configure. The stock app is not modified or re-signed, and its official sign-in state is left alone.

The project is written in Rust with a Tauri and React desktop shell (repository). The README describes multiple Anthropic-compatible upstreams with model listing and switching, importing providers from cc-switch, a full Chinese interface, offline voice dictation through SenseVoice, and an optional switch that lifts a macOS version restriction on background and computer-control mode. The Code tab shares ~/.claude with the CLI.

Getting started

1. Install the official Claude Desktop and Node.js 22 or later.
2. Download the macOS universal dmg or Windows exe from Releases, then launch ClaudeMom.
3. Accept the prompt to trust the local certificate; it is scoped to the local machine.
4. Add an upstream, either manually as a Base URL plus key, or by importing from cc-switch, and choose a default model.
5. Click the start button and the Claude Desktop window should open in the logged-in-style interface.

Development

Build inside apps/claude-mom with npm install, then run npm run check && npm test for the frontend and cargo test --workspace from the repository root for Rust. The README shows npx tauri build --bundles app for a macOS .app and node scripts/relaunch-local.mjs to rebuild and restart the local instance. Core runtime tests live under crates/claude-local/runtime and need a local test certificate generated by scripts/gen-ca.sh.

Constraints

• Requires the official Claude Desktop and Node.js 22+; the upstream must speak the Anthropic-compatible API, with the same semantics as ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL.
• The local certificate must be trusted for the desktop app to reach the local service; real model requests go to your own Base URL and key.
• The background and computer-control switch is off by default and only relevant on newer macOS versions.
• The README lists macOS (signed and notarized dmg) and Windows exe builds; no Linux build is mentioned.
• Licensed AGPL-3.0-only.

HotRepo's take

The project appeared once on the Rust new-project list on 2026-11-15, gaining 22 stars and 9 forks in roughly one hour while going from 103 to 125 stars, with no GitHub all-language daily rank recorded. That is a short, single-window signal: enough to show early interest in the Rust/Tauri desktop build, not enough to judge retention or whether the API-key-as-login approach survives Claude Desktop updates. The repository includes both the local compatibility service and the desktop app, so it is not a download-only wrapper, but the deliverable users run is still a prebuilt app that rewrites local trust settings and account responses.