clc — Claude Cloak

Use Claude Code across worktrees without leaving traces.

Why

In some repos, committing Claude files (CLAUDE.md, .claude/) may be undesirable. But you still want Claude Code's full capabilities: custom instructions, project context, and settings that follow you across branches.

clc solves this by managing your Claude files outside of git while keeping them available in any worktree. Save once, restore anywhere — no trace left in committed history.

All clc actions are either non-destructive or prompt for confirmation before making changes.

Key concepts

• Repository — a Git project tracked by a single .git directory. One repo, many worktrees.
• Worktree — a checked-out working directory linked to a repository. Every repo has a main worktree (where .git lives); additional peer worktrees can be created with git worktree add. clc manages peer worktrees that follow its path convention.
• Claude files — CLAUDE.md files (at any depth) and the .claude/ directory (at the worktree root). These are what clc saves, restores, and excludes from git.

Installation

Homebrew (recommended)

brew install no-simpler/tap/clc

To upgrade later: brew upgrade clc

curl installer

curl -fsSL https://github.com/no-simpler/clc/releases/latest/download/install.sh | bash

Note: This installs the version available at that moment. To update, re-run the command.

Manual

Download clc.sh, place it somewhere on your $PATH as clc, and make it executable:

curl -fsSL https://github.com/no-simpler/clc/releases/latest/download/clc.sh -o ~/.local/bin/clc
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/clc

Requirements: bash 3.2+, git

Quick start

# In any git repo — see current status
clc

# List Claude files detected in this worktree
clc ls

# Keep Claude files out of git (one-time setup per repository)
clc ignore

# Save your Claude files to ~/.clc/
clc save

# Create a new worktree and restore your Claude files into it
clc new my-feature # (worktree `my-feature`, Git branch `my-feature`)
# or
clc new feature/CC-123-short-name # (worktree `short-name`, Git branch `feature/CC-123-short-name`)
# or
clc new tree-name some/specific/branch-name # (worktree `tree-name`, Git branch `some/specific/branch-name`)

# Check if Claude files in your current worktree are in sync with the saved state
clc compare

# Pull changes from a peer worktree into the current branch (must be in main worktree)
clc pull my-feature        # stages changes for review
clc pull -c my-feature     # stages and commits

# Pull changes and remove the worktree in one step
clc close my-feature

# Safely discard worktree and its branch (rejects destructive actions)
clc rm my-feature
clc rm short-name
clc rm tree-name
# or
clc prune # removes all clean managed worktrees

Commands

Inspect

Command	Description
clc / clc status	Show repository info and managed worktrees
clc ls	List Claude files. Tracked or git-visible files are marked.

Claude files

Command	Description
clc ignore	Add Claude file patterns to .git/info/exclude
clc unignore	Remove Claude file patterns from .git/info/exclude
clc save	Save Claude files from the current worktree to ~/.clc/saved/
clc compare	Compare current worktree against the latest saved state (exit 0 = in sync)
clc diff	Like compare, but prints a full unified diff for all mismatches.
clc restore	Restore Claude files from the latest saved state. Prompts before changes.

Worktrees

Command	Description
clc new [--no-claude] <name> [<branch>]	Create a new managed peer worktree. Restores Claude files by default.
clc rm [--keep-branch] <name>	Remove a managed peer worktree and its branch.
clc prune [--keep-branch]	Remove all clean, non-current managed peer worktrees and their branches.

Transplant

Command	Description
clc pull [--commit] <name>	Transplant all changes from a peer worktree's branch onto the current branch as staged changes.
clc close [--commit] [--keep-branch] <name>	Same as pull, then removes the peer worktree and deletes its branch.

Flags: --keep-branch (rm, prune, close) keeps the git branch instead of deleting it. --no-claude (new) skips restoring Claude files after creation. --commit (pull, close) commits immediately after staging. --no-gpg suppresses GPG commit signing.

How it works

Managed worktrees

A worktree is "managed" if it is the main worktree or a peer worktree following the path convention:

/repos/my-project          ← main worktree
/repos/my-project-feature  ← managed peer (name: "feature")
/repos/my-project-hotfix   ← managed peer (name: "hotfix")
/repos/other-location      ← unmanaged peer

Storage layout

Claude files are saved to ~/.clc/saved/ keyed by repo (not worktree), so saves from any worktree accumulate in one place. Each save is stored by timestamp for data-loss protection; only the latest is used.

~/.clc/saved/<repo-name>@<hash>/
  full-path.txt           # human-readable path
  <timestamp>/            # one directory per save
    CLAUDE.md
    docs/CLAUDE.md
    .claude/settings.json
    ...