Claude Desktop
One Connect command, then a full relaunch. Deeper mechanics are in the Desktop reference.
MDM-managed Claude Desktop ignores local values, so the steps below cannot route it. It needs a pushed profile: Managed fleet. Everything else on the machine is per-user and routes right away.
anyray-connect desktop
This puts Claude Desktop in its third-party inference (Gateway) mode. On a macOS build Connect cannot verify, nothing is written. Use the in-app flow instead.
Fully quit (⌘Q on macOS, because closing the window leaves it running), then reopen.
The app opens signed out, with no conversations. The third-party profile (Claude-3p) has never
held a Claude account session, so this is expected. Nothing is deleted, and your chats stay at
claude.ai.
Sign in with the same Claude account as before. That is what lets Connect finish copying your local data. To get the chats themselves back, see Bring your data across.
anyray-connect doctor --verify
Which lane bills the request
A verified macOS build with Claude Code signed in rides your own Claude subscription. Everywhere
else, meaning org and API mode plus all of Windows, requests bill through your personal ark_…
key. A lane that cannot read its credential fails closed, never a silent switch to API billing.
Per-platform detail: Billing lanes.
The model picker can pick a pricier default
It follows the inferenceModels policy key. Unset, Claude discovers models from the gateway and
picks its own default, which can cost more than intended. See
Model list and the default model.
If your organization manages Claude on claude.ai
Third-party inference and claude.ai organization management are mutually exclusive. The
inferenceProvider policy key is what activates gateway mode. On the first launch after setup, an
Enterprise org sees this:
| What changes | |
|---|---|
| The claude.ai admin console stops delivering | Managed connectors and MCP servers, plugins, skills, model policy, workspace policy |
| Unaffected | Claude Code. It routes to the gateway, and its claude.ai login stays saved |
| Your admin surface becomes | The managed configuration profile (Managed fleet) |
Nothing is deleted, and it all applies again when the app returns to first-party mode. Connect cannot export organization settings or connector grants from claude.ai, and not every connector survives the move.
Keeping Desktop first-party is a supported outcome too, and once such a profile is installed Connect refuses to change the app: Keep Claude Desktop first-party.
Bring your data across
The new profile starts empty. Your local data comes back on its own, and your claude.ai chats need an export.
Connect copies the local data for you:
| What copies | Which ones |
|---|---|
| Sessions | Claude Code sessions and Cowork tasks |
| Local MCP | Entries that are not Anyray's |
| Plugins | The ones you installed yourself |
| Skills | The ones you wrote yourself |
It copies, never moves, and never overwrites. Your old profile stays as it was. The copy finishes after you sign in to the new profile and quit the app.
Your claude.ai chats live in your Claude account, so only you can export them. Connect never holds that session.
Settings → Privacy → Export data. Anthropic emails a download link. Keep the .zip file,
because the next command takes the archive itself.
A running app rewrites its conversation list on exit and would undo the restore.
anyray-connect migrate --export ~/Downloads/claude-export.zip
This needs the Claude Code CLI on the same machine, because Connect converts the export with
Claude Code's own importer. Without it, the restore refuses. Windows, PATH, and Projects:
Put them back in the app.
Your chats are under Cowork → Recents, not Chat. Your Projects came across too, each one a Cowork space.
To search every past chat from any Anyray-connected client, unzip the same export and import the conversations file. This route needs no Claude Code CLI, and you can run it as well as the restore above:
anyray-connect history import ~/Downloads/claude-export/conversations.json
The archive stays local, owner-only under ~/.anyray/history, and is never uploaded.
Make them searchable everywhere.
Undo
anyray-connect desktop disconnect
This returns the app to the previous profile at any time. It removes only Anyray-owned state.