Claude Desktop
One Connect command, then a full relaunch. Deeper mechanics are in the Desktop reference.
When MDM manages Claude Desktop, the app ignores local values, so the setup below cannot route it. It needs a pushed profile, covered in Managed desktop fleets. Everything else on the machine is per-user and routes immediately.
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.
anyray-connect doctor --verify
The app opens signed out, with an empty conversation list, because the third-party profile
(Claude-3p) has never held a Claude account session. Nothing is deleted. Your conversations belong
to your Claude account and stay available at claude.ai, and
Your existing conversations covers bringing them across.
anyray-connect desktop disconnect undoes all of this, removing only Anyray-owned state.
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 stops receiving everything the claude.ai admin console was delivering: managed connectors and MCP servers, plugins, skills, model policy, and workspace policy. 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.
While third-party inference is active, the managed configuration profile is the admin surface (Managed desktop fleets), and not every connector survives the move.
Claude Code is unaffected either way, because it routes to the gateway while its claude.ai login stays saved. 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.
Your existing conversations
The third-party profile starts empty. Where the data lives decides what to do:
| You want back | Lives in | Needs an export? |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Code sessions and Cowork tasks | this machine, previous profile | No |
| Eligible local MCP entries, user-installed plugins, and user-created skills | this machine, previous profile | No |
| Your claude.ai chats and Projects, back in the app | your Claude account | Yes |
| Any past chat, searchable from every client | your Claude account | Yes |
Local data copies by itself. Connect queues a selective copy, never a move and never an overwrite, and completes it once you have signed in to the new profile and quit the app. Running it now, and what exactly copies: What is already on this machine.
Your claude.ai chats need an export only you can take, at claude.ai → Settings → Privacy → Export data, because Connect never holds your claude.ai session. Then either or both:
| Command | Result |
|---|---|
anyray-connect migrate --export ~/Downloads/claude-export.zip | Puts them back in the app's Cowork tab. Needs the Claude Code CLI on the same machine. Detail. |
anyray-connect history import ~/Downloads/claude-export/conversations.json | Builds a local searchable archive any Anyray-connected client can query. Detail. |
anyray-connect desktop disconnect returns the app to the previous profile at any time.
Managed fleets (MDM)
Policy models, the console-managed policy, and recovery: Managed desktop fleets. Everything else, meaning the optimization boundary, in-app setup, and the Chat tab and Cowork egress keys: Desktop reference.