This repository provides a minimal setup to run the Claude Code CLI inside a Docker container, with your local files mounted and credentials provided via an .env file.

1. Build the docker image with

# minimal setup
docker build -t claude-cli -f Dockerfile.claude .

# or include dev tooling for Lighthouse development
docker build -t claude-cli -f Dockerfile.dev .

2. Create a file at ~/.claude_env with any environment variables or credentials to use with Claude.

3. Add an alias to your ~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc or ~/.profile.:

# Add this line to ~/.zshrc
alias claude='docker run --rm -it \
  -v "$(pwd)":"/home/claude/$(basename "$PWD")" \
  -v "$HOME/.claude.json":/home/claude/.claude.json \
  -v "$HOME/.claude":/home/claude/.claude \
  -v "$HOME/.config/gh":/home/claude/.config/gh:ro \
  -v "$HOME/.gitconfig":/home/claude/.gitconfig:ro \
  -w "/home/claude/$(basename "$PWD")" \
  --env-file $HOME/.claude_env \
  claude-cli'

# Reload your shell
source ~/.zshrc

Note: The alias mounts ~/.config/gh (read-only) so Claude can use your existing GitHub CLI credentials without needing to login again.

4. Usage: from any directory, just run:

claude

The container will start with your current directory and credentials loaded from ~/.claude_env.