Claude Desktop for Linux

This repository contains scripts to build and install Claude Desktop on Linux distributions, including Arch-based, RHEL-based, and Debian-based systems.

About Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop is a native desktop application for Claude AI by Anthropic, providing access to Claude's AI capabilities with a dedicated interface. One of the main reasons to use the desktop client instead of the Claude.ai website is for MCP support, which allows your client to do things such as access your local file system and integrate with services the web client is unable to.

Anthropic does not provide Linux builds for the Claude Desktop client -- even though 99% of their infrastructure runs on Linux. This script simply takes the latest available Windows build, extracts it, and re-builds it.

Requirements

The script will automatically install the required dependencies:

• p7zip
• nodejs
• rust
• cargo
• electron
• imagemagick
• icoutils
• wget
• pnpm (installed via curl)

Installation

Automated Installation (Recommended)

Arch Linux

1. Make the installation script executable:

   chmod +x install.sh

2. Run the installation script:

   ./install.sh

   To view all available options:

   ./install.sh --help

   If Claude Desktop is already installed, you can perform a clean installation:

   ./install.sh --clean-install

   To remove Claude Desktop:

   ./install.sh --remove

Ubuntu/Debian

1. Make the installation script executable:

   chmod +x ubuntu-install.sh

2. Run the installation script:

   ./ubuntu-install.sh

   To view all available options:

   ./ubuntu-install.sh --help

   If Claude Desktop is already installed, you can perform a clean installation:

   ./ubuntu-install.sh --clean-install

   To remove Claude Desktop:

   ./ubuntu-install.sh --remove

3. Follow the installation instructions displayed at the end of the build process.

This will:

• Install all required dependencies
• Build Claude Desktop from the Windows version
• Install the application to your user's local directory
• Set up the Claude protocol handler for authentication
• Add ~/.local/bin to your PATH if not already there

Fixing Existing Installations

If you've already installed Claude Desktop but are experiencing issues with the app not launching or the desktop shortcut not working, simply run the install script with the --clean-install flag:

For Arch Linux:

./install.sh --clean-install`

For Ubuntu/Debian

./ubuntu-install.sh --clean-install

Troubleshooting

Application not found in menu

If Claude Desktop doesn't appear in your application menu after installation:

• Try logging out and back in to refresh the XDG desktop entries
• Alternatively, you can run claude-desktop directly from a terminal which will give you extra insight if there are additional error messages

Application won't launch

If Claude Desktop fails to launch, potential issues include:

• Missing the en-US.json file (fixed by reinstalling using the install.sh script)
• Incorrect electron path in the .desktop file (fixed by reinstalling using the install.sh script)
• Run the script with the --clean-install flag: ./install.sh --clean-install

Missing Dependencies

If you encounter any issues with missing dependencies, you can install them manually:

For Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -Sy --needed p7zip nodejs rust cargo electron imagemagick icoutils wget
curl -fsSL https://get.pnpm.io/install.sh | sh -

For Debian/Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get install p7zip-full nodejs cargo rustc imagemagick icoutils
sudo npm install -g electron
curl -fsSL https://get.pnpm.io/install.sh | sh -

sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install p7zip-full nodejs cargo rustc imagemagick icoutils wget curl -fsSL https://get.pnpm.io/install.sh | sh - sudo npm i -g electron

For RHEL/Fedora:

sudo dnf install p7zip p7zip-plugins nodejs rust cargo electron ImageMagick icoutils
curl -fsSL https://get.pnpm.io/install.sh | sh -

After you've installed all the dependencies run the script again.

Electron Sandbox Issues

If you encounter errors about Electron's sandbox configuration, you may need to set the correct permissions:

# Replace [path-to-electron] with your actual electron path
sudo chown root:root [path-to-electron]/dist/chrome-sandbox
sudo chmod 4755 [path-to-electron]/dist/chrome-sandbox

Path Issues

If you're unable to run claude-desktop from the terminal, ensure that ~/.local/bin is in your PATH:

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Uninstallation

To remove Claude Desktop from your system, simply run:

./install.sh --remove

All the binaries and libraries will be removed, but the config files will not be removed.

This will completely remove all Claude Desktop files from your system, including:

• Application files in ~/.local/lib/claude-desktop
• Executable in ~/.local/bin/claude-desktop
• Desktop entry in ~/.local/share/applications/claude-desktop.desktop

License

This project is licensed under dual MIT/Apache-2.0 license.