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Configuration

Environment Variables

Variable Purpose Default
CLAM_HOME Override the base data directory ~/.clam/
CLAM_PROFILE Set by clam run and clam env — indicates the active profile name —
CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR Set by clam run and clam env — tells Claude Code where to find profile state —
NO_COLOR Disable colored output —

CLAM_HOME

By default, clam stores everything under ~/.clam/. Set CLAM_HOME to use a different location:

export CLAM_HOME="/path/to/my/clam-data"

All paths (config, state, profiles) are resolved relative to this directory.

File Layout

~/.clam/                     # or $CLAM_HOME
├── config.toml              # Profile registry
├── state.toml               # Active profile pointer
└── profiles/
    ├── work/                # Profile directory (0700 permissions)
    │   ├── settings.json    # (if --inherit was used, symlinked)
    │   └── ...              # Claude Code state files
    └── personal/
        └── ...

config.toml

The profile registry. Lists all known profiles:

[[profiles]]
name = "work"

[[profiles]]
name = "personal"

state.toml

The active profile pointer:

active = "work"

Profile Directories

Each profile gets its own directory at ~/.clam/profiles/<name>/. This directory is passed as CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR when launching Claude Code, so all of Claude Code's state (auth, sessions, history) is scoped to the profile.

Profile directories are created with 0700 permissions (owner-only access).

Config Inheritance

When you create a profile with --inherit, clam symlinks shared config files from ~/.claude/ into the profile directory. This lets you share settings, custom agents, skills, and tools across profiles.

What gets inherited

Everything in ~/.claude/ except session-specific items:

Skipped Item Reason
statsig Telemetry state
telemetry Telemetry data
worktrees Git worktree state
tasks Task tracking
sessions Session data
session-env Session environment
shell-snapshots Shell state
cache Cache data
paste-cache Paste buffer
stats-cache.json Statistics cache
mcp-needs-auth-cache.json MCP auth cache
history.jsonl Command history
file-history File access history
debug Debug logs
plans Plan data
backups Backup data

Inherited items are symlinked, not copied. Changes to the original files in ~/.claude/ are reflected in all profiles that inherited them. If you want a profile to diverge, delete the symlink and create a regular file in its place.

Profile Names

Profile names must match [a-zA-Z0-9_-]+:

  • Letters (a-z, A-Z)
  • Numbers (0-9)
  • Hyphens (-)
  • Underscores (_)

Names like ../evil, ., empty strings, or names with spaces are rejected.

Atomic Writes

All config and state files are written atomically using a temp-file-and-rename pattern. If clam crashes mid-write, you won't end up with a corrupted config.toml or state.toml.