WSL & Docker

One claude-code-ui can also run sessions inside your WSL distros (on Windows) and inside running Docker containers. Each of these is a side: its own Claude install, its own ~/.claude, its own files.

Known issue in 0.5.0

WSL and Docker sides stop about 15 seconds after they start, with "stopped (exit code 1)". This is a bug, tracked in #263.

How to open a project in WSL or Docker

1. Start claude-code-ui on the host (on Windows: in Windows, not inside WSL).
2. Click Open project.
3. In Where to open projects, pick WSL (then a distro) or Docker (then a running container).
4. The first time, click Install. claude-code-ui copies itself into the side (~/.local/share/claude-ui/side) and starts it there.
5. Pick a folder and open it.

Later, Check again shows the side's state, and Update or Reinstall refreshes it.

What the side needs

	WSL distro	Docker container
Node.js 22+	Yes	Yes
Claude login	claude login in the distro	Copy ~/.claude/.credentials.json in, run claude login in it, or set CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN
Build tools for the terminal	build-essential python3	make, python3, g++ (the node:22 image has them)
Network access to npm	Yes	Yes

If something is missing, the dialog tells you what to run.

Good to know

• Projects and sessions of all sides share one sidebar. A badge shows the side (for example WSL or Docker).
• A session on a side runs that side's Claude, opens that side's terminal and uses that side's config.
• A typed path picks its side: C:\... is Windows, /home/... is WSL, \\wsl.localhost\<distro>\... is that distro.
• Docker and Rancher Desktop's own WSL distros are skipped.
• In a container you can browse its home folder and the image's working directory. Set CLAUDE_UI_ROOTS in the container to change that.
• Without Docker, or while its engine is stopped, nothing changes. The Docker tab shows a hint.