claude-desktop-linux

One command to install the latest official Claude Desktop (Linux beta) — Chat, Cowork and Claude Code — on any supported Linux distro.

Wraps Anthropic's official install (code.claude.com/docs/en/desktop-linux) and adds first-class support for distros the docs don't cover yet (Arch, CachyOS, …).

Quick start

./claude-desktop-linux.sh

That's it. It picks the right strategy for your distro, installs, verifies, and sends a desktop notification when Claude is ready. Then launch Claude from your application menu, or run claude-desktop.

How it installs

Distro	Strategy	Root	Updates
Debian / Ubuntu	Official Anthropic apt repository	required (sudo)	sudo apt upgrade
Arch / CachyOS / other	Download latest .deb, verify SHA-256, extract, install	not required	./claude-desktop-linux.sh update

On non-apt distros the app installs rootless into ~/.local by default (no password needed). The launcher auto-selects the Chromium sandbox: setuid chrome-sandbox if present, otherwise the unprivileged user-namespace sandbox, falling back to --no-sandbox only when neither is available.

Commands

./claude-desktop-linux.sh                 # install / upgrade (default)
./claude-desktop-linux.sh update          # upgrade only if a newer version exists
./claude-desktop-linux.sh uninstall       # remove
./claude-desktop-linux.sh status          # installed vs latest version
./claude-desktop-linux.sh --print-latest  # print the latest version and exit
./claude-desktop-linux.sh --help

Flags

Flag	Meaning
--user	Install into ~/.local (default when not root)
--system	Install into /usr (uses sudo)
--method apt|deb	Force a strategy (default: auto by distro)
--deb PATH	Install a local .deb instead of downloading
--force	Reinstall even if already up to date
--no-sandbox	Force Chromium --no-sandbox in the launcher
-y, --yes	Non-interactive

Extra Chromium flags at runtime:

CLAUDE_DESKTOP_FLAGS="--ozone-platform-hint=auto" claude-desktop   # native Wayland

Requirements

• x86_64 or arm64
• curl or wget; on non-apt distros also bsdtar/ar, zstd/xz, sha256sum (all standard on Arch/CachyOS)
• Unprivileged user namespaces enabled (for the rootless sandbox), or a setuid sandbox / --no-sandbox

Uninstall

./claude-desktop-linux.sh uninstall

Removes the app from ~/.local and /usr, the desktop entry and icons; on Debian/Ubuntu it also runs apt remove and drops the repository entry + key.

Tests

bash -n claude-desktop-linux.sh          # syntax
./claude-desktop-linux.sh --print-latest # live latest-version resolution
bash tests/smoke.sh                      # post-install: launcher, entry, libs, real launch