DDEV Claude Code

Overview

This DDEV add-on installs Claude Code inside the DDEV web container and automatically shares your host Claude configuration — including CLAUDE.md, settings.json, skills, hooks, and commands — with no additional setup required.

Once installed, running claude inside ddev ssh or ddev exec uses the same global configuration as your host machine.

Requirements

DDEV >= v1.24.0
A Claude Code installation on the host (for configuration sharing)

Installation

ddev add-on get e0ipso/ddev-assistant-claude
ddev restart

After installation, commit the .ddev directory to version control.

What it does

Installs Claude Code into the container at ~/.local/bin/claude, owned by the web user (not root)
Mounts host config files read-only into the container:
- ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md — project and global instructions
- ~/.claude/settings.json — Claude Code settings
- ~/.claude/skills/ — custom skills
- ~/.claude/hooks/ — event hooks
- ~/.claude/commands/ — custom slash commands
Configures $PATH so claude is accessible in both interactive shells (ddev ssh) and non-interactive commands (ddev exec)

Usage

# Open a shell with Claude Code available
ddev ssh
claude

# Run Claude Code non-interactively
ddev exec claude --version

Why not FreelyGive/ddev-claude-code?

FreelyGive/ddev-claude-code is another DDEV add-on for Claude Code. It’s a fine project — here’s why this one exists separately:

	This add-on	FreelyGive/ddev-claude-code
Config approach	Mounts your host `~/.claude/` files read-only — zero setup if you already use Claude on the host	Stores config per-project in `.ddev/claude-code/` via symlinks; requires interactive setup on first run
Security	Read-only bind-mounts prevent the container from modifying host config	Symlinks allow the container to write to config files
Install method	Official Anthropic installer (`claude.ai/install.sh`)	`npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code`
Binary ownership	Explicitly copies to `~/.local/bin/claude` owned by the web user	npm global install runs as root during Docker build
Mount safety	Pre-start hook creates stub paths so Docker doesn’t silently create directories instead of files	No equivalent safeguard
Tests / CI	BATS integration tests, GitHub Actions CI matrix (DDEV stable + HEAD), daily scheduled runs	No tests or CI visible in the repository

This add-on does one thing: install Claude Code into your DDEV container and share your existing host configuration. Nothing else.

Credits

Contributed and maintained by @e0ipso