Claude Desktop Setup Guide (Desktop Client)

Claude Desktop is Anthropic's official desktop client (Windows / macOS). It includes a built-in "third-party inference gateway" configuration entry, so you can route conversation requests to NextHub without signing in to an official account.

Claude Desktop and Claude Code are different things

Claude Desktop (desktop client) and Claude Code (command line / VS Code extension) are two separate products. Their configurations do not carry over and each must be configured on its own. This page covers the desktop client; for the command line, see Configure Claude Code manually.

Prerequisites

1. An ApiKey from a Claude group: claude code (0.37x), Claude Max (0.5x), or Claude-AWSB (0.7x) — see ApiKey Management. Claude Desktop speaks the Anthropic Messages protocol, and the address convention is the same as Claude Code's
2. Download the installer for your system from claude.com/download

Windows Installation Notes

The Windows installer needs to reach Anthropic's official services while it runs. If your network cannot connect directly, open cmd in the directory where the installer lives, set the proxy environment variables, then start the installer (use your own port):

set HTTP_PROXY=http://127.0.0.1:7897
set HTTPS_PROXY=http://127.0.0.1:7897
"Claude Setup.exe"

On macOS, just install it normally.

Manual Configuration (Developer Mode)

1. Enable Developer Mode

Open Claude Desktop and stay on the login screen:

• Windows: click the email input field to give it focus, press Tab to move focus to the menu in the top-left corner, then press Enter and navigate to Help → Troubleshooting → Enable developer mode
• macOS: go directly to Help → Troubleshooting → Enable developer mode in the top-left menu

Once enabled, wait for the app to restart automatically.

2. Configure the Third-Party Inference Gateway

Using the same method to open the menu, navigate to Developer → Configure third-party inference, then fill it in according to the table below:

Field	Value
Gateway base URL	https://api.nexthub.cc
Gateway auth scheme	x-api-key
Gateway API key	your NextHub ApiKey (a Claude group)
Skip login-mode chooser	On

Click Apply locally in the bottom-right corner to apply the configuration.

Do not wait for a "test passed" prompt

This page uses the third-party gateway mode, not the official Anthropic account login check, so there is no "connected / test passed" prompt to wait for. Right after clicking Apply locally, go back to the conversation and send a message; if you receive a reply, the configuration is in effect.

3. Verify

Start a new conversation and send a message. If you receive a normal reply from Claude, you are connected.

A small charge on your first message

After starting a new conversation, your usage record may show a small charge that differs from the model you selected — this comes from the client automatically generating a title for the conversation. The amount is tiny and this is normal behavior.

Configure with CC-Switch (Optional)

Find the manual flow a hassle? CC-Switch comes with a Claude Desktop panel and can import the providers already configured in Claude Code in one click:

1. Open CC-Switch and select Claude Desktop in the app switcher on the left (if you cannot find it, go to Settings → General → App Visibility to confirm the entry has not been hidden)
2. On first entry, click "Import existing providers from Claude Code"; or click + in the top-right corner to add one manually: set the endpoint to https://api.nexthub.cc and the API Key to your Claude group key
3. Click "Enable" on the provider card, then fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop (it does not hot-reload configuration the way Claude Code does, and closing the window does not quit the program)

The two warnings after restart are false alarms

After a full restart, the conversation page may pop up warning banners such as "configuration unverified" or "network connection" — these are routine false positives of the gateway mode. Ignore them; if you can send and receive messages normally, the configuration is in effect. If you receive no reply, check in turn: whether CC-Switch is running, whether the endpoint and ApiKey are filled in correctly, and whether you forgot to fully restart.