rtk-ai/rtk

Feature request: `rtk init` support for custom config dirs (claude-multi compatibility)

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#1,103 opened on Apr 9, 2026

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area:clieffort-mediumenhancementhelp wantedplatform:linuxpriority:low

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Description

Description

Users of claude-multi manage multiple isolated Claude Code instances, each with its own config directory (e.g. ~/.claude, ~/.claude-glm, ~/.claude-minimax). Currently rtk init only targets the default ~/.claude/ directory.

This causes two problems for multi-instance setups:

  1. Hooks not installed in other instances — ~/.claude-glm/hooks/ doesn't get rtk-rewrite.sh, so no token savings when using claude-glm.

  2. Repeated "external import" prompt — @RTK.md in ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md resolves to a file outside the project directory. Every non-default instance prompts on every new project:

    Allow external CLAUDE.md file imports? This project's CLAUDE.md imports files outside the current working directory.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Install claude-multi: npm install -g claude-multi
  2. Add a GLM instance: claude-multi add glm --provider glm --api-key "your-key"
  3. Run rtk init -g (installs to ~/.claude/ only)
  4. Open any project with claude-glm — observe the external import prompt
  5. Check ~/.claude-glm/hooks/ — no rtk hook installed

Expected Behavior

Two independent improvements that would together solve this:

A. Custom config dir support for rtk init:

  • rtk init --config-dir ~/.claude-glm — install hook + CLAUDE.md to a specific instance
  • Or rtk init --all-instances — auto-detect all claude-multi managed dirs and install into each

B. Inline @RTK.md content into CLAUDE.md:

  • Replace the @RTK.md file import with inline content during rtk init
  • This eliminates the "external import" warning for all users, not just multi-instance ones
  • Hooks are still installed separately per instance via (A), which is always needed

(A) and (B) are complementary — hooks must land in each instance's settings.json, while (B) removes the import annoyance entirely.

Environment

  • OS: Ubuntu 24.04 (Linux 6.8.0-106-generic)
  • RTK Version: 0.35.0
  • claude-multi: latest
  • Claude Code: managed via claude-multi with multiple providers (Anthropic, GLM)

Contributor guide

Research direction
Study the current rtk init implementation to understand how it locates the default ~/.claude/ directory and installs hooks and CLAUDE.md. Then implement a config dir flag to override that path. For auto detection, scan the home directory for directories matching ~/.claude * but exclude the default one. For the inline content, modify the initialization logic to read the @RTK.md file and embed its contents into CLAUDE.md instead of importing.
Tech stack
rust
Domain
clideveloper experience
Issue type
Feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-2 days
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Clear
Prerequisites
Rust
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
75