# claude-desktop-bin SlackBuild — Design Spec Date: 2026-07-09 Package: `claude-desktop-bin` Type: binary repack of the official Anthropic Debian package --- ## Summary Repackage Anthropic's official `claude-desktop` Debian `.deb` into a Slackware `.txz`. Claude Desktop is the Electron desktop client for Claude.ai. Anthropic publishes an official apt repository at `https://downloads.claude.ai/claude-desktop/apt/stable` carrying prebuilt `amd64` and `arm64` `.deb` packages; this SlackBuild consumes the `amd64` deb and re-lays its payload into a Slackware package. Build from source is rejected: Anthropic ships an official signed binary, and rebuilding the Electron/Chromium app offline is slow and fragile with no gain. ## Package facts - `PRGNAM=claude-desktop-bin` - `VERSION=1.18286.2` (latest amd64 in the apt repo at spec time) - `SRCNAM=claude-desktop` (deb filename + installed `/usr/bin/claude-desktop` keep the upstream name; only the SlackBuild package name gets the `-bin` suffix, matching this repo's convention: megasync-bin, kitty-bin, opencode-bin, claude-code-bin) - `ARCH`: **x86_64 only**. The apt repo also serves `arm64`, but this repo targets x86_64; the SlackBuild exits with an error on any other arch. - `REQUIRES=""`. The Debian `Depends` (libgtk-3-0, libnss3, libnotify4, libatspi, libdrm, libgbm, libsecret, libxtst, xdg-utils, xdg-desktop-portal, libc6) are all satisfied by stock Slackware. Chromium's own libs (libEGL, libGLESv2, libffmpeg, libvulkan, libvk_swiftshader) are bundled inside the payload. No SBo dependencies. - Name `claude-desktop-bin` is free on SlackBuilds.org (only `claude-code*` exists there). Does not clash with the unrelated `claude-code-bin` already in this repo. ## Source - URL: `https://downloads.claude.ai/claude-desktop/apt/stable/pool/main/c/claude-desktop/claude-desktop_1.18286.2_amd64.deb` - MD5SUM: `853168e12c721d6bc6ce9566bbd5348e` - Size: ~138 MB deb, ~480 MB installed. The download path is **versioned** (`pool/main/c/claude-desktop/claude-desktop__amd64.deb`), so a given version's file is immutable and the MD5SUM is stable. This is unlike megasync-bin's versionless URL: the checksum does not drift here. ## Payload layout (from the deb `data.tar.xz`) ``` usr/bin/claude-desktop -> ../lib/claude-desktop/claude-desktop (symlink) usr/lib/claude-desktop/ Electron app + bundled chromium claude-desktop main ELF binary (~208 MB) chrome-sandbox SUID sandbox helper (4755 in deb) chrome_crashpad_handler libEGL.so libGLESv2.so libffmpeg.so libvulkan.so.1 libvk_swiftshader.so *.pak icudtl.dat *.bin locales/ resources/ version LICENSES.chromium.html vk_swiftshader_icd.json usr/share/applications/claude-desktop.desktop usr/share/icons/hicolor/{16,32,48,128,256}x*/apps/claude-desktop.png usr/share/doc/claude-desktop/copyright usr/share/lintian/... (Debian-only, dropped) ``` The upstream `.desktop` is kept as-is: `Exec=claude-desktop %U`, registers the `x-scheme-handler/claude` MIME handler and `NewChat` / `NewCode` desktop actions. No Slackware-specific `.desktop` is written. ## What is discarded from the deb The Debian maintainer scripts (`control.tar.xz`: postinst, postrm) are **not** carried over. They do three Debian-specific things, none of which apply to Slackware: 1. **apt repo registration** — writes the Anthropic apt source + keyring so `apt upgrade` tracks updates. Irrelevant on Slackware. 2. **AppArmor userns profile** — works around `kernel.apparmor_restrict_unprivileged_userns=1` on Ubuntu 24.04+, which blocks `CLONE_NEWUSER` for unconfined processes. Slackware does not set this restriction, so Chromium's userns/SUID sandbox works without the profile. 3. **chrome-sandbox setuid** — the only piece we must reproduce (see below). `usr/share/lintian/` is dropped. ## chrome-sandbox setuid Chromium's SUID sandbox helper must be owned root:root and mode `4755` for the sandbox to initialize; without it Claude Desktop fails to start unless launched with `--no-sandbox` (which weakens security). **Decision:** set `chmod 4755` on `chrome-sandbox` in the SlackBuild itself, inside `$PKG` before `makepkg`, so the package ships the setuid bit directly. This tests two things at build time: - whether `sbopkglint` flags the shipped setuid binary, and - whether `makepkg` auto-extracts the setuid bit into an `install/doinst.sh` `chmod` line (some makepkg versions do this for non-0755 modes). If linting objects or makepkg does not preserve the bit, fall back to a `chmod 4755 usr/lib/claude-desktop/chrome-sandbox` line in `doinst.sh` (relative path, no leading slash, so `--root`/`$ROOT` installs stay correct). The fallback is a known-good path; the in-SlackBuild approach is tried first to learn makepkg/lint behavior. ## SlackBuild flow Base: SBo template + the megasync-bin binary-repack pattern in this repo. 1. `set -e`; honor `$TMP $OUTPUT $PKG $TAG`; ARCH guard (exit on non-x86_64). 2. Unpack the deb: `ar x $CWD/claude-desktop_${VERSION}_amd64.deb`, then `tar xf data.tar.xz -C $PKG`. 3. Remove Debian-only cruft: `usr/share/lintian`. 4. **No stripping.** These are prebuilt Electron/Chromium binaries; stripping risks breaking them and upstream ships them unstripped. Skip the strip pass. (This also means the "ELF libs are 0644" megasync gotcha does not bite: the deb already ships its libs 0755. A defensive `chmod 755` over the bundled `*.so` files is still applied in case a future deb regresses.) 5. `chmod 4755 usr/lib/claude-desktop/chrome-sandbox` (setuid, per above). 6. Install docs to `usr/doc/$PRGNAM-$VERSION/`: move the upstream `copyright` there, and pipe in the SlackBuild and nvchecker stanza with `cat` (never `cp`, see below): `cat $CWD/$PRGNAM.SlackBuild > $PKG/usr/doc/$PRGNAM-$VERSION/$PRGNAM.SlackBuild` `cat $CWD/$PRGNAM.nvchecker > $PKG/usr/doc/$PRGNAM-$VERSION/$PRGNAM.nvchecker` Remove the Debian `usr/share/doc/claude-desktop` dir after copying. 7. Standard `find -L $PKG` chown/chmod cleanup block (root:root, sane dir/file modes) — applied **before** the chrome-sandbox chmod so it does not clobber the setuid bit. Order matters: perm-normalize first, setuid last. 8. Install package metadata with `cat` into `$PKG/install/`: `cat $CWD/slack-desc > $PKG/install/slack-desc` `cat $CWD/doinst.sh > $PKG/install/doinst.sh` 9. `makepkg -l y -c n`. **Always `cat` source files into `$PKG`, never `cp`.** Standard SBo procedure: `cat src > dest` writes through a fresh dest so the umask/root ownership of the build controls the resulting perms, whereas `cp` would carry the source tree's mode/ownership into the package. This matters here because the working copy is checked out from git with the user's perms. ## doinst.sh Trimmed from the SBo template. Keep only the hooks the payload needs: - `update-desktop-database` (has a `.desktop`) - `update-mime-database` (registers `x-scheme-handler/claude`) - `gtk-update-icon-cache` (ships hicolor icons) No `config()` block (no config files shipped). The chrome-sandbox `chmod` line is added here only as the fallback if step 5 above does not survive `makepkg`/lint. ## nvchecker Anthropic publishes no GitHub releases for the desktop app; the source of truth is the apt repo `Packages` index. nvchecker has no native apt/deb source, so use the `cmd` source to parse it: ```toml [claude-desktop-bin] source = "cmd" cmd = "curl -fsSL https://downloads.claude.ai/claude-desktop/apt/stable/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages | awk '/^Version:/{print $2}' | sort -V | tail -1" ``` `awk` extracts every `Version:` value from the index; `sort -V | tail -1` returns the highest. Verified to resolve to `1.18286.2` at spec time. Added to both `.extras/nvchecker.toml` and `~/.config/nvchecker/nvchecker.toml`. **Ship the stanza with the package.** This is a "no github/pypi feed" package, same class as `r8125` and `UrbanTerror`, both of which ship a per-package `.nvchecker` file. Follow that precedent: - Add `claude-desktop-bin.nvchecker` to the package directory containing the `[claude-desktop-bin]` cmd stanza above. - The SlackBuild installs it to `/usr/doc/$PRGNAM-$VERSION/`: `cat $CWD/$PRGNAM.nvchecker > $PKG/usr/doc/$PRGNAM-$VERSION/$PRGNAM.nvchecker` - README gets an `NVCHECKER` section pointing at the installed path, worded like r8125's (a user copies the stanza into their own nvchecker config to be notified of new Anthropic releases). ## Files produced ``` claude-desktop-bin/ claude-desktop-bin.SlackBuild claude-desktop-bin.info # single amd64 deb DOWNLOAD + MD5SUM, REQUIRES="" claude-desktop-bin.nvchecker # cmd stanza, installed to /usr/doc/-/ README slack-desc # official Anthropic Electron client, x86_64 only doinst.sh # desktop-db, mime-db, icon-cache (+ sandbox fallback) ``` Plus: nvchecker entry (both configs), README package-table row, a memory note. ## README notes - Official Anthropic build (not a community port), Electron/Chromium based. - x86_64 only; ~480 MB installed. - chrome-sandbox ships setuid root for Chromium's sandbox. - No SBo dependencies; all libs are stock Slackware or bundled. - Registers the `claude://` URL scheme handler. - `NVCHECKER` section: points at the shipped `/usr/doc/claude-desktop-bin-VERSION/claude-desktop-bin.nvchecker` stanza, worded like r8125/UrbanTerror. ## Testing - `sbolint` clean on the sources. - Build on -current (buildsystem VM) and 15.0 (sbo-batch-test overlay). - `sbopkglint` on the built package — note whether it flags the setuid chrome-sandbox, and whether makepkg moved the bit into doinst.sh. - Launch on -current, confirm the app starts with the sandbox enabled (no `--no-sandbox`).