OpenClaude is an open-source coding-agent CLI for cloud and local model providers.
Use OpenAI-compatible APIs, Gemini, GitHub Models, Codex OAuth, Codex, Ollama, Atomic Chat, and other supported backends while keeping one terminal-first workflow: prompts, tools, agents, MCP, slash commands, and streaming output.
OpenClaude is also mirrored to GitLawb:
gitlawb.com/node/repos/z6MkqDnb/openclaude
Quick Start | Setup Guides | Providers | Development | VS Code Extension | Partners | Community
Partners
Why OpenClaude
- One CLI across cloud APIs and local model backends — no per-provider tooling
- Guided provider setup and saved profiles with
/provider
- Coding-agent workflows in one place: bash, file tools, grep, glob, agents, tasks, MCP, and web tools
- A bundled VS Code extension for launch integration and theme support
- A pixel-art hero companion who fires an arrow every time you press Enter (really — see Meet your buddy)
Quick Start
Install
OpenClaude requires Node.js >=22.0.0 for npm installs and runtime. Bun is
only needed for source builds and local development.
npm install -g @gitlawb/openclaude@latest
If you're on Arch Linux, you can install OpenClaude from the community-maintained AUR package:
paru -S openclaude
If the install later reports ripgrep not found, install ripgrep system-wide and confirm rg --version works in the same terminal before starting OpenClaude.
Verify / troubleshoot installed version:
openclaude --version
npm view @gitlawb/openclaude dist-tags
npm install -g @gitlawb/openclaude@latest
Start
openclaude
Inside OpenClaude:
- run
/provider for guided provider setup and saved profiles
- run
/onboard-github for GitHub Models onboarding
Note: OpenClaude does not automatically load project .env files. We recommend using the /provider command for setup, which saves provider profiles and credentials in .openclaude-profile.json. If you prefer environment variables, export them explicitly or run openclaude --provider-env-file .env for provider/setup variables. Export runtime/debug knobs from your shell or launcher.
Resume or fork a conversation
Resume an existing conversation by session ID, or continue the most recent
conversation in the current directory:
openclaude --resume <session-id>
openclaude --continue
Add --fork-session to branch the conversation history into a new session ID
instead of reusing the original transcript:
openclaude --resume <session-id> --fork-session
openclaude --continue --fork-session
Forking is conversation branching only. It does not create filesystem isolation,
copy your working tree, or create a git worktree branch.
Background sessions
Run long non-interactive prompts detached from the current terminal:
openclaude --bg "fix failing tests"
openclaude --bg --name auth-refactor "refactor auth middleware"
openclaude ps
openclaude logs auth-refactor
openclaude logs auth-refactor -f
openclaude kill auth-refactor
Background sessions are local child processes. OpenClaude does not start a daemon
or network service, and permission/provider/model/settings flags are passed to
the child process the same way they are for a foreground --print run. Session
metadata and logs are stored under the resolved OpenClaude config directory,
usually ~/.openclaude/bg-sessions/; OPENCLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR can point
OpenClaude somewhere else. CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR is ignored for OpenClaude
background-session storage. Session names can be reused after older sessions
reach a terminal state; use the session ID to inspect older logs with the same
name. A naturally finished session is recorded as exited when its process
returns zero and failed when it returns nonzero or handles a termination
signal. stale remains the conservative result when the process disappears
without an observed outcome; an explicit successful openclaude kill is
recorded as killed, and killed takes precedence over a natural exited or
failed outcome for the same process. Terminal outcomes are stored separately
under bg-sessions/terminal/; deleting that directory makes finished sessions
fall back to liveness-derived status. OpenClaude does not infer POSIX signal
names on Windows.
Unobservable force termination, host crashes, and power loss remain stale on
every platform.
openclaude attach <id-or-name> currently reports the matching session and
points to openclaude logs <id> -f; full terminal reattach is not implemented
for local background sessions yet.
OpenClaude config cutover
OpenClaude stores its own config under ~/.openclaude and ~/.openclaude.json
by default. It does not read ~/.claude, project .claude/ directories, or
CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR; new users can start with an empty OpenClaude config and do
not need Claude Code installed.
If you previously used OpenClaude with .claude paths, migrate intentionally:
copy only the settings, commands, agents, skills, scheduled tasks, or other files
you personally created for OpenClaude into the matching .openclaude location.
Do not blanket-copy .claude, and do not copy Claude Code credentials or auth
files. For provider authentication, prefer running OpenClaude's provider setup
again or exporting provider-specific environment variables.
Fastest OpenAI setup
macOS / Linux:
export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI=1
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-your-key-here
export OPENAI_MODEL=gpt-4o
openclaude
Windows PowerShell:
$env:CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI="1"
$env:OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-your-key-here"
$env:OPENAI_MODEL="gpt-4o"
openclaude
Fastest local Ollama setup
macOS / Linux:
export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI=1
export OPENAI_BASE_URL=http://localhost:11434/v1
export OPENAI_MODEL=qwen2.5-coder:7b
openclaude
Windows PowerShell:
$env:CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI="1"
$env:OPENAI_BASE_URL="http://localhost:11434/v1"
$env:OPENAI_MODEL="qwen2.5-coder:7b"
openclaude
For Ollama, OpenClaude uses Ollama's native chat API and requests a 32768-token
context window on each chat request so same-session history is not silently
truncated by Ollama's OpenAI-compatible shim. Set OPENCLAUDE_OLLAMA_NUM_CTX
or OLLAMA_CONTEXT_LENGTH if you need a different request-level context size.
See Advanced Setup for
verification with ollama ps.
Setup Guides
Beginner-friendly guides:
Advanced and source-build guides:
Supported Providers
| Provider |
Setup Path |
Notes |
| OpenAI-compatible |
/provider or env vars |
Works with OpenAI, OpenRouter, DeepSeek, Groq, Mistral, LM Studio, and other compatible /v1 servers |
| Z.AI GLM Coding Plan |
/provider or OpenAI-compatible env vars |
Uses OPENAI_API_KEY at https://api.z.ai/api/coding/paas/v4, defaults to glm-5.2, and offers the vision-capable glm-5.3-flash option |
| AI/ML API |
/provider or AIMLAPI_API_KEY (setup guide) |
Uses https://api.aimlapi.com/v1, auto-detects the OpenAI-compatible route from AIMLAPI_API_KEY, sends OpenClaude attribution headers, and discovers chat-capable models from the public /models catalog |
| Concentrate |
/provider or CONCENTRATE_API_KEY |
Unified OpenAI-compatible gateway at https://api.concentrate.ai/v1; defaults to deepseek-v4-flash and auto-discovers the chat model catalog |
| LLMTR |
/provider or OpenAI-compatible env vars |
Multi-model gateway at https://llmtr.com/v1; /provider and --provider llmtr default to deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash, while raw env setup must set OPENAI_BASE_URL=https://llmtr.com/v1 and OPENAI_MODEL; accepts LLMTR_API_KEY or OPENAI_API_KEY after the route is selected and discovers tool-capable Chat Completions models from the public catalog |
| Command Code |
/provider or OpenAI-compatible env vars |
Hybrid OpenAI-compatible gateway at https://api.commandcode.ai/provider/v1; /provider and --provider commandcode default to deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash, while raw env setup must set OPENAI_BASE_URL=https://api.commandcode.ai/provider/v1 and OPENAI_MODEL; requires CMD_API_KEY, COMMANDCODE_API_KEY, or the official COMMAND_CODE_API_KEY after the route is selected and discovers Chat Completions models from the public catalog. Claude models are unsupported by this Chat Completions integration |
| ApiSmart |
/provider or APISMART_API_KEY |
Uses https://gw.apismart.ai/v1, defaults to DEEPSEEK_V4_FLASH, and supports optional APISMART_MODEL plus authenticated model discovery |
| Hicap |
/provider or OpenAI-compatible env vars |
Uses api-key auth, discovers models from unauthenticated /models, and supports Responses mode for gpt- models |
| Fireworks AI |
/provider or env vars |
First-class provider with 276 curated models (DeepSeek, Qwen, Llama, Gemma, and more); uses FIREWORKS_API_KEY |
| LongCat |
/provider or env vars |
Meituan LongCat OpenAI-compatible API at https://api.longcat.chat/openai/v1; uses LONGCAT_API_KEY and defaults to LongCat-2.0 |
| ClinePass |
/provider or env vars |
AI model gateway with usage limits (5hr, weekly, monthly); uses CLINE_API_KEY at https://api.cline.bot/api/v1 |
| Gemini |
/provider or env vars |
Supports API key only |
| GitHub Models |
/onboard-github |
Interactive onboarding with saved credentials |
| Codex OAuth |
/provider |
Opens ChatGPT sign-in in your browser and stores Codex credentials securely |
| Codex |
/provider |
Uses existing Codex CLI auth, OpenClaude secure storage, or env credentials |
| Gitlawb Opengateway |
Startup default, /provider, or env vars |
Smart gateway at https://opengateway.gitlawb.com/v1; requires an API key from https://gitlawb.com/opengateway/keys and routes Xiaomi MiMo and GMI Cloud partner models by OPENAI_MODEL |
| OpenCode Zen |
/provider or env vars |
Pay-as-you-go AI gateway (48 models); uses OPENCODE_API_KEY via https://opencode.ai/zen/v1; shared key with OpenCode Go |
| OpenCode Go |
/provider or env vars |
$10/mo subscription for open models (13 models); uses OPENCODE_API_KEY via https://opencode.ai/zen/go/v1; shared key with OpenCode Zen |
| Xiaomi MiMo |
/provider or env vars |
OpenAI-compatible API at https://mimo.mi.com; uses MIMO_API_KEY and defaults to mimo-v2.5-pro |
| NEAR AI |
/provider or env vars |
Unified gateway (Claude, GPT, Gemini + TEE open models); uses NEARAI_API_KEY at https://cloud-api.near.ai/v1 |
| Cloudflare Workers AI |
/provider or env vars |
OpenAI-compatible API at https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/<ACCOUNT_ID>/ai/v1; uses CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN. Replace <ACCOUNT_ID> with your Cloudflare account id. |
| Ollama |
/provider or env vars |
Local inference with no API key |
| Atomic Chat |
/provider, env vars, or bun run dev:atomic-chat |
Local Model Provider; auto-detects loaded models |
| Bedrock / Vertex / Foundry |
env vars |
Anthropic-family cloud routes; Vertex is for Claude on Vertex AI, not arbitrary Model Garden models |
What Works
- Tool-driven coding workflows: Bash, file read/write/edit, grep, glob, agents, tasks, MCP, and slash commands
- Streaming responses: Real-time token output and tool progress
- Tool calling: Multi-step tool loops with model calls, tool execution, and follow-up responses
- Images: URL and base64 image inputs for providers that support vision
- Provider profiles: Guided setup plus saved user-level provider profile support
- Local and remote model backends: Cloud APIs, local servers, and Apple Silicon local inference
- Codebase intelligence (repo map): Structural map of the repository ranked by PageRank importance, auto-injected into context when the
REPO_MAP flag is enabled or the REPO_MAP environment variable is set. Inspect with /repomap (2048-token default). See docs/repo-map.md for details.
- A companion with signature moves: A truecolor pixel-art hero who lives beside your prompt and reacts when you work. See below.
Meet Your Buddy
Run /buddy to hatch a companion — a truecolor pixel-art hero who stands
beside your prompt, idles, blinks, and fires their signature move every time
you submit a message:
/buddy hatch (first run) or pet your companion
/buddy set robinhood the green archer — arrow shot on every Enter
/buddy set kaio gold-haired warrior — charges a full-width energy wave
/buddy set strawhat stretchy punch that snaps back
/buddy set merlin twinkling sparkle stream
/buddy set kage spinning shuriken
/buddy set ember dragon fire with a real heat gradient
/buddy set corsair cannonball with smoke trail
/buddy name Robin rename your companion
/buddy set random back to your rolled hero
Companions respect prefersReducedMotion, degrade gracefully to line art in
low-color terminals, and can be silenced with /buddy mute. Requires a
terminal at least 100 columns wide for the full sprite.
Provider Notes
OpenClaude supports multiple providers, but behavior is not identical across all of them.
- Anthropic-specific features may not exist on other providers
- Tool quality depends heavily on the selected model
- Smaller local models can struggle with long multi-step tool flows
- Some providers impose lower output caps than the CLI defaults, and OpenClaude adapts where possible
- AI/M
OpenClaude is an open-source, terminal-first coding-agent CLI that can connect to many cloud and local model providers (OpenAI-compatible APIs, Gemini, GitHub Models, Codex, Ollama, and more) through a single consistent workflow of prompts, tools, agents, MCP, and slash commands.