Use claude-code for free in the terminal, VSCode extension or discord like OpenClaw (voice supported)
Free Claude Code is a Python-based local proxy server that intercepts Anthropic Messages API traffic from Claude Code and reroutes it to 17 alternative provider backends, including NVIDIA NIM, OpenRouter, Google AI Studio (Gemini), DeepSeek, Groq, Ollama, LM Studio, and Fireworks AI, among others. It integrates directly with the Claude Code CLI, the VS Code extension, and JetBrains ACP by setting the appropriate environment variables at launch via the included `fcc-claude` wrapper command. Per-model routing lets users direct Opus, Sonnet, and Haiku tier traffic to different providers simultaneously, and the proxy exposes a `/v1/models` endpoint so Claude Code's native `/model` picker works without modification. A loopback-only Admin UI at `/admin` handles provider configuration, API key validation, and settings changes without touching config files manually. Optional add-ons include Discord and Telegram bot wrappers for remote sessions, a VS Code extension, and voice-note transcription via local Whisper or NVIDIA NIM. The tool targets developers who want to use Claude Code tooling against free-tier or self-hosted model providers rather than the Anthropic API directly.
- ✓Open-source license (MIT)
- ✓Actively maintained (<30d)
- ✓Healthy fork ratio
- ✓Clear description
- ✓Documented (README)
git clone https://github.com/Alishahryar1/free-claude-codeTools overview
<div align="center">
# 🤖 Free Claude Code
Use Claude Code CLI, VS Code, JetBrains ACP, or chat bots through your own Anthropic-compatible proxy.
[](https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)
[](https://www.python.org/downloads/)
[](https://github.com/astral-sh/uv)
[](https://github.com/Alishahryar1/free-claude-code/actions/workflows/tests.yml)
[](https://pypi.org/project/ty/)
[](https://github.com/astral-sh/ruff)
[](https://github.com/Delgan/loguru)
Free Claude Code routes Anthropic Messages API traffic from Claude Code to any provider. It keeps Claude Code's client-side protocol stable while letting you choose free, paid, or local models.
[Quick Start](#quick-start) · [Providers](#choose-a-provider) · [Clients](#connect-claude-code) · [Integrations](#optional-integrations) · [Development](#development)
</div>
<div align="center">
<img src="assets/pic.png" alt="Free Claude Code in action" width="700">
</div>
<a id="model-picker"></a>
<div align="center">
<img src="assets/cc-model-picker.png" alt="Claude Code model picker showing gateway models" width="700">
</div>
## Star History
<div align="center">
<a href="https://star-history.com/#Alishahryar1/free-claude-code&Date">
<picture>
<source media="(prefers-color-scheme: dark)" srcset="https://api.star-history.com/svg?repos=Alishahryar1/free-claude-code&type=Date&theme=dark">
<source media="(prefers-color-scheme: light)" srcset="https://api.star-history.com/svg?repos=Alishahryar1/free-claude-code&type=Date">
<img alt="Star History Chart" src="https://api.star-history.com/svg?repos=Alishahryar1/free-claude-code&type=Date" width="700">
</picture>
</a>
</div>
## What You Get
- Drop-in proxy for Claude Code's Anthropic API calls.
- 17 provider backends: NVIDIA NIM, OpenRouter, Google AI Studio (Gemini), DeepSeek, Mistral La Plateforme, Mistral Codestral, OpenCode Zen, OpenCode Go, Wafer, Kimi, Cerebras Inference, Groq, Fireworks AI, Z.ai, LM Studio, llama.cpp, and Ollama.
- Per-model routing: send Opus, Sonnet, Haiku, and fallback traffic to different providers.
- Native Claude Code `/model` picker support through the proxy's `/v1/models` endpoint (see [Model Picker](#model-picker)).
- Streaming, tool use, reasoning/thinking block handling, and local request optimizations.
- Optional Discord or Telegram bot wrapper for remote coding sessions.
- Optional Usage through the VSCode extension.
- Optional voice-note transcription through local Whisper or NVIDIA NIM.
- Local **Admin UI** at `/admin` to edit supported proxy settings, validate changes, and check providers (loopback access only).
## Quick Start
### 1. Install/Update The Proxy
macOS/Linux:
```bash
curl -fsSL "https://github.com/Alishahryar1/free-claude-code/blob/main/scripts/install.sh?raw=1" | sh
```
Windows PowerShell:
```powershell
irm "https://github.com/Alishahryar1/free-claude-code/blob/main/scripts/install.ps1?raw=1" | iex
```
Review the installers at [scripts/install.sh](https://github.com/Alishahryar1/free-claude-code/blob/main/scripts/install.sh) and [scripts/install.ps1](https://github.com/Alishahryar1/free-claude-code/blob/main/scripts/install.ps1). Re-run these commands to update to the latest version.
### 2. Start The Proxy
```bash
fcc-server
```
After startup, Uvicorn prints the proxy bind address and the app logs the admin URL:
```text
INFO: Admin UI: http://127.0.0.1:8082/admin (local-only)
```
Many terminals make these clickable. Use your configured `PORT` if it is not `8082`.
### 3. Open The Admin UI And Configure NVIDIA NIM
Open the **Admin UI** URL from the terminal output.
Need an NVIDIA NIM API key? Use the **[NVIDIA NIM provider](#nvidia-nim-provider)** section below, then scroll back up here.
<div align="center">
<img src="assets/admin-page.png" alt="Local admin UI for proxy settings" width="700">
</div>
Paste your NVIDIA NIM API key into `NVIDIA_NIM_API_KEY`, then click **Validate** and **Apply**.
The default model is already set to `nvidia_nim/nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b`. You can change it later from the same Admin UI.
### 4. Run Claude Code
```bash
fcc-claude
```
`fcc-claude` reads the current configured port and auth token each time it starts, sets the Claude Code environment variables (including a 190k-token `CLAUDE_CODE_AUTO_COMPACT_WINDOW` for auto-compaction), and then launches the real `claude` command.
## Choose A Provider
Pick one provider, enter its key or local URL in the Admin UI, and set `MODEL` to a provider-prefixed model slug. `MODEL` is the fallback. `MODEL_OPUS`, `MODEL_SONNET`, and `MODEL_HAIKU` can override routing for Claude Code's model tiers.
<a id="nvidia-nim-provider"></a>
### 1. [NVIDIA NIM](https://build.nvidia.com/)
Get a key at [build.nvidia.com/settings/api-keys](https://build.nvidia.com/settings/api-keys).
In the Admin UI, paste it into `NVIDIA_NIM_API_KEY`. The default `MODEL` is `nvidia_nim/nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b`.
Popular examples:
- `nvidia_nim/nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b`
- `nvidia_nim/z-ai/glm5.1`
- `nvidia_nim/moonshotai/kimi-k2.5`
- `nvidia_nim/minimaxai/minimax-m2.5`
Browse models at [build.nvidia.com](https://build.nvidia.com/explore/discover).
### 2. [OpenRouter](https://openrouter.ai/)
Get a key at [openrouter.ai/keys](https://openrouter.ai/keys).
In the Admin UI, paste it into `OPENROUTER_API_KEY`, then set `MODEL` to an OpenRouter slug such as `open_router/openrouter/free`.
Browse [all models](https://openrouter.ai/models) or [free models](https://openrouter.ai/collections/free-models).
### 3. [Google AI Studio (Gemini)](https://aistudio.google.com/)
Get a Gemini API key at [Google AI Studio](https://aistudio.google.com/apikey) (see Google's [Gemini OpenAI compatibility](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/openai) docs).
In the Admin UI, paste it into `GEMINI_API_KEY`, then set `MODEL` to a Gemini model slug such as `gemini/models/gemini-3.1-flash-lite`.
The Gemini API exposes an OpenAI-compatible endpoint at `https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/openai/`. Free tier quotas are per-model; prompts may be used to improve Google's products outside the UK/CH/EEA/EU unless your account region says otherwise—see Google's terms.
Popular examples:
- `gemini/models/gemini-3.1-flash-lite`
### 4. [DeepSeek](https://platform.deepseek.com/)
Get a key at [platform.deepseek.com/api_keys](https://platform.deepseek.com/api_keys).
In the Admin UI, paste it into `DEEPSEEK_API_KEY`, then set `MODEL` to a DeepSeek slug such as `deepseek/deepseek-chat`.
This provider uses DeepSeek's Anthropic-compatible endpoint, not the OpenAI chat-completions endpoint.
### 5. [Mistral La Plateforme](https://console.mistral.ai/)
[Mistral](https://mistral.ai) hosts an OpenAI-compatible Chat Completions API at `https://api.mistral.ai/v1`. Activate the **Experiment** plan on [console.mistral.ai](https://console.mistral.ai/) for free-tier API access with rate limits (upgrade for higher quotas).
In the Admin UI, paste your API key into `MISTRAL_API_KEY`, then set `MODEL` to a Mistral model slug such as `mistral/devstral-small-latest` or `mistral/mistral-small-latest`.
Popular examples:
- `mistral/devstral-small-latest`
- `mistral/mistral-small-latest`
Browse models at [Mistral documentation](https://docs.mistral.ai/).
### 6. [Mistral Codestral](https://console.mistral.ai/)
Mistral's **Codestral** gateway uses a **separate API key** from La Plateforme: provision `CODESTRAL_API_KEY`, then route with the `mistral_codestral/` prefix. The default upstream is **`https://codestral.mistral.ai/v1`** (OpenAI-compatible Chat Completions; same request shaping as the `mistral` provider). See Mistral's [coding / FIM domains](https://docs.mistral.ai/mistral-vibe/using-fim-api); the curated [free LLM API list](https://github.com/cheahjs/free-llm-api-resources#mistral-codestral) summarizes typical Codestral access terms.
Popular examples:
- `mistral_codestral/codestral-latest`
### 7. [OpenCode Zen](https://opencode.ai/)
Get an API key at [opencode.ai/auth](https://opencode.ai/auth).
In the Admin UI, paste it into `OPENCODE_API_KEY`, then set `MODEL` to an OpenCode Zen model slug such as `opencode/gpt-5.3-codex`. The same `OPENCODE_API_KEY` powers **OpenCode Go** (below); use `opencode_go/` slugs there.
OpenCode Zen is a curated model gateway that provides access to models from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, DeepSeek, and more through a single API key and OpenAI-compatible endpoint at `https://opencode.ai/zen/v1`.
Popular examples:
- `opencode/gpt-5.3-codex`
- `opencode/claude-sonnet-4`
- `opencode/deepseek-v4-flash-free` (free)
- `opencode/gemini-3-flash`
- `opencode/big-pickle` (free)
- `opencode/glm-5.1`
Browse available models at [opencode.ai](https://opencode.ai).
### 8. [OpenCode Go](https://opencode.ai/)
Get an API key at [opencode.ai/auth](https://opencode.ai/auth) (same as OpenCode Zen).
In the Admin UI, use `OPENCODE_API_KEY`, then set `MODEL` to an OpenCode Go model slug such as `opencode_go/minimax-m2.7`.
OpenCode Go is a subscription gateway with its own curated catalog and OpenAI-compatible endpoint at `https://opencode.ai/zen/go/v1`. It shares the **same OpenCode API key** as Zen; only the slug prefix (`opencode_go/` vs `opWhat people ask about free-claude-code
What is Alishahryar1/free-claude-code?
+
Alishahryar1/free-claude-code is tools for the Claude AI ecosystem. Use claude-code for free in the terminal, VSCode extension or discord like OpenClaw (voice supported) It has 34.1k GitHub stars and was last updated today.
How do I install free-claude-code?
+
You can install free-claude-code by cloning the repository (https://github.com/Alishahryar1/free-claude-code) or following the README instructions on GitHub. ClaudeWave also provides quick install blocks on this page.
Is Alishahryar1/free-claude-code safe to use?
+
Our security agent has analyzed Alishahryar1/free-claude-code and assigned a Trust Score of 97/100 (tier: Verified). See the full breakdown of passed checks and flags on this page.
Who maintains Alishahryar1/free-claude-code?
+
Alishahryar1/free-claude-code is maintained by Alishahryar1. The last recorded GitHub activity is from today, with 289 open issues.
Are there alternatives to free-claude-code?
+
Yes. On ClaudeWave you can browse similar tools at /categories/tools, sorted by popularity or recent activity.
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