AI

Free Claude Code: An open source solution that allows Claude Code, Codex and other AI programming assistants to get rid of API restrictions

In recent years, AI programming assistants are changing the way software is developed. From code completion, to automated analysis of project structures, to performing complex refactoring tasks, AI Age […]

29 July, 2026117 Reading9 minutes to read
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In recent years, AI programming assistants are changing the way software is developed. From code completion, to automated analysis of project structures, to performing complex refactoring tasks, AI Agents have gradually become an important part of the developer's workflow. Among them, Claude Code launched by Anthropic has attracted the attention of a large number of developers due to its excellent code understanding capabilities and Agent working model.

However, the barriers to using Claude Code are also obvious: official services usually require Anthropic APIs or subscription plans, and cost becomes a limiting factor for individual developers, students, and users who want to try AI programming tools.

Open source projects on GitHub Free Claude Code Provides a new idea: through a local proxy layer compatible with Anthropic APIs, AI programming clients such as Claude Code, Codex, and Pi can connect to different large model providers, including free models, local models, and third-party API services.

Project address:

free-claude-code GitHub Repository

1. What is Free Claude Code?

Simply put, Free Claude Code is not a re-development of an AI programming assistant, but rather serves as an AI Model Routing Proxy Gateway。

Traditional model:

Claude Code
     |
     |
Anthropic API
     |
 Claude 模型

The model of Free Claude Code:

Claude Code / Codex / Pi
          |
          |
   Free Claude Code Proxy
          |
 ┌────────┼────────┐
 │        │        │
本地模型  免费API  商业模型
LM Studio OpenRouter DeepSeek ...

It maintains the original calling method of Claude Code and converts Anthropic Messages API requests into formats supported by different model providers through the proxy layer, thereby achieving free switching of models.

2. Core characteristics

1. Support multiple AI programming clients

Free Claude Code is not limited to Claude Code itself and currently supports:

  • Claude Code CLI
  • VS Code Integrated Environment
  • JetBrains ACP
  • Codex CLI
  • Pi Agent
  • Chat portals such as Discord / Telegram

Users can continue to use a familiar development environment without having to modify the client logic.

For example:

终端：
fcc-claude

Codex：
fcc-codex

Pi：
fcc-pi

The corresponding AI Agent can be launched with a simple command.

3. Support rich sources of large models

One of the greatest values of Free Claude Code is to break the binding of a single model.

The project supports connecting multiple providers, including:

  • NVIDIA NIM
  • OpenRouter
  • DeepSeek
  • Kimi
  • Fireworks AI
  • Z.ai
  • LM Studio
  • llama.cpp
  • Ollama
  • Google AI Studio, etc.

Users can choose according to their needs:

usage scenarios recommended scheme
free experience OpenRouter free model
run locally Ollama / LM Studio
High-quality code generation commercial API
privacy-first Local Big Model

(GitHub)

4. Analysis of technical architecture

The core of Free Claude Code is not the model, but protocol transformation and request management.

The project mainly consists of several parts:

free-claude-code/

├── server.py
├── api/
├── core/
├── providers/
├── messaging/
├── cli/
├── config/
└── tests/

Among them:

server.py

Responsible for starting the ASGI service.

The project builds API services based on FastAPI to provide Anthropic-compatible interfaces for clients.

API layer

Responsible for handling:

  • /v1/messages
  • /v1/models
  • /v1/messages/count_tokens

These interfaces mimic the Anthropic API, allowing Claude Code to be connected without modification.

Provider layer

This is the core part of the entire system.

It is responsible for:

  • Different model API calls
  • Request format conversion
  • Streaming output conversion
  • Token statistics
  • error handling

For example:

OpenAI format:

chat/completions

Convert to:

Anthropic Messages API

Let Claude Code work normally.

5. How to install and use it?

Method 1: Quick installation

macOS / Linux：

curl -fsSL "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Alishahryar1/free-claude-code/main/scripts/install.sh" | sh

Windows PowerShell：

& ([scriptblock]::Create((irm "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Alishahryar1/free-claude-code/main/scripts/install.ps1")))

Start after installation:

fcc-server

6. Which users are suitable for?

1. AI Programming Beginner

If you want to experience:

  • Claude Code
  • AI Agent Programming
  • Automatic code writing

But don't want to buy an API immediately, this is a good entry point.

2. Students and independent developers

Many students have:

  • Free model quota
  • local GPU
  • Open source model resources

Free Claude Code can connect these resources to mature AI programming clients.

3. senior developers

For professional developers, it provides:

  • multi-model switching
  • cost control
  • privatization deployment
  • Custom Provider

For example:

During the day:

Claude Code + 商业模型

Evening:

Claude Code + 本地 Ollama

Achieve flexible switching.

7. Advantages and disadvantages

advantages

Open Architecture

Unlike traditional AI tools that are bound to a single vendor, you can freely choose a model.

Reduce usage costs

Users can take advantage of:

  • free API
  • open-source model
  • local model

Reduce AI programming costs.

Maintain the native experience

The biggest advantages are:

There is no need to relearn new AI programming tools.

Developers still use Claude Code the way it originally works.

insufficient

ˇModel capabilities depend on the backend

Free Claude Code itself is not a model.

If you connect weaker models:

  • code quality
  • reasoning ability
  • Agent execution capabilities

will go down.

ˇ Configuration complexity️

For users with no development experience:

  • API Key Configuration
  • model selection
  • environment variable

There is still a certain learning cost.

⚠️免费服务存在限制

Free models usually:

  • speed limit
  • context limited
  • Limit the number of requests

Suitable for study and experimentation, but not necessarily suitable for large-scale commercial projects.

Future significance: AI programming tools are moving towards "model liberalization"

Free Claude Code represents a trend:

Future AI agents are not necessarily tied to a model company.

Developers may have:

统一 Agent

       ↓

模型路由层

       ↓

多个 AI 模型

Software like today can choose a database:

MySQL / PostgreSQL / SQLite

Future AI programming assistants may also support:

Claude / GPT / Gemini / DeepSeek / Llama

Switch freely.

summary

Free Claude Code is a very representative open source AI programming infrastructure project.

Its core value is not to "use Claude for free", but to provide an open AI Agent connection layer that allows developers to:

  • Use mature tools such as Claude Code
  • Free choice of model suppliers
  • Access local model
  • Reduce AI programming costs

This is a worthy project for developers who want to explore AI programming, Agent workflows, and local large-model applications.

Future software development may no longer be about "choosing an AI assistant", but about "managing your own AI Agent ecosystem." Free Claude Code is an exploration in this direction.