free-code Claude CLI
Skill by ara.so — Daily 2026 Skills collection.
free-code is a buildable fork of Anthropic's Claude Code CLI — a terminal-native AI coding agent. It removes all telemetry and phone-home callbacks, strips Anthropic's injected system-prompt guardrails, and unlocks 54 experimental feature flags that are disabled in the public npm release. It supports five model providers: Anthropic, OpenAI Codex, AWS Bedrock, Google Vertex AI, and Anthropic Foundry.
Installation
One-liner (recommended)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/paoloanzn/free-code/main/install.sh | bash
This installs Bun if needed, clones the repo, builds with experimental features, and symlinks free-code on your PATH.
Manual build
# Requires Bun >= 1.3.11
curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash
git clone https://github.com/paoloanzn/free-code.git
cd free-code
bun run build
./cli
Key CLI Commands
# Start interactive REPL
free-code
# One-shot prompt
free-code -p "explain this codebase"
# Specify model
free-code --model claude-opus-4-6
# OAuth login (runs /login slash command)
free-code /login
# Run from source (slower, no build step)
bun run dev
Slash commands inside the REPL
/login Authenticate with your chosen provider
/help List all available commands
/clear Clear conversation context
/compact Compact context window
/memory View/edit memory files
Build Variants
| Command | Output | Features |
|---|---|---|
bun run build | ./cli | VOICE_MODE only (production-like) |
bun run build:dev | ./cli-dev | VOICE_MODE only, dev stamp |
bun run build:dev:full | ./cli-dev | All 54 experimental flags unlocked |
bun run compile | ./dist/cli | Alternative output path |
Enable specific feature flags
# Unlock ultrathink + ultraplan only
bun run ./scripts/build.ts --feature=ULTRATHINK --feature=ULTRAPLAN
# Dev build with bridge mode added
bun run ./scripts/build.ts --dev --feature=BRIDGE_MODE
# Full experimental unlock
bun run build:dev:full
Model Provider Configuration
Switch providers entirely via environment variables — no code changes needed.
Anthropic (default)
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="$ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"
free-code --model claude-opus-4-6
Available models: claude-opus-4-6, claude-sonnet-4-6, claude-haiku-4-5
Override model defaults:
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL="claude-opus-4-6"
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL="claude-sonnet-4-6"
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL="claude-haiku-4-5"
export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="https://api.anthropic.com" # custom endpoint
OpenAI Codex
export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI=1
free-code --model gpt-5.3-codex
Available models: gpt-5.3-codex, gpt-5.4, gpt-5.4-mini
AWS Bedrock
export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK=1
export AWS_REGION="us-east-1"
# Uses standard AWS credential chain: env vars, ~/.aws/config, or IAM role
free-code
Additional Bedrock variables:
export ANTHROPIC_BEDROCK_BASE_URL="https://..." # custom endpoint
export AWS_BEARER_TOKEN_BEDROCK="$TOKEN" # bearer token auth
export CLAUDE_CODE_SKIP_BEDROCK_AUTH=1 # skip auth (testing only)
Google Cloud Vertex AI
# Authenticate first
gcloud auth application-default login
export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_VERTEX=1
free-code
Anthropic Foundry
export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_FOUNDRY=1
export ANTHROPIC_FOUNDRY_API_KEY="$ANTHROPIC_FOUNDRY_API_KEY"
free-code --model my-deployment-id
Experimental Features Reference
Build with bun run build:dev:full to unlock all 54 flags, or pass --feature=FLAG individually.
High-value flags
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
ULTRATHINK | Type "ultrathink" in a prompt to boost reasoning depth |
ULTRAPLAN | Remote multi-agent planning (Opus-class) via Claude Code web |
VOICE_MODE | Push-to-talk voice input and dictation |
TOKEN_BUDGET | Real-time token budget tracking and warnings |
HISTORY_PICKER | Interactive prompt history picker |
EXTRACT_MEMORIES | Auto-extracts memories after each query |
VERIFICATION_AGENT | Validation agent that checks task completion |
AGENT_TRIGGERS | Local cron/trigger tools for background automation |
BRIDGE_MODE | IDE remote-control bridge (VS Code, JetBrains) |
BASH_CLASSIFIER | AI-assisted bash permission decisions |
BUILTIN_EXPLORE_PLAN_AGENTS | Preset explore/plan agent configs |
TEAMMEM | Team-shared memory files with watcher hooks |
COMPACTION_REMINDERS | Smart reminders around context window compaction |
Environment Variables Quick Reference
# Authentication
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY # Anthropic API key
ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN # Alternative auth token
CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN # OAuth token via env (skips /login)
# Provider selection
CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI=1 # Switch to OpenAI Codex
CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK=1 # Switch to AWS Bedrock
CLAUDE_CODE_USE_VERTEX=1 # Switch to Google Vertex AI
CLAUDE_CODE_USE_FOUNDRY=1 # Switch to Anthropic Foundry
# Model overrides
ANTHROPIC_MODEL # Override default model for session
ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL # Custom API base URL
# Tuning
CLAUDE_CODE_API_KEY_HELPER_TTL_MS # API key helper cache TTL in ms
Project Structure
scripts/
build.ts # Build script — feature flag injection lives here
src/
entrypoints/cli.tsx # CLI entry — Commander.js setup, arg parsing
commands.ts # Slash command registry
tools.ts # Agent tool registry
QueryEngine.ts # Core LLM query orchestration
screens/REPL.tsx # Interactive terminal UI (React + Ink)
commands/ # /slash command implementations
tools/ # Agent tools: Bash, Read, Edit, Glob, Grep, etc.
components/ # Ink/React terminal UI components
services/
api/ # Anthropic + Codex API clients
oauth/ # OAuth flows (Anthropic, OpenAI)
state/ # Global app state store
utils/model/ # Model config, provider routing, validation
bridge/ # IDE bridge (BRIDGE_MODE)
voice/ # Voice input (VOICE_MODE)
skills/ # Skill system
plugins/ # Plugin system
tasks/ # Background task management
Common Patterns
Use ultrathink for hard problems
After building with --feature=ULTRATHINK:
> ultrathink refactor this authentication module to use JWTs
The keyword ultrathink in your prompt triggers extended reasoning mode.
Pipe files into one-shot mode
cat src/auth.ts | free-code -p "find security issues in this file"
free-code -p "write tests for $(cat src/utils.ts)"
Run with a specific provider per session
# One-off Bedrock session without changing env permanently
CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK=1 AWS_REGION=eu-west-1 free-code
# One-off Vertex session
CLAUDE_CODE_USE_VERTEX=1 free-code -p "review this PR diff"
Custom build for CI with minimal features
// scripts/build.ts accepts --feature flags
// Build only what you need for a headless CI agent:
// bun run ./scripts/build.ts --feature=VERIFICATION_AGENT --feature=AGENT_TRIGGERS
Troubleshooting
bun: command not found
curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash
source ~/.bashrc # or ~/.zshrc
free-code: command not found after install
The install script symlinks to your PATH. If it's missing:
cd free-code
ln -sf "$(pwd)/cli" /usr/local/bin/free-code
Build fails on experimental flags
Some of the 88 flags don't compile cleanly. Use build:dev:full which only enables the 54 working flags. For broken flags, check FEATURES.md for reconstruction notes:
# Safe full-unlock build (54 working flags only)
bun run build:dev:full
Authentication errors with Bedrock
Verify your AWS credential chain is working independently:
aws sts get-caller-identity
# If this fails, fix AWS credentials before setting CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK=1
Vertex AI auth errors
gcloud auth application-default login
gcloud auth application-default print-access-token # verify it works
export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_VERTEX=1
free-code
Context window fills up quickly
Enable compaction reminders and use the /compact command:
bun run ./scripts/build.ts --feature=COMPACTION_REMINDERS
# Inside REPL when warned:
/compact
IPFS Fallback
If the GitHub repo is unavailable, the full source is permanently mirrored:
CID: bafybeiegvef3dt24n2znnnmzcud2vxat7y7rl5ikz7y7yoglxappim54bm
URL: https://w3s.link/ipfs/bafybeiegvef3dt24n2znnnmzcud2vxat7y7rl5ikz7y7yoglxappim54bm