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OpenClaude Improved

Community

Runs anywhere, uses anything

GitHub source repository ↗

★ 569 Stars Category · Dev Tools Very popular Source revision 645538c4fd9d

35FMRS · D

Reliability

3/20

Security and permissions

4/20

Maintenance

12/20

Documentation

10/20

Setup experience

6/20

OpenClaude Improved is a powerful CLI coding agent supporting multiple LLM providers, retaining many core features of Claude Code while adding capabilities like provider routing, MCP support, and more. It is suitable for developers who need model flexibility, but be aware of its unofficial status and the risks of executing commands.

Read the FMRS scoring method →

OpenClaude Improved is an open-source CLI coding agent built from Claude Code, but designed to work with many LLM providers, including OpenAI-compatible APIs (like OpenRouter, DeepSeek, Groq), Ollama local models, Gemini, GitHub Models, and more. It provides the same tools and agent workflows as Claude Code, including bash execution, file read/write/edit, search, multi-step tool loops, streaming output, vision support, repo mapping, and more. It also includes advanced features like agent routing, MCP support, a gRPC server, and a VS Code extension.

Tools

bash

Execute shell commands locally

read

Read file contents

write

Write file contents

edit

Edit file contents

grep

Search text within files

glob

Match file paths using glob patterns

agents

Spawn sub-agents for specific tasks

tasks

Create and manage background tasks

mcp

Integrate with external tools via MCP protocol

slash commands

Execute built-in slash commands like /provider and /buddy

Setup

Ensure Node.js >= 22 and Bun are installed.
Clone the repository and navigate into it.
Run bun install to install dependencies.
Run bun run build to build the project.
Run npm install -g . to install the CLI globally.
Run openclaude to start the agent.

Fit and risk

Best for

Developers who want to use non-Anthropic models but keep Claude Code-style workflows
Multi-provider environments needing support for various cloud APIs and local models
Those who want advanced agent features and tool loops in the CLI
Users needing flexible provider/model configuration

Not for

Users requiring official Anthropic certification or enterprise support
Non-technical users who need a graphical interface
Users expecting zero-configuration out-of-the-box experience
Those needing official Claude Code compatibility layer (this is an independent fork, not official)

Required permissions

File system access: read, write, edit code files
Execute system commands (Bash)
Network access: call cloud APIs (OpenAI, Gemini) or local Ollama service
May access API keys from environment variables
Read/write access to user config directory (~/.openclaude/)

Risks and side effects

Running arbitrary bash commands may cause system damage or data loss, especially with untrusted prompts
API keys may be exposed through environment variables; handle carefully
Project is under active development; APIs may change
Non-official fork; potential compatibility or stability issues
MCP tools may introduce third-party code execution risk

Troubleshooting

'ripgrep not found' on startup: install ripgrep system-wide and ensure `rg --version` works
Ollama connection issues: ensure Ollama is running on the default port (11434) and adjust `OPENCLAUDE_OLLAMA_NUM_CTX` or `OLLAMA_CONTEXT_LENGTH`
Provider API authentication errors: check environment variables are set correctly, use `/provider` to configure interactively
Build failures: ensure Node.js version meets requirements, rerun `bun install`
Session anomalies: use `--resume` or `--fork-session` to recover

Use cases

AI-assisted coding with any supported provider

Developing with local models like Ollama

Extending coding workflows with MCP tools

Using headless mode for CI

Interactive chat in VS Code

Supported clients

Claude DesktopFull support

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