openclaude

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 Twigpine: 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 reacts to what the agent is doing and plays its own signature move when you press Enter, from an arrow to an acorn (see Meet your buddy)

Quick Start

Install

OpenClaude requires Node.js >=24.22.1 for npm installs and runtime (Node 26 recommended/default). Bun is only needed for source builds and local development.

npm install -g @twigpine/openclaude@latest

Upgrading from @gitlawb/openclaude? The package moved to the @twigpine scope and the old one is no longer updated. Both packages provide the openclaude command, so npm refuses to install one over the other — remove the old one first:

npm uninstall -g @gitlawb/openclaude
npm install -g @twigpine/openclaude@latest

Your settings and sessions (~/.openclaude and ~/.openclaude.json) are not touched. Don't use --force to install over the old package instead: a later uninstall of the old one would then remove the openclaude command. If that happens, uninstall @twigpine/openclaude and install it again.

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 @twigpine/openclaude dist-tags
npm install -g @twigpine/openclaude@latest

Update-lock recovery: Global updates use .update.lock in the OpenClaude configuration directory (OPENCLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR, or ~/.openclaude). Existing locks are never removed automatically, even when old, to avoid overlapping package-manager installations. If an update was interrupted, first confirm that all OpenClaude update processes and their package-manager children have stopped; then remove only .update.lock from that directory and retry openclaude update. Do not remove the lock while an update is running.

Start

openclaude

Inside OpenClaude:

• run /provider for guided provider setup and saved profiles
• run /onboard-github for GitHub Models onboarding
• run /search to choose the web search backend (Exa by default) or add a search API key

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.

Manage saved conversations

Run /sessions inside OpenClaude to list this project's saved conversations. Press Enter on one to Resume, Delete (asks for confirmation, defaulting to Cancel), or go Back to the list. As a shortcut, press d on a row and then d again to delete it; any other key in between cancels. Deleting removes the transcript and its sidecar files from disk and cannot be undone. The session you are currently in is not listed and cannot be deleted.

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