glm-launch 2026.6.2

Wrap claude/codex/opencode with Z.ai GLM settings

glm-launch

A Python CLI tool that wraps LLM coding tools (claude, codex, opencode) with GLM settings. Instead of running a local proxy, it configures environment variables and config files, then exec's the underlying binary directly.

Requires Python 3.13+.

Usage

# 1. Set your Z.AI auth token
export GLM_AUTH_TOKEN="your-zai-api-key"

# 2. Launch Claude Code routed through Z.AI (defaults to glm-5.2)
uv run glm-launch              # bare command defaults to `claude`
uv run glm-launch claude       # same thing, explicit

# Pick a different model
uv run glm-launch claude --model glm-5.1        # long-horizon flagship
uv run glm-launch claude --model glm-5-turbo    # fast
uv run glm-launch claude --model glm-4.5-air    # cheap

# Bootstrap your current shell so a plain `claude` uses Z.AI
eval "$(uv run glm-launch shell)"
claude

# See available models (built-in list, or --remote for the live API list)
uv run glm-launch models
uv run glm-launch models --remote

# Sanity-check connectivity / latency
uv run glm-launch bench

Examples use the installed glm-launch entrypoint. Before uv sync you can run the script directly with uv run src/main.py … — the two are interchangeable.

Installation

uv sync

This installs a glm-launch entrypoint. Run commands via uv run glm-launch <command>, or uv tool install . to get glm-launch on your PATH directly. You can also run the script without installing via uv run src/main.py <command>.

Run without cloning (uvx)

You can run glm-launch directly with uvx (uv tool run) — no clone or manual install needed.

# From GitHub (works today)
uvx --from git+https://github.com/jefftriplett/glm-launch glm-launch launch claude

# Pin to a tag/branch/commit
uvx --from git+https://github.com/jefftriplett/glm-launch@main glm-launch models

Once published to PyPI, this simplifies to:

# Coming soon — not yet on PyPI
uvx glm-launch launch claude

Commands

launch claude

Launch Claude Code with GLM environment settings. Sets Anthropic env vars to route requests through Z.AI's Anthropic-compatible endpoint, then exec's the claude binary.

The launch prefix is optional: glm-launch claude is equivalent to glm-launch launch claude, and a bare glm-launch defaults to claude. The same applies to codex and opencode.

uv run glm-launch launch claude

Options:

Flag	Env var	Default	Description
--model / -m	—	glm-5.2	Model name passed to claude --model
--base-url	GLM_BASE_URL	https://api.z.ai/api/anthropic	API endpoint
--api-key	GLM_API_KEY	""	API key
--auth-token	GLM_AUTH_TOKEN	(required)	Z.AI auth token
--api-timeout-ms	API_TIMEOUT_MS	3000000	Request timeout in milliseconds
--default-haiku-model	ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL	glm-4.5-air	Model for Haiku-tier requests
--default-sonnet-model	ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL	glm-5.2	Model for Sonnet-tier requests
--default-opus-model	ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL	glm-5.2	Model for Opus-tier requests
--subagent-model	CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL	glm-4.5-air	Model used for spawned subagents
--effort-level	CLAUDE_CODE_EFFORT_LEVEL	max	Effort level for the agent loop
--attribution-header	CLAUDE_CODE_ATTRIBUTION_HEADER	0	Attribution header toggle (0 disables it)
--auto-compact-window	CLAUDE_CODE_AUTO_COMPACT_WINDOW	200000	Auto-compact context window in tokens (empty to leave unset)

The following env vars are set before exec'ing claude:

• ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL — from --base-url / GLM_BASE_URL
• ANTHROPIC_API_KEY — from --api-key / GLM_API_KEY
• ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN — from --auth-token / GLM_AUTH_TOKEN
• API_TIMEOUT_MS — from --api-timeout-ms / API_TIMEOUT_MS
• ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL — from --default-haiku-model
• ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL — from --default-sonnet-model
• ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL — from --default-opus-model
• CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL — from --subagent-model
• CLAUDE_CODE_EFFORT_LEVEL — from --effort-level
• CLAUDE_CODE_ATTRIBUTION_HEADER — from --attribution-header
• CLAUDE_CODE_AUTO_COMPACT_WINDOW — from --auto-compact-window (only when non-empty)

Examples:

# Use defaults (glm-5.2, Z.AI endpoint)
uv run glm-launch launch claude

# Flagship reasoning/coding model (the default)
uv run glm-launch launch claude --model glm-5.2

# Long-horizon agentic flagship
uv run glm-launch launch claude --model glm-5.1

# Fast, speed-optimized GLM-5 variant
uv run glm-launch launch claude --model glm-5-turbo

# Lightweight, low-cost model for cheaper runs
uv run glm-launch launch claude --model glm-4.5-air

# Tune the model tiers independently (e.g. cheap subagents, flagship main)
uv run glm-launch launch claude \
  --model glm-5.2 \
  --subagent-model glm-4.5-air \
  --default-haiku-model glm-4.5-air

# Pass extra args through to claude
uv run glm-launch launch claude -- --verbose

# Override via env vars
GLM_AUTH_TOKEN="my-token" uv run glm-launch launch claude

Run uv run glm-launch models to see all valid model names (or --remote for the live list).

If claude is not on your PATH, the tool falls back to ~/.claude/local/claude.

launch codex

Launch Codex with the --oss flag for local Ollama usage.

uv run glm-launch launch codex

Options:

Flag	Default	Description
--model / -m	—	Model name passed to codex -m

Examples:

# Launch with default settings
uv run glm-launch launch codex

# Specify a model
uv run glm-launch launch codex --model "some-model"

# Pass extra args through to codex
uv run glm-launch launch codex -- --some-flag

launch opencode

Launch opencode after writing provider config. Writes an Ollama-compatible provider to ~/.config/opencode/opencode.json and updates the recent model state at ~/.local/state/opencode/model.json, then exec's the opencode binary.

uv run glm-launch launch opencode --model "some-model"

Options:

Flag	Env var	Default	Description
--model / -m	—	—	Model name to configure in opencode
--base-url	GLM_BASE_URL	(required)	Base URL for the API endpoint

Examples:

# Launch with a model
GLM_BASE_URL="http://localhost:11434/v1" uv run glm-launch launch opencode --model "llama3"

# Pass extra args through to opencode
uv run glm-launch launch opencode --model "llama3" -- --some-flag

shell

Print export lines that bootstrap your current shell with the GLM env vars — without launching anything. Eval the output and a plain claude (or any Anthropic SDK tool) will talk to Z.AI.

eval "$(uv run glm-launch shell)"
claude

Accepts the same model/auth options as launch claude (--model, --auth-token, --default-*-model, etc.). Secrets are shell-quoted; empty values are skipped. Sets ANTHROPIC_MODEL plus all the ANTHROPIC_* / CLAUDE_CODE_* vars listed under launch claude.

# Inspect what would be exported
uv run glm-launch shell

# Bootstrap with a specific model
eval "$(uv run glm-launch shell --model glm-5.1)"

models

List Z.AI GLM models. By default prints a built-in, annotated list; --remote fetches the live list from the Z.AI PaaS endpoint.

# Built-in list (no token needed)
uv run glm-launch models

# Live list from the API (needs GLM_AUTH_TOKEN)
uv run glm-launch models --remote

Options:

Flag	Env var	Default	Description
--remote / -r	—	false	Fetch the live list from the Z.AI API
--models-url	GLM_MODELS_URL	https://api.z.ai/api/paas/v4/models	PaaS models endpoint (used with --remote)
--auth-token	GLM_AUTH_TOKEN	—	Auth token (required with --remote)
--timeout	—	30.0	Request timeout in seconds

The live endpoint is the OpenAI-compatible PaaS base (/api/paas/v4/models) and uses Authorization: Bearer <token> — distinct from the Anthropic-style chat base (/api/anthropic) used by launch claude and bench.

bench

Time a single /v1/messages round-trip against the configured GLM endpoint. Useful as a sanity check that your auth token, base URL, and chosen model are reachable.

uv run glm-launch bench

Options:

Flag	Env var	Default	Description
--model / -m	—	glm-5.2	Model to benchmark
--base-url	GLM_BASE_URL	https://api.z.ai/api/anthropic	API endpoint
--auth-token	GLM_AUTH_TOKEN	(required)	Auth token for the endpoint
--timeout	—	30.0	Request timeout in seconds

Sends a minimal 32-token request and prints the round-trip time. Exits non-zero on HTTP error or timeout.

Example output:

  glm-5.2 via https://api.z.ai/api/anthropic
  OK (200) in 412ms

doctor

Check your environment for correct setup. Reports on environment variables, binary availability, and config files.

uv run glm-launch doctor

Checks performed:

• Environment variables — Whether GLM_BASE_URL, GLM_API_KEY, GLM_AUTH_TOKEN, API_TIMEOUT_MS, and the ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_*_MODEL vars are set. Secrets are masked in output.
• Binaries — Whether claude, codex, and opencode are found on PATH (with fallback to ~/.claude/local/claude for claude).
• Config files — Whether ~/.config/opencode/opencode.json and ~/.local/state/opencode/model.json exist.

Exits with code 1 if any binary is missing, 0 otherwise.

Example output:

Environment variables:
  GLM_BASE_URL: (not set)
  GLM_API_KEY: (not set)
  GLM_AUTH_TOKEN: (not set)
  API_TIMEOUT_MS: (not set)
  ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL: (not set)
  ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL: (not set)
  ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL: (not set)

Binaries:
  claude: /usr/local/bin/claude
  codex: /usr/local/bin/codex
  opencode: /usr/local/bin/opencode

Config files:
  /home/user/.config/opencode/opencode.json: exists
  /home/user/.local/state/opencode/model.json: not found

All checks passed.

Environment variables

Variable	Used by	Description
GLM_BASE_URL	launch claude, launch opencode, shell	API base URL
GLM_API_KEY	launch claude, shell	API key
GLM_AUTH_TOKEN	launch claude, shell, bench, models --remote	Z.AI auth token (required)
GLM_MODELS_URL	models --remote	PaaS models endpoint
API_TIMEOUT_MS	launch claude, shell	Request timeout in milliseconds
ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL	launch claude, shell	Model for Haiku-tier requests
ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL	launch claude, shell	Model for Sonnet-tier requests
ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL	launch claude, shell	Model for Opus-tier requests
CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL	launch claude, shell	Model used for spawned subagents
CLAUDE_CODE_EFFORT_LEVEL	launch claude, shell	Effort level for the agent loop
CLAUDE_CODE_ATTRIBUTION_HEADER	launch claude, shell	Attribution header toggle (0 disables it)
CLAUDE_CODE_AUTO_COMPACT_WINDOW	launch claude, shell	Auto-compact context window in tokens

How it works

Each provider follows the same pattern:

1. Resolve the binary on PATH (with optional fallback path)
2. Set up configuration (env vars for claude, config files for opencode, flags for codex)
3. os.execvpe() the binary — fully replacing the glm process with the underlying tool for direct stdio passthrough

For Claude specifically, Z.AI exposes an Anthropic-compatible endpoint at https://api.z.ai/api/anthropic, so no local proxy is needed. The CLI sets the standard ANTHROPIC_* env vars and Claude Code talks directly to Z.AI.

Development

Common tasks are wrapped in a justfile. Run just with no arguments to list them.

Recipe	Description
just bootstrap	Upgrade pip/uv, then uv sync
just sync	uv sync the project dependencies
just lock	uv lock the dependency versions
just build	uv build the wheel and sdist
just publish	uv publish to PyPI
just bump *ARGS	Bump the CalVer version with bumpver (e.g. just bump)
just bump-dry *ARGS	Preview a version bump without writing changes
just lint *ARGS	Run the prek hooks (defaults to --all-files)
just fmt	Format the justfile itself
just demo	Smoke-test the CLI by listing models

Versioning follows CalVer (YYYY.MM.INC1), and lint hooks (ruff, pyupgrade, validate-pyproject) are configured in .pre-commit-config.yaml and run with prek.