CCL — Claude Code Launcher

CCL runs Claude Code against a different model provider — DeepSeek, GLM, a local model, whatever — without you managing Claude Code's ANTHROPIC_* variables by hand. You choose the model in CCL config or provider-specific environment variables.

It works because Claude Code only speaks the Anthropic Messages API. Any provider that also speaks that API will work with Claude Code; the model just needs to be reachable at the right URL with the right key. CCL knows those URLs and keys, sets them, and launches claude.

How it works

ccl --provider deepseek does four things:

1. Reads the deepseek entry from your config — base URL, API key, model name.
2. Sets the ANTHROPIC_* environment variables to match, and removes any pre-existing ANTHROPIC_* / CLAUDE_CODE_* variables from the environment so they can't leak through.
3. Starts claude with your terminal and streams, then supervises it until it exits.
4. Remembers the provider/startup-model pair after a successful session (exit status 0). Failed sessions and metadata/admin commands do not change the default.

Normal launches have no proxy or translation layer in the request path: Claude Code talks directly to the configured provider. CCL stays alive to supervise the child. Opt-in transformer rules add a local proxy, which CCL closes when the session ends.

Install

go install github.com/dotcommander/cclauncher/cmd/ccl@latest

~/go/bin must be on your PATH. From source:

git clone https://github.com/dotcommander/cclauncher
cd cclauncher
go build -o ccl ./cmd/ccl
mkdir -p "$(go env GOPATH)/bin"
ln -sf "$(pwd)/ccl" "$(go env GOPATH)/bin/ccl"

Usage

First configure the provider's key (if required) and explicit model as shown below. Shipped defaults do not choose models. Native claude uses Claude Code's selection.

ccl                                  # pick a provider; pre-selects the default
ccl --provider deepseek              # skips the picker; success remembers choice
ccl --provider synthetic "fix the null pointer in main.go"

Launch arguments other than CCL provider selectors pass through to claude unchanged. The first -- is consumed by CCL and ends provider parsing; subsequent arguments, including later -- delimiters, pass through.

Command	Description
ccl --provider <name>	Select a provider; successful sessions remember it
ccl providers	List providers and whether each key is set
ccl doctor [--provider <name>] [--json] [--check-net]	Check provider configuration and optional reachability
ccl update [--check]	Update CCL
ccl version	Print the version

Note on -p: CCL uses -p for --provider; Claude Code uses -p for print mode. Only a leading -p PROVIDER pair belongs to CCL. Later -p arguments belong to Claude Code. CCL recognizes --provider before its first -- delimiter.

ccl -p deepseek -p "fix this bug"   # provider=deepseek, claude in print mode
ccl -p "fix this bug"               # error: "fix this bug" is not a provider

Use the long form --provider to avoid ambiguity.

For the full docs index, see docs/README.md.

Providers

CCL ships with eleven provider endpoint templates in three categories. You supply credentials when required and select models; there are no shipped model fallbacks.

Cloud — synthetic, deepseek, minimax, zai, openrouter, wafer. Set the provider's API key and model variables:

export DEEPSEEK_API_KEY="sk-..."
export DEEPSEEK_MODEL="your-model-id"
export DEEPSEEK_SMALL_MODEL="$DEEPSEEK_MODEL"
ccl --provider deepseek

export OPENROUTER_API_KEY="sk-or-..."
export OPENROUTER_MODEL="your-model-id"
export OPENROUTER_SMALL_MODEL="$OPENROUTER_MODEL"
ccl --provider openrouter

Local — llamabarn, lmstudio, llamacpp, omlx. No key is required by default; the server runs on your machine and CCL points at localhost. Set each provider's *_MODEL to an ID accepted by its server before launching:

ccl --provider lmstudio          # LM Studio, localhost:1234
ccl --provider llamacpp          # llama.cpp, localhost:8080
ccl --provider llamabarn         # LlamaBarn, localhost:2276

Anthropic — claude. Auth is handled by the claude CLI's own OAuth; nothing to set.

Endpoints, environment variables, and per-provider notes: docs/providers.md.

Configuration

On first run, CCL writes ~/.config/cclauncher/config.yaml with provider endpoints and environment templates. Set <PROVIDER>_MODEL or model explicitly for any non-Anthropic provider. Set <PROVIDER>_SMALL_MODEL or smallFastModel to choose background/subagent models too. Updating CCL preserves existing config choices; environment variables apply where your config uses their templates.

Run bare ccl at an interactive terminal to open the provider picker. It shows only launchable providers and pre-selects the configured default if eligible; press Enter to launch the selection or choose another provider by number + Enter (arrow keys still work). A session that exits with status 0 remembers its provider/startup-model pair as the next default; failures and metadata/admin commands leave it unchanged. Both input and output must be terminals for the picker. With redirected input or output, bare ccl uses the configured default without prompting. Launches with arguments also use that default unless a provider is selected.

Set that default by editing cli.defaultProvider in ~/.config/cclauncher/config.yaml.

Override a single key without editing the config — CCL_<PROVIDER>_API_KEY takes precedence:

export CCL_DEEPSEEK_API_KEY="sk-..."

Missing required models or credentials block explicit launches before Claude Code starts. Such providers are also hidden from the interactive picker.

Config schema and interpolation rules: docs/configuration.md. Local model setup: docs/local-models.md.

Check your setup

ccl doctor                         # check every configured provider
ccl doctor --provider deepseek     # check one provider
ccl doctor --json                  # emit machine-readable results
ccl doctor --check-net             # also probe provider reachability

ccl doctor checks credentials, required fields, and base URLs without making network requests. Add --check-net when you also want reachability probes. Missing optional credentials are warnings; invalid required configuration exits non-zero. Network probes run concurrently with doctor.probeConcurrency from YAML (default 4; set 1 for sequential probes), preserve sorted provider order, and stop on caller cancellation. Each probe is limited to five seconds.

Standalone ccl --help, ccl help, and local command help do not load configuration. Use ccl -- --help or ccl --provider deepseek --help for Claude Code help.

ccl update --check requires no Go compiler. Release lookup has a ten-second limit; installation retains caller cancellation without that lookup deadline. Only a newer stable numeric version is installed. Development, malformed, and prerelease versions are indeterminate and skip installation.

Development

go build ./...
go test ./...
go vet ./...
go run ./cmd/ccl --help

Providers are defined in YAML, not Go. To add one, update internal/config/default-config.yaml, then run go run ./internal/tools/gen-config-examples so committed examples stay generated from the canonical default config. CCL sets provider env vars generically. See docs/providers.md.

License

MIT