clodex

clodex lets you use your ChatGPT/Codex plan or OpenAI models with Claude Code as if they were Anthropic models. You can use them anywhere you use Anthropic models like Opus and Sonnet — as the main session model, and in subagents, workflows, and agent teams. Clodex integrates them directly into Claude Code, using Claude Code's system prompt. It works with your existing Claude Code plan as well as your Codex plans WITHOUT violating Anthropic's ToS. No messing with CMUX or child codex processes or any of that stuff. You can finally have Fable and Sol work together to solve the hardest problems.

You can also run clodex as a local OpenAI-compatible endpoint in front of your Codex plan, so any OpenAI-compatible client can use it.

clodex is derived from the original relay-ai project, heavily modified and streamlined for this one use case, with the full commit history preserved.

Contributions are welcome — see CONTRIBUTING.md for how to scope a PR and what the quality bar is.

Quick Start (ChatGPT/Codex plan)

npm install -g @bman654/clodex          # 1. install the CLI (Node 22+)
clodex providers auth openai   # 2. sign in with your ChatGPT/Codex plan (device-code OAuth)
clodex models                  # 3. pick favorite models and aliases
clodex models --alias sol=clodex:openai-oauth:gpt-5.6-sol
clodex models --alias luna=clodex:openai-oauth:gpt-5.6-luna
clodex models --alias terra=clodex:openai-oauth:gpt-5.6-terra
clodex patch                   # 4. (optional) patch Claude Code so those models are first-class
clodex claude                  # 5. launch Claude Code on an OpenAI model

1. Install — puts the clodex command on your PATH.
2. Sign in — opens a device-code OAuth flow for your ChatGPT/Codex plan; the token is stored in your OS credential store. (API-key users: clodex providers add instead.)
3. Pick models — an interactive manager for favorites (max 20) and short aliases like sol so you do not need to type the long names. Favorites drive the /model switch menu, proxy-mode routing, and the patcher.
4. Patch (optional but recommended for proxy mode) — bakes your favorites and aliases into the Claude Code binary so they pass model validation, appear in /model, and report their real context windows. Re-run after each claude update; clodex patch --restore undoes it. This step is required if you want to use your OpenAI models as subagents via the Agent tool.
5. Launch — starts Claude Code bridged to the model you choose.

Difference between Clodex and other solutions

Claude Code Plans and ToS

It's important to understand that any tool that duplicates Claude Code's OAuth login flow violates Anthropic's Terms of Service and risks getting your account banned. Any tool that initiates a Claude Code OAuth flow from outside of the Claude Code app falls into this category.

Another way to tell: if a tool needs you to set ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL to a custom value, Claude Code can't run on your plan credentials — so the only way that tool can use your plan is by duplicating Claude Code's OAuth flow, which is against the ToS.

Clodex avoids this. In proxy mode it uses an HTTP proxy to intercept requests bound for api.anthropic.com: requests for an Anthropic model pass through unmodified, still carrying Claude Code's own auth token untouched — your plan credentials are never duplicated or replaced.

Bridge modes

Both clodex claude and clodex server support two bridge modes. A mode flag applies to that run only; to change a command's default, add --save-mode (e.g. clodex claude --endpoint --save-mode). With no flag and nothing saved, both commands default to proxy mode, which works with your existing Claude auth.

• --proxy (the default): a selective man-in-the-middle proxy for api.anthropic.com. Claude Code keeps its normal Anthropic login — Anthropic models work untouched — while models named clodex:<provider-id>:<model-id> (or their saved aliases) route to OpenAI. Switch with /model clodex:openai-oauth:gpt-5.6-sol or /model sol after patching.
• --endpoint: clodex runs a local Anthropic-format gateway and launches Claude Code with ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL pointed at it. All traffic goes through the gateway. With favorites saved, the gateway is multi-route and Claude Code's /model menu lists your starting model plus favorites for live switching.

[!TIP] Proxy mode allows you to continue using your Claude Code plan: login to claude code like normal and the proxy will intercept requests and leave requests for Anthropic models untouched, while requests for your favorite OpenAI models will be re-routed to OpenAI.

flowchart LR
    CC["Claude Code<br/>(own Anthropic login)"] -->|"HTTPS via HTTPS_PROXY,<br/>trusts the clodex CA"| MITM["clodex MITM proxy"]
    MITM --> DEC{"model is clodex:...<br/>or a saved alias?"}
    DEC -->|"yes — translated request,<br/>clodex-managed OpenAI credentials"| OAI["OpenAI<br/>(OAuth: Responses WebSocket /<br/>API key: HTTPS)"]
    DEC -->|"no — passed through untouched,<br/>Claude Code's Anthropic credentials ride along"| ANT["api.anthropic.com"]

In endpoint mode, no Anthropic account is involved — Claude Code is launched pointing at the local gateway with a local API key, and its startup /v1/models fetch powers the /model menu:

flowchart LR
    CC["Claude Code<br/>(ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL + local API key,<br/>no Anthropic account credentials)"] -->|"Anthropic-format /v1/messages<br/>+ local API key"| GW["clodex gateway<br/>(:17645/anthropic)"]
    CC -->|"GET /v1/models at startup"| GW
    GW -->|"model catalog with context windows<br/>(feeds the /model menu)"| CC
    GW -->|"translated request,<br/>clodex-managed OpenAI credentials"| OAI["OpenAI"]

[!TIP] Using Claude Code's agents view or background agents? Ask your Claude Code agent to read docs/background-agents.md and set it up for you — one global clodex server --proxy plus the clodex-claude wrapper bin bridges every claude process automatically.

CLI reference

clodex claude [options] [claude-flags]

Launch Claude Code bridged to OpenAI models. Unrecognized flags (and everything after --) pass through to Claude Code (-c, --resume, --print, …).

Notes:

• Claude Code may save the launched model to ~/.claude/settings.json, so bare claude later can still show a clodex model name. Reset with claude --model sonnet.
• Non-interactive stdin reuses your last provider/model instead of showing the wizard.

clodex server [options]

Foreground gateway, same two bridge modes, no Claude Code launch — point any Anthropic-format (or OpenAI-format) client at it.

Common options (both modes):

Endpoint mode only (an error if combined with --proxy):

Proxy mode has no extra options — it takes only the common options.

Bare clodex server uses the saved default mode (proxy if none saved). Proxy mode starts immediately. Endpoint mode on a TTY opens a short wizard — start from saved settings, or configure: favorites-only catalog?, which providers to expose, discovery-id masking, and listen local/network (network asks for a password). Without a TTY (or with --quick/any endpoint-mode option) it skips all prompts and starts from saved settings; network mode then needs a saved password or --password.

--mask-gateway-ids: endpoint-mode discovery ids look like anthropic-openai-oauth__gpt-5.6. Some Claude clients validate model names (Claude Desktop / Cowork pickers, Claude Code skill/agent model: frontmatter) and reject or filter ids containing non-Anthropic vendor names. Masking reverses the provider and model segments (anthropic-htuao-ianepo__6.5-tpg) so vendor strings never appear literally; display names stay readable (GPT 5.6 (OpenAI)). As the request model, the gateway accepts the masked id, the unmasked id, the canonical clodex:<provider>:<model> id, or a saved alias (e.g. luna) — and the response echoes back whichever id you sent. Tradeoff: masked ids are unreadable — copy them exactly from the printed catalog. Masking is on by default; use --no-mask-gateway-ids for clients that don't need it.

Endpoint-mode endpoints (default port 17645):

ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=http://127.0.0.1:17645/anthropic
OPENAI_BASE_URL=http://127.0.0.1:17645/openai/v1

Use any API key locally; network mode requires the server password. Proxy mode prints HTTPS_PROXY, HTTP_PROXY, NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS, and adjusted NO_PROXY / no_proxy values to export. The adjusted bypass lists preserve unrelated hosts while ensuring api.anthropic.com reaches the selective proxy. Do not set ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL in that mode.

Several clodex server instances can run at once — each advertises itself in ~/.clodex/server-runtime.json, and clodex-claude prefers a proxy-mode server (newest first) when bridging (see docs/background-agents.md). Pass --no-discovery to keep a server out of that file, e.g. a dedicated endpoint you point another tool at.

Examples:

# Endpoint gateway serving only your favorites, no prompts, for a local client
clodex server --endpoint --quick --providers favorites

# Proxy mode for an existing-auth Claude Code (export the env it prints)
clodex server --proxy

clodex patch [--restore]

Patch the installed Claude Code binary so clodex favorites and aliases are first-class: accepted by the Agent tool's model field, listed in /model, resolved to their real ids, and reporting the correct context window.

The patch map is built from your favorites and aliases; context windows come from provider metadata. A pristine per-version backup is kept, and a manifest (~/.clodex/patch-state.json) makes re-runs no-ops until your config or Claude Code version changes — then the binary is restored first and re-patched fresh. clodex claude checks patch freshness at launch and offers to re-patch (a non-blocking notice when not interactive). Re-run clodex patch after every claude update.

clodex models / clodex favorites

Manage favorite models (max 20) and short aliases. Favorites feed the endpoint-mode /model switch menu, proxy-mode routing, and the patcher. Saved to ~/.clodex/config.json.

clodex providers [subcommand]

Providers supported: openai (API key, platform.openai.com) and openai-oauth (ChatGPT/Codex plan).

Root

clodex --help       # overview of all commands
clodex --version    # version

Configuration

• Config home: ~/.clodex (override with CLODEX_HOME). On first run, config is migrated automatically from a legacy ~/.relay-ai directory if present; the legacy directory is never modified.
• The config-home filesystem and the native account home must support hard links because registry and credential locks are published atomically. Keep CLODEX_HOME and ~/.clodex/credential-locks on local filesystems rather than FAT, exFAT, or a network mount that rejects hard links. An abrupt process kill during lock publication can leave a *.lock.*.tmp file; it does not block later lock acquisition and can be removed when no Clodex process is running. A canonical providers.json.lock whose recorded PID is no longer running is reclaimed automatically on the next lock acquisition. If it remains while that PID is active, stop every Clodex process and verify the recorded PID before removing the lock manually. Never remove the canonical lock while a Clodex process is active.
• Credentials live in the OS credential store (Keychain / Windows Credential Manager / Secret Service). The clodex service holds the main value or published marker; clodex-chunks holds current long-credential chunks; clodex-journal holds crash-recovery metadata and a deletion marker; and clodex-deleted holds a redundant non-secret deletion guard. A clodex-state-key entry protects each account's recovery metadata. Use Clodex provider removal instead of deleting these entries individually. Authenticated encrypted per-account managed-state markers live under the native OS account home at ~/.clodex/keyring-state; before each journal write they record the exact recovery intent so a retry can replay and verify it. The encryption key remains in the OS credential store, so the filesystem marker alone cannot be used to test credential guesses. The marker also prevents a temporarily unavailable keyring journal from being mistaken for an absent one. If the OS credential store was completely reset, Clodex permits direct reauthorization only after sentinel checks prove the main and chunk namespaces are empty. Hidden, locked, or partially restored state remains fail-closed. Credential mutation locks live beside that state at ~/.clodex/credential-locks. Both paths are independent of CLODEX_HOME and runtime or temporary-directory environment overrides. This keeps concurrent processes serialized when they use different config homes. Set CLODEX_CREDENTIAL_HELPER to an absolute executable path to use an external secure store instead; see credential helpers.
• Proxied routes forward configured provider headers for API-key and OAuth authentication. Anonymous routes preserve non-credential headers while removing authorization, API-key, cookie, token, secret, and credential-bearing header names before dispatch.
• CLODEX_CLAUDE_PATH overrides Claude Code binary discovery.
• Outbound proxy: when HTTP_PROXY/HTTPS_PROXY (and optionally NO_PROXY) are set in clodex's environment, all clodex-originated network calls honor them — OAuth sign-in and token refresh, model-list and models.dev refreshes, upstream OpenAI API calls, and the ChatGPT/Codex OAuth WebSocket transport (tunneled via HTTP CONNECT).

Known limitations

• Cost display inside Claude Code is inaccurate for OpenAI models (Claude Code applies its own pricing table).
• In the endpoint-mode switch menu, the displayed context window reflects the launch model and does not update on live /model switches (Claude Code fetches window metadata once at startup). Proxy mode with clodex patch reports correct per-model windows.
• ChatGPT/Codex OAuth requires store:false upstream; some OpenAI cache controls are intentionally omitted on OAuth routes because they returned empty responses during compatibility testing.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.