ZCode review

Q: How do I install ZCode?

Run pnpm bootstrap. The install section above has the other options from the project's README.

Q: Does ZCode have a CLI?

Yes. ZCode's command-line package starts with zcode. With no arguments it opens a terminal UI. zcode --web starts a browser interface. Any other arguments go to the Agent CLI. Both modes run locally without Electron.

Q: Can I expose the ZCode web interface on my network?

Yes. Start ZCode with --host 0.0.0.0. When ZCode listens on a non-local address, it generates an access token by default. Use --token to set a token or --no-token to turn authentication off.

ZCode is Z.ai's AI coding workbench, with a desktop app, browser interface and terminal agent built as the official harness for GLM-5.3.

Updated Nov 1, 2026. Review written Nov 1, 2026 from the project's own sources; usage data refreshed every Monday.

TL;DR

ZCode is an AI coding workbench from Z.ai that ships as a desktop app, a web interface and a terminal agent. It is aimed at developers who want to use GLM models with multi-agent workflows. It adds long-running Goals, remote SSH/WSL projects, bot control through chat apps, and UI plugins.

8.4kGitHub stars
+217new stars, week of Oct 25
#32in Coding agents this week

ZCode at a glance

Category: Coding agents
Maintained by: Z.ai (organization, @zai-org on GitHub)
License: Apache 2.0
Language: TypeScript, JavaScript, Python
Repository: github.com/zai-org/ZCode
Website: zcode.z.ai
Latest release: v3.17.1 on GitHub, Oct 30, 2026
First published: Sep 20, 2026

What ZCode does

ZCode runs as an Electron desktop app, a browser-based web interface, or a terminal TUI agent.
ZCode manages complex objectives with Goals, which keep planning, executing and verifying multi-step work.
ZCode lets you start tasks remotely through WeChat, Feishu or Telegram bots.
ZCode connects to remote projects over SSH or WSL and uploads runtime assets via SFTP.
ZCode runs workflows whose concurrency limit can be adjusted while they run, without stopping the task.
ZCode is tuned for GLM-5.3, with GLM-5.3-Flash available for screenshot and image analysis tasks.
ZCode supports UI plugins, starting from an Excalidraw canvas collaboration example.

How it works

ZCode's command-line package starts with `zcode`. With no arguments it opens the TUI. `--web` starts a local web interface listening on 127.0.0.1. Other arguments go to the Agent CLI. Both modes run locally without Electron. A backend serves HTTP and WebSocket. Model providers are configured through a provider config file or the built-in config.

How to install and start using ZCode

From source (repo root)

pnpm bootstrap

Build the command-line package

pnpm build:zcode --base-url https://downloads.example.com/zcode/

Requirements

Node.js 24.14.0, as pinned in mise.toml. The packaged command-line release also needs Node.js.
pnpm 10.33.2 and Git to build from source.
Prebuilt desktop releases target macOS (arm64, x64) and Windows (arm64, x64).

First steps

Install Git, Node.js 24.14.0 and pnpm 10.33.2, then run `pnpm bootstrap` in the repository root.
Run `pnpm dev:desktop` to start the desktop app with production service configuration.
Run `zcode` to open the terminal interface, or `zcode --web` to open the browser interface.
Use `zcode --help` and `zcode --web --help` to see the available CLI and web options.

Who ZCode is for

Developers who want to code with GLM models through an agent harness built by the model's makers.
Developers who want to choose between a desktop app, a web UI or a terminal agent.
Teams developing on remote machines over SSH or WSL.
Users who want to trigger coding tasks from WeChat, Feishu or Telegram.

Limitations to know

ZCode's locally built desktop bundles are unsigned, so macOS may block them until you remove the quarantine attribute.
ZCode's command-line package build requires a download base URL (ZCODE_DIST_BASE_URL or --base-url) before packaging.
ZCode's web mode does not enable an access token by default when it listens on localhost.
ZCode's new install does not migrate or delete old Lite directories or existing session data.

Is ZCode growing? Usage data

In the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, ZCode ranked #62 on the Devtoolwatch Board and #32 in Coding agents, with a momentum score of 73 out of 100.

New GitHub stars per week for the last 12 weeks, from GitHub's stargazer history (today's stargazers by the week they starred).

Show the weekly numbers

New GitHub stars per week for ZCode
Week of	New stars
Aug 9, 2026	–
Aug 16, 2026	–
Aug 23, 2026	–
Aug 30, 2026	–
Sep 6, 2026	–
Sep 13, 2026	–
Sep 20, 2026	6.8k
Sep 27, 2026	547
Oct 4, 2026	292
Oct 11, 2026	284
Oct 18, 2026	301
Oct 25, 2026	217

On Hacker News

ZCode – Harness for GLM-5.2, 511 points and 355 comments (Jul 1, 2026)
ZCode: Claude Code from the Makers of GLM, 278 points and 15 comments (Jul 1, 2026)
ZCode, embroiled in a controversy over stealing user code, is now open source, 5 points and 0 comments (Sep 21, 2026)

The Board ranks tools by four signals each week: new stars, new stars for the repo's size, added downloads and download growth beyond the market. How the ranking works.

ZCode alternatives

Other AI coding agents on the Board in the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, by momentum:

Coding agents ranked by momentum, the week of Oct 25–31, 2026
Rank	Tool	Stars	Downloads/wk
#1	CindyCindy is an open-source AI agent app for desktop and mobile that combines Claude Code, Codex and Pi across your connected devices.	8.8k	–
#2	OpenMausBotOpenMausBot is an open-source desktop chat app where each contact is a local Claude, Codex, or Grok CLI agent with its own computer.	9.6k	–
#3	OrcaOrca is a desktop agent development environment for running Claude Code, Codex, and other CLI coding agents in parallel, each in its own…	111.7k	–
#4	OpenBotOpenBot is an open-source, self-hosted template for AI coworkers that each get their own browser, files and granted tools, with every…	9.1k	–
#5	Agent ReachAgent Reach is a Python CLI that lets AI agents search and read platforms such as Twitter, Reddit, YouTube, GitHub, Bilibili and…	107.2k	–
#6	Skill RecorderSkill Recorder is a desktop app that records your on-screen work session and turns it into a reusable agent Skill or Automation.	5.6k	–

All AI coding agents, ranked

Recent ZCode releases

v3.17.1, Oct 30, 2026
v3.14.3, Sep 24, 2026

ZCode FAQ

Is ZCode free and open source?

Yes. ZCode's source code is on GitHub (zai-org/ZCode) under the Apache 2.0 license, so you can use it for free.

How do I install ZCode?

Run pnpm bootstrap. The install section above has the other options from the project's README.

Is ZCode still maintained?

Yes. The zai-org/ZCode repository was last updated on Oct 30, 2026, and the latest release, v3.17.1 on GitHub, came out on Oct 30, 2026.

How popular is ZCode?

ZCode has 8.4k GitHub stars as of Nov 1, 2026. It gained 217 new stars in the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, against a 12-week average of 1.4k a week. That made it #32 among AI coding agents on the Devtoolwatch Board.

ZCode vs Claude Code: how do they compare?

ZCode and Claude Code are both tracked by Devtoolwatch as AI coding agents. ZCode has 8.4k GitHub stars and Claude Code has 154.1k. Claude Code is Anthropic's agentic coding tool that reads your codebase, edits files, runs commands, and handles git workflows through natural language. Claude Code review.

What are the best alternatives to ZCode?

Other AI coding agents on the Devtoolwatch Board in the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, by momentum: Cindy (#1), OpenMausBot (#2), Orca (#3), OpenBot (#4), Agent Reach (#5). The alternatives table above has their numbers.

Does ZCode have a CLI?

Yes. ZCode's command-line package starts with zcode. With no arguments it opens a terminal UI. zcode --web starts a browser interface. Any other arguments go to the Agent CLI. Both modes run locally without Electron.

Which model does ZCode use?

ZCode is the official harness for GLM-5.3 and is tuned for that model's reasoning, coding and multi-agent work. GLM-5.3-Flash handles multimodal tasks such as screenshot understanding.

Can ZCode work on remote projects?

Yes. ZCode supports remote projects over SSH and WSL. In development, ZCode uploads runtime assets from local builds to the remote machine over SFTP instead of fetching them from a CDN.

Can I expose the ZCode web interface on my network?

Yes. Start ZCode with --host 0.0.0.0. When ZCode listens on a non-local address, it generates an access token by default. Use --token to set a token or --no-token to turn authentication off.

Is ZCode open source?

Yes. The ZCode repository contains the client, backend services, shared UI, and the Agent CLI and runtime source code.

Sources

ZCode README badge

Maintainers can show the tool's weekly Board rank in their README:

[![Devtoolwatch](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/badge/zai-org-zcode.svg)](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/zai-org-zcode/)

How this page is made: Devtoolwatch writes each review from the project's README, releases, package metadata and website, with an AI model, then checks every claim against the source it cites and drops what the sources don't support. The numbers come from Devtoolwatch's daily GitHub snapshots, GitHub's stargazer history, and the npm and PyPI download APIs. Spotted an error? Email [email protected].