# ZCode review

> 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.

Devtoolwatch Board, the week of Oct 25–31, 2026. Canonical page: https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/zai-org-zcode/

## 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.

## ZCode at a glance

- **Category:** [Coding agents](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/categories/coding-agents/)
- **Maintained by:** Z.ai (organization, [@zai-org](https://github.com/zai-org) on GitHub)
- **License:** Apache 2.0
- **Language:** TypeScript, JavaScript, Python
- **Repository:** [github.com/zai-org/ZCode](https://github.com/zai-org/ZCode)
- **Website:** [zcode.z.ai](https://zcode.z.ai/)
- **Latest release:** [v3.17.1](https://github.com/zai-org/ZCode/releases/tag/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 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

1. Install Git, Node.js 24.14.0 and pnpm 10.33.2, then run `pnpm bootstrap` in the repository root.
2. Run `pnpm dev:desktop` to start the desktop app with production service configuration.
3. Run `zcode` to open the terminal interface, or `zcode --web` to open the browser interface.
4. 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

- 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.

## Usage data (the week of Oct 25–31, 2026)

- Board rank: #62 overall, #32 in Coding agents, momentum score 73
- New GitHub stars per week (last 12 weeks): Aug 9: n/a; Aug 16: n/a; Aug 23: n/a; Aug 30: n/a; Sep 6: n/a; Sep 13: n/a; Sep 20: 6.8k; Sep 27: 547; Oct 4: 292; Oct 11: 284; Oct 18: 301; Oct 25: 217

## ZCode alternatives

| Rank | Tool | Stars | Downloads/wk |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | [Cindy](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/makecindy-cindy/) | 8.8k | – |
| #2 | [OpenMausBot](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/milind-soni-openmausbot/) | 9.6k | – |
| #3 | [Orca](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/stablyai-orca/) | 111.7k | – |
| #4 | [OpenBot](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/copilotkit-openbot/) | 9.1k | – |
| #5 | [Agent Reach](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/panniantong-agent-reach/) | 107.2k | – |
| #6 | [Skill Recorder](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/microsoft-skill-recorder/) | 5.6k | – |

## 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](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/claude-code/)

### 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

1. [zai-org/ZCode on GitHub](https://github.com/zai-org/ZCode)
2. [ZCode README](https://github.com/zai-org/ZCode/blob/main/README.md)
3. [ZCode website](https://zcode.z.ai/)
4. [Release v3.17.1 (Oct 30, 2026)](https://github.com/zai-org/ZCode/releases/tag/v3.17.1)
5. [Release v3.14.3 (Sep 24, 2026)](https://github.com/zai-org/ZCode/releases/tag/v3.14.3)
6. [Hacker News: ZCode – Harness for GLM-5.2](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48753715)
7. [Hacker News: ZCode: Claude Code from the Makers of GLM](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48751752)
8. [Hacker News: ZCode, embroiled in a controversy over stealing user code, is now open source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49782440)
9. [Devtoolwatch Board, the week of Oct 25–31, 2026](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/)