free-claude-code is an open-source Python proxy that allows developers to use Anthropic's Claude Code CLI, VSCode extension, and Discord bot entirely without a paid Anthropic API key. Built by the community and gaining 13,900 GitHub stars within days of launch in late April 2026, the project routes Claude Code's API calls to a range of free and local LLM providers. At its core, the tool intercepts Claude Code's outgoing Anthropic API requests and redirects them to user-configured backends including NVIDIA NIM (free tier at 40 req/min), OpenRouter (hundreds of models), DeepSeek's Anthropic-compatible API, LM Studio, llama.cpp, or fully local Ollama instances. This means developers can enjoy Claude Code's powerful agentic coding capabilities using free cloud tiers or completely local models. The proxy requires only two environment variables to set up and supports per-model routing — mapping Claude Opus, Sonnet, and Haiku to different backends based on task complexity. It handles thinking token support by converting reasoning content into Claude-compatible thinking blocks, and includes smart rate limiting with rolling-window throttling and exponential backoff to stay within free tier limits. For teams wanting remote access, the project also includes Discord and Telegram bot integrations with tree-based threading and voice note support, enabling AI-powered coding assistance to be triggered from messaging platforms. Built with FastAPI and requiring Python 3.14, the tool has attracted significant community contributions with active issue tracking and pull request activity throughout April 2026.