VS Code integration

Use Clother with the official Claude Code extension to switch providers inside VS Code.

Clother works with the official Claude Code extension for VS Code. Once configured, any provider launcher you choose will be used automatically whenever the extension starts a Claude session.

Requirements

• Claude Code extension v2.6+
• Clother v2.6+ — required for correct non-interactive shell output

Setup

1. Open VS Code Settings

   Press Cmd+, on macOS or Ctrl+, on Linux/Windows.

2. Search for the process wrapper setting

   In the search bar, type Claude Process Wrapper or the setting ID claudeProcessWrapper.

3. Set the full path to your chosen launcher

   Enter the absolute path to the Clother launcher you want to use.

   macOS

   /Users/yourname/bin/clother-zai
   

   Linux

   /home/yourname/.local/bin/clother-zai
   

   Replace clother-zai with any other launcher (for example clother-kimi, clother-native, or clother-ollama).

   The full path is required. Using just the command name (e.g. clother-zai) will not work because VS Code does not load your shell’s PATH when invoking the wrapper.

4. Reload VS Code

   Open the command palette (Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P) and run Developer: Reload Window, or restart VS Code entirely.

Switching providers

To use a different provider, update the claudeProcessWrapper setting to the full path of another launcher and reload VS Code. No other changes are needed.

Run clother status in your terminal to see the bin directory where Clother installed its launchers. Use the path it prints to build the full path for the VS Code setting.