Skip to main content

Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/jolehuit/clother/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Clother gives you one install and one command pattern to switch between Claude Code providers instantly. Instead of editing environment variables, endpoints, and model names by hand every time you want to try a different backend, Clother handles all of that at launch time.

​
The problem

Switching Claude Code providers normally means:
  • Setting ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL to the new endpoint
  • Swapping ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN for the right API key
  • Remembering (or looking up) the correct model name
  • Updating any launcher scripts or shell aliases you rely on
Do this often enough across cloud providers, China endpoints, local backends, and OpenRouter, and it becomes friction that slows you down.

​
How Clother solves it

Clother is a single Go binary. At install time it creates a clother-<provider> symlink for every supported provider. At runtime it reads the symlink name, loads the matching profile and API key, sets the required environment variables, then hands off to the real Claude binary — transparently. For example, launching clother-zai is equivalent to: 
export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="https://api.z.ai/api/anthropic"
export ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN="$ZAI_API_KEY"
exec /path/to/the/real/claude "$@"
You never touch those variables yourself.

​
Key features

One install, many providers

A single binary manages every provider. Add or switch providers without reinstalling anything.

Provider-aware launchers

Each provider gets its own clother-<provider> command. Run them side by side, script them, or wire them into your editor.

Resume compatibility

Clother preserves the claude --resume workflow across providers, including cross-provider session handoff.

Local backend support

Ollama, LM Studio, and llama.cpp work out of the box — no API key required.

OpenRouter access

Route to 100+ models through OpenRouter using custom aliases and the clother-or-<alias> pattern.

Secure secret storage

API keys are stored in ~/.local/share/clother/secrets.env with permissions set to 600.

​
Supported provider categories

  • Cloud — Anthropic (native), Z.AI, MiniMax, Kimi, Moonshot AI, DeepSeek, Xiaomi MiMo, Alibaba Coding Plan
  • China endpoints — Z.AI China, MiniMax China, Volcengine, Alibaba China
  • Local backends — Ollama (port 11434), LM Studio (port 1234), llama.cpp (port 8000)
  • OpenRouter — Any model available on OpenRouter, accessed via custom aliases

​
Next step

Ready to install? Head to Installation.