Run Claude Code Free with OpenRouter Models in a Custom Agent Dashboard

Key Takeaways

• Claude Code CLI is open-source and supports any OpenAI-compatible API endpoint — pointing it at a free OpenRouter model costs nothing and you keep full Claude Code functionality
• MiniMax M3 offers a 1M token context window with native tool use, making it well-suited for long autonomous coding sessions without hitting context limits
• Free models available on OpenRouter for this setup: MiniMax M3, Gemma 4, Hermes 3 (Neus Research), and Nvidia Nemetron — search "free" on openrouter.ai to see the full current list
• A custom agent dashboard adds voice input, workspace file preview, and multi-model switching that the raw terminal CLI lacks — you can see, review, and reuse everything your agent builds
• The Remotion skill lets the agent create animated videos programmatically; once installed, a single text prompt can produce a short video that previews directly in the workspace

Commands & Code Mentioned

# Point Claude Code CLI at an OpenRouter-compatible free model
# Set ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL and ANTHROPIC_API_KEY to your OpenRouter endpoint/key
# Then run Claude Code as normal — it uses the free model as the backend

claude   # Claude Code CLI entrypoint