# OpenCode

> **TL;DR.** OpenCode is an [open-source AI coding agent](https://opencode.

- **Category:** AI / Developer Tools
- **Stage:** established
- **Age:** 332 days
- **Origin date:** 2025-07-06
- **First detected:** 2026-04-15
- **Canonical URL:** https://earlyterms.com/term/opencode
- **Sources:** 7 primary URLs

## Definition

OpenCode is an [open-source AI coding agent](https://opencode.ai/) that runs in the terminal and connects to any model provider — Claude, GPT, Gemini, local LLMs, 75+ providers via Models.dev. It’s the most-starred direct competitor to Claude Code, sitting at roughly 146k GitHub stars under the `anomalyco/opencode` repo.

The project exploded in early 2026: a [1,274-point HN launch thread on March 20](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43426751), an RCE CVE in January, and then [Anthropic legal requests forcing the removal of all Claude-branded integrations](https://github.com/anomalyco/opencode/pull/18186) on March 19 — which itself became a 483-point HN story and cemented OpenCode as the model-agnostic alternative.

## Analogy

If Claude Code is the terminal agent you rent from Anthropic, OpenCode is the one you own — swap the engine, keep the car.

## Why it's emerging now

OpenCode went from hobby Show HN to 146k stars and a direct Anthropic legal confrontation in nine months. The March 19 legal PR and March 20 HN launch thread (1,274 points) turned a terminal TUI into the poster child for ‘open source AI coding agent’ as a category.

## Related terms

- *competitor:* claude-code
- *competitor:* openai-codex-cli
- *parent:* coding-agents
- *related:* agent-harness
- *related:* claude-agent-sdk
- *competitor:* Aider
- *competitor:* Cursor
- *competitor:* Cline
- *competitor:* Continue.dev
- *related:* mcp-server
- *related:* sst.dev
- *related:* Models.dev

## Sources

1. [opencode.ai — project home](https://opencode.ai/)
2. [GitHub — sst/opencode (redirects to anomalyco)](https://github.com/sst/opencode)
3. [Anthropic legal requests PR #18186](https://github.com/anomalyco/opencode/pull/18186)
4. [HN — OpenCode launch discussion (1,274 pts)](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43426751)
5. [HN — Anthropic vs OpenCode (483 pts)](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43420712)
6. [cy.md — Unauthenticated RCE in OpenCode](https://cy.md/opencode-rce/)
7. [Nango — 100 API integrations with OpenCode](https://nango.dev/blog/learned-building-200-api-integrations-with-opencode/)

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_Generated by EarlyTerms · https://earlyterms.com/term/opencode_