ZCode

zai-org/ZCodeReviewed by Radar

What it does

ZCode is an AI programming workbench from Z.ai, the company behind the GLM models. It comes as a desktop app, a browser interface and a terminal agent that reads your project, writes code and runs tools, and it can work on remote machines over SSH or WSL. It is for programmers. Windows and macOS installers are on GitHub; you sign in with a Z.ai account or configure a model provider. Building from source needs Node.js 24 and pnpm. Prices and plan limits are not in the README.

How easy it is to install

B · installer plus one simple step · Windows

There is a 143 MB Windows .exe installer (v3.14.3); after installing you still need to sign in to Z.ai or set up a model provider before the agent works.

Numbers on GitHub

Stars: 8,401on Oct 31, 2026
Downloads: 6,068824 this week
Growth: +126stars in 5 days

Stars over time

Facts

Runs on: Windows, macOS
You need to install: Nothing extra
To build from source: Node.js
Disk space: 143 MB–429 MB · from the installer
Accounts or keys: Z.ai account (OAuth login) or another model provider
Cost: Free, API costs extra · The app is open source; it relies on Z.ai/GLM models through an account login or another model provider. The README points to NOTICE.md for plan and discount details and states no prices.
License: Apache-2.0 (Permissive)
Can replace: Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot
Last update: Oct 30, 2026

Risk signals (5)

AttentionVery new repository with many stars
8275 stars in 36 days
automatic check
Infogithub release behind source
README: '2026-10-19：更新至 ZCode v3.16.2 版本' and package.json version '3.16.2', but the only GitHub release is v3.14.3 (2026-09-24); newer builds are not published on GitHub.
AI review
Infousage monitoring sdk
package.json patchedDependencies: '@arms/[email protected]' — a real-user-monitoring (RUM) library for Electron; what it reports was not checked.
AI review
Inforemote assets downloaded
.env.example: 'ZCODE_REMOTE_ASSET_CDN_BASE_URL=https://cdn-zcode.z.ai/zcode/electron/releases/3.14.0' and 'ZCODE_BASE_URL=https://zcode.z.ai' — the app pulls runtime assets and built-in provider config from Z.ai servers.
AI review
Infoagent shipped as bytecode
package.json scripts: 'build:desktop-agent:bytecode' and 'dev:desktop:bytecode' — the packaged agent may be compiled to bytecode, which is harder to compare with the source.
AI review

Evidence is shown in its original language.

What Radar could not check

How much use is free and what a paid Z.ai plan costs.
What usage data the monitoring library and Z.ai services receive from your projects.
Whether the installer on GitHub matches this source, given the release is older than the code.
Which commands the AI agent runs on your machine and how it asks for permission.