The Goldie Free Claude Code Stack™

Run Claude Code for free.

Claude Code is one of the best AI coding helpers in the world. The only catch? It can get expensive fast. This guide shows you a free little tool that lets Claude Code run on a free brain instead. We'll plug in our pick, Owl Alpha — free on OpenRouter — then drop the whole thing inside your Agent OS so it works for you all day. Five easy steps. Plain English. No tech degree needed.

A warm workshop with a glowing toolbox in the middle, open to show five labelled tools, with a robed figure sending five beams of light out to five small workstations — a picture of a simple five-step setup

Easy steps

To run it

~15 min

First setup

Word memory (Owl Alpha)

This guide started with a real question. A member named Jayson wrote in the AI Profit Boardroom: "I just get muddy when I try to understand the Free Claude Code setup. What are we actually running? How do I set it up step by step?"

That's a brilliant question. And if you've felt the same way — this is for you. By the end you'll know exactly what Free Claude Code is, what each step does, and how to run the world's best coding helper for free. I'll keep every word simple. Let's clear up the mud.

— Julian

Why I care about this so much

— the bill that kept going up —

A few years ago, I fell in love with using AI to build things. The problem? Every time I used it, the bill went up. And up. Some months it really hurt. I remember staring at the screen thinking, "This is amazing, but I can't keep paying this much just to play." I bet you've felt that too. You find a tool you love, then you see the price and your stomach drops.

So I went looking for a better way. And I found it. You can keep the tool you love — Claude Code — and simply give it free fuel. Same helper. Same screen. No bill. That's what this whole guide is about. I built our Agent OS so you never have to choose between "good" and "affordable" again. Members in 38 countries run this exact setup today.

Real wins from real members (these are actual screenshots) —

Real AI Profit Boardroom member win screenshot — a member got his Obsidian notes working inside his own Agent OS

Real member win — got his Obsidian notes running right inside his own Agent OS, and loved showing people what it can do.

Real AI Profit Boardroom member win screenshot — a member landed a paid coding job after working with Claude

Real member win — landed a paid coding job after teaming up with Claude… even though he says he can't code.

Real AI Profit Boardroom member win screenshot — a member automated his whole invoicing process and saved many hours

Real member win — automated a whole job that used to take 20–30 hours, now it runs on its own.

See more real member wins →

— one small promise —

Before you scroll, promise me one thing: read this to the end, then actually set it up tonight. Not tomorrow. Tonight. Because the people who just read and bookmark? Nothing changes for them. The people who follow the five steps? They wake up tomorrow running the best coding AI in the world for free — and feeling like they finally took the wheel. I want that to be you. So: read it, then do it. Then come tell us in the Boardroom. Deal?

First — what is Free Claude Code?

Let's clear up the mud in one picture.

Think of Claude Code as a really smart helper who lives in your computer and helps you build things. Normally, when you ask it for help, it phones a big company and they charge you for the call.

Free Claude Code is a tiny middle-man you install on your own computer. It sits between Claude Code and the phone line. When Claude Code wants to make a call, the middle-man quietly says, "Don't call the expensive number — call this free one instead."

That's it. Same helper. Same screen. Same way of working. No bill. It's a free, open project anyone can use — and it works with lots of different "brains" you can pick from.

"Free Claude Code is a friendly middle-man. It keeps Claude Code exactly the same — but swaps the expensive fuel for free fuel."

The Goldie Free Claude Code Stack™ — 5 steps

Here's the whole plan in five simple steps. Each one takes a few minutes. Do them in order and you can't get lost.

Step 1 — Install the helper. One line. It sets everything up for you.
Step 2 — Open the control panel. A simple page on your own computer where you flip the switches.
Step 3 — Plug in a brain. We'll plug in Owl Alpha — our smart, free pick.
Step 4 — Run Claude Code. One command. Now it's using the free brain.
Step 5 — Drop it into your Agent OS. So free Claude Code works for you all day, not just when you're watching.

A picture of four labelled streams of light (Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, an owl) flowing along a channel and joining into one bright pool — a picture of separate tools becoming one simple setup

That's the journey. Now let's walk it together, one step at a time.

Step 1. Install the helper

— one line, then you're done —

Copy, paste, press enter

Open your Terminal (it's the black box where you type commands). Paste this one line and press enter. It checks you have everything, then installs the helper for you.

# Mac or Linux
curl -fsSL "https://github.com/Alishahryar1/free-claude-code/blob/main/scripts/install.sh?raw=1" | sh

On Windows, you use the PowerShell line from the same project page instead. Either way, it does the heavy lifting so you don't have to.

What we just didPut the free middle-man on your computer.

Why it mattersThis is the piece that swaps expensive fuel for free fuel. Without it, Claude Code only knows the pricey number.

What's in it for youIn a few minutes, you'll be ready to run the best coding AI for free.

— "is it safe to paste a command I don't understand?"

Smart to ask. It's an open project anyone can read, with over 30,000 people using it. The page even shows you the exact install file before you run it, so you can look first. If you ever feel unsure, that's a great thing to bring to one of our coaching calls — we'll look at it together.

Step 2. Open the control panel

— start it up —

Turn the helper on

Now start the helper. Type this and press enter:

fcc-server

It will print a link that looks like this:

Admin UI: http://127.0.0.1:8082/admin

Click that link (or paste it into your web browser). A simple page opens — your control panel. This is where you flip switches and pick your brain. No code. Just boxes and buttons.

What we just didSwitched the helper on and opened its control panel.

Why it mattersEverything from here is point-and-click. You don't edit any tricky files by hand.

What's in it for youYou stay in control. Change your brain, your settings, anything — all from one friendly page.

Step 3. Plug in a brain — say hello to Owl Alpha

This is the fun part. The helper can use many different brains. Our favourite right now is Owl Alpha.

Why Owl Alpha? Two reasons, both simple:

It has a huge memory. It can hold about 1 million words in its head at once. That means it can read your whole project and not forget the start by the time it reaches the end.
It's built for doing real work — writing code, using tools, getting things done — and it's available for free through a service called OpenRouter.

— three tiny steps inside the control panel —

How to plug it in

Go to openrouter.ai/keys and grab a free key. (A "key" is just a password that lets the helper talk to the brain.)
In your control panel, paste that key into the box called OPENROUTER_API_KEY.
Set the box called MODEL to our alpha:

open_router/openrouter/owl-alpha

Click Validate, then Apply. Done. Claude Code now thinks with Owl Alpha's brain.

What we just didTold the helper which brain to use — Owl Alpha — and gave it the password to reach it.

Why it mattersThis is the swap. Expensive brain out, smart-and-free brain in. Same Claude Code on top.

What's in it for youA giant 1-million-word memory working on your projects — for free.

— "can I plug in a different brain later?"

Yes, any time. The control panel has many brains to choose from — free ones, paid ones, even ones that run fully on your own computer with no internet. Owl Alpha is our pick to start. Change it whenever you like; it's just one box.

Step 4. Run Claude Code

— the magic moment —

Start coding on the free brain

Leave the helper running. Open a new Terminal window and type:

fcc-claude

That's it. Claude Code opens exactly like normal — but now every answer comes from Owl Alpha through your free helper. Ask it to build something. Watch it work. Then check your bill tomorrow and smile.

What we just didStarted Claude Code through the helper instead of the normal way.

Why it mattersThis proves it works. Same tool, free fuel, real answers.

What's in it for youYou can now use the best coding AI as much as you want without watching the meter.

— "how do I know it's really free and not charging me?"

Easy check. Ask it: "Which brain are you running on?" It'll tell you. And tomorrow, look at your usual AI bill — it should be flat. If something looks off, that's a perfect thing to bring to a coaching call. We'll spot it in two minutes.

— we do this together, live —

Stuck on a step? We'll fix it with you

This guide is the written version. Inside the AI Profit Boardroom we set this up live, screen-by-screen, on the weekly calls — so if you get stuck, a real human helps you in minutes. 3,200+ members. Four calls a week. Everything explained in plain English.

Join the AI Profit Boardroom →

Step 5. Drop it into your Agent OS

Here's where it gets really good. Right now, free Claude Code only works when you're sitting there typing to it. The next step makes it work for you — like a team member who never sleeps.

Your Agent OS (we run one called Hermes) is like a control room for lots of little helpers. Once free Claude Code is running, you simply tell your Agent OS to use it as one of its brains.

— point your Agent OS at the free helper —

Two simple settings

Your helper is running on your own computer at http://localhost:8082 with the password freecc. Just tell Hermes to use that:

hermes config set model.endpoint http://localhost:8082
hermes config set model.token freecc

Now every little helper inside your Agent OS runs on free fuel. You can set a goal like "write me five blog posts" or "build me a simple website", walk away, and come back to finished work.

What we just didTold your Agent OS to use free Claude Code as its brain.

Why it mattersYour helpers stop being something you babysit and start being a team that works on its own.

What's in it for youYou give one instruction, then go live your life. The work gets done for free.

This is the whole dream in one sentence: the best coding AI in the world, running on free fuel, working for you all day, inside one simple control room. That's what we built. That's why we built it.

"Step 4 gives you a free helper. Step 5 turns it into a free team."

The five steps — recap

What you just built

Installed the helper — the free middle-man that swaps expensive fuel for free fuel.
Opened the control panel — your point-and-click page for flipping switches.
Plugged in Owl Alpha — a smart brain with a 1-million-word memory, free on OpenRouter.
Ran Claude Code — the best coding AI, now on free fuel.
Dropped it into your Agent OS — so it works for you all day, not just when you're watching.

From "the bill keeps going up" to "I run the best AI in the world for free, and it works while I sleep." That's a big jump — and you just made it.

What you can build now

Now that the meter isn't ticking, you can finally build freely. Here are a few things members make with this exact setup:

Websites and landing pages — describe it, let it build it.
Little tools and scripts — the boring jobs you do by hand, done for you.
Whole batches of content — blog posts, emails, social posts, in your own voice.
Real client work — like the member who landed a paid coding job after teaming up with Claude.

The point isn't the tech. The point is what the tech sets you free to do. When using AI is basically free, you stop being careful and start being brave. That's when the fun — and the money — really starts.

— go do it tonight —

Five steps. Fifteen minutes. Free.

Run the five steps tonight. When Claude Code answers you through the free brain, come into the AI Profit Boardroom and tell us. We'll cheer you on — then help you set your first all-day goal inside your Agent OS.

Join the AI Profit Boardroom →