Set it up lol it is opus :)

sudojajos

Step 1: Wipe and Update your settings.json

Claude Code stores its global engine configurations inside a hidden directory in your user profile.

For Windows (PowerShell):

notepad $HOME\.claude\settings.json

For Linux / WSL (Terminal):

nano ~/.claude/settings.json

Delete everything currently inside that file(if u don't have that much custom setup thing there), paste the clean configuration below, and save it:

JSON

{
  "$schema": "https://json.schemastore.org/claude-code-settings.json",
  "env": {
    "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "YOUR_ACTUAL_FREEMODEL_KEY",
    "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL": "https://cc.freemodel.dev",
    "CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC": "1",
    "CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_GATEWAY_MODEL_DISCOVERY": "1",
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL": "claude-haiku-4-5-20251001",
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL": "claude-opus-4-8",
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL": "claude-sonnet-4-6",
    "CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL": "claude-sonnet-4-6"
  },
  "model": "opus",
  "effortLevel": "high",
  "autoUpdatesChannel": "latest",
  "skipDangerousModePermissionPrompt": true,
  "theme": "auto"
}

🔑 Important: Replace YOUR_ACTUAL_FREEMODEL_KEY with the actual token generated from your Freemodel web dashboard.

Step 2: Remove Conflict Packages (If Installed)

If you previously installed Claude Code via a native platform installer, it will ignore your custom proxy configurations and force-update past the version we need. Wipe them out first:

Windows:

winget uninstall Anthropic.ClaudeCode

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):

sudo apt-get remove claude-code

Linux (Fedora/RHEL):

sudo dnf remove claude-code

Step 3: Force Install the Proxy-Compatible Client

Newer builds of Claude Code aggressively block unverified backend gateways. To guarantee the handshake works flawlessly over Freemodel, force-install the community-verified stable client version (2.1.146) via npm:

Windows:

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code@2.1.146

Linux / WSL:

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code@2.1.146

(Note for Linux: If you run into global EACCES permission blocks, use npm config set prefix '~/.npm-global' and append export PATH=~/.npm-global/bin:$PATH to your ~/.bashrc file before installing).

Step 4: Verify Your Changes

Before booting up the CLI, make sure your terminal isn't calling an old cache and that the downgrade succeeded:

Windows:

claude --version     # Must show 2.1.146
Get-Command claude   # Should target your global node/npm bin path

Linux / WSL:

claude --version     # Must show 2.1.146
which claude         # Should target your npm bin path

Step 5: Launch the Assistant

Open your terminal inside any active code repository or project folder and fire up the engine:

claude

What happens now: Because your settings.json points to cc.freemodel.dev, the assistant completely skips Anthropic's OAuth browser redirect. It hits the Freemodel gateway immediately, spins up a secure session using Opus, and prompts you to begin indexing your workspace!