An open-source, login-free community build of ZCode.
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Zode is a community-maintained desktop build of the ZCode AI coding workspace, designed for local-first personal use. It descends from ZCodium — the independent security-audit fork of ZCode — keeps ZCodium's audit work (telemetry removed, vendor services disconnected by default), and goes one step further: the official account/login layer is removed entirely. A purely local, personal tool has no use for an account system — that is this project's design intent, not a missing feature.
Zode is an independent project and is not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by Z.ai / Zhipu or the ZCodium project.
| Official ZCode | Zode | |
|---|---|---|
| Login / account | required for parts of the product | removed by design — a local personal tool needs no account; no login, no OAuth |
| Vendor platform | connected | off by default; each service is an explicit opt-in switch in Settings → Official services (restart required) |
| Telemetry | vendor pipeline | removed (inherited from the ZCodium audit — see their README for specifics) |
| Paid-plan entry points | shown | hidden |
| Auto-update | official channel | updater disabled entirely; the built-in version dialog reads public GitHub tags instead |
| Extra conveniences | — | session manager (grouped, paginated, deletable), delete tasks from sidebar menus, memory-file viewer/editor with markdown preview, version & updates dialog |
| Product identity | ZCode | Zode (dev.zode.app) |
The full desktop / browser / terminal product surface is inherited from upstream; Zode only changes the items above.
Tested on macOS (Apple Silicon). Windows and Linux are untested.
Requirements: mise pins the toolchain (Node 24 + pnpm 10 — see
mise.toml).
pnpm install
# Development (hot reload)
pnpm dev:desktop:test
# Standalone app
ZCODE_ENV=production pnpm --filter @zcode/desktop bundle
# → packages/desktop/dist/mac-arm64/Zode.app
ditto "packages/desktop/dist/mac-arm64/Zode.app" "/Applications/Zode.app"There are no prebuilt releases yet; build from source.
- One shared data directory: Zode reads and writes
~/.zcode— the same directory the official ZCode client uses. Sessions, memories, settings and credentials are shared, so switching between the two apps (or uninstalling the official one) keeps your data intact. - No login, no vendor account: account and OAuth flows are removed by design — Zode is a local, personal tool; there is no Zode-specific backend to phone home to.
- Official endpoints are blocked by default at the network layer. Everything that talks to vendor services (plugin marketplace, official MCP, feedback, coding-plan metering, …) sits behind an explicit switch under Settings → Official services, disabled unless you enable it.
- Updates are off: the app never replaces itself; the version dialog only reads public GitHub tags and compares them with your build.
- Based on the ZCodium v3.14.7 audit source (ZCode 3.14.x line); Zode is maintained as its own line on top of that base.
- The project grew out of a personal build and is now maintained in the open. There is no vendor backing, so response times to issues vary.
- zai-org/ZCode — the upstream product, open-sourced by Zhipu / Z.ai (Apache-2.0).
- ZCodium-project/ZCodium — the security-audit fork this project is based on (MIT).
Zode's own code is MIT-licensed — see LICENSE. Portions derived from the projects above remain under their original licenses: ZCode code under LICENSE-APACHE, ZCodium code under the MIT license. See NOTICE.md for the full attribution chain.