Run Ox Alpha in your terminal

Free stealth model on OpenRouter, working in Claude Code CLI or opencode in about 3 minutes.

⬇ Download skill (.zip) GitHub ↗ Model page ↗

Model ID stealth/ox-alpha Price $0 in / $0 out (preview) Context 1M tokens Tools + images yes

Claude Code speaks the Anthropic API. OpenRouter exposes an Anthropic-compatible endpoint, so you just point Claude Code at OpenRouter with a few environment variables. No plugin, no proxy.

Install Node.js 18+

Skip if this prints 18 or higher. Otherwise get it from nodejs.org.

node -v

Install Claude Code

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

or, without Node (macOS/Linux), see the install docs:

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

Sign in to OpenRouter

Open openrouter.ai/settings/keys. If you are not signed in you land here. Continue with GitHub is one click, no password to set.

openrouter.ai/settings/keys - sign in

The GitHub icon (left of the three) signs you in with your GitHub account.

Create an API key

Back on the keys page: Create Key → name it → copy the sk-or-v1-… value. It is shown only once.

Ox Alpha is free during preview, so no credits are required. Check the price any time on the model page:

openrouter.ai/stealth/ox-alpha

The real model page: ID stealth/ox-alpha, price Free, context 1M.

Point Claude Code at OpenRouter

Run these in your terminal. Replace the key in line 2 with your own. They only affect this terminal window. Other windows keep using your normal Claude account.

export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="https://openrouter.ai/api"

export ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN="sk-or-v1-YOUR-KEY-HERE"

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=""

export ANTHROPIC_MODEL="stealth/ox-alpha"

export ANTHROPIC_SMALL_FAST_MODEL="stealth/ox-alpha"

Base URL ends in /api, not /api/v1. Claude Code appends /v1/messages itself.
The empty ANTHROPIC_API_KEY stops a real Anthropic key from taking priority.

Make it permanent, without hijacking normal Claude

Don't put those export lines in ~/.zshrc directly. They apply to every shell, so every claude session would go to OpenRouter and your Anthropic subscription would sit unused. Use a separate command instead.

Store the key in a file only you can read (paste your own key in):

mkdir -p ~/.config/openrouter && printf '%s' 'sk-or-v1-YOUR-KEY-HERE' > ~/.config/openrouter/key && chmod 600 ~/.config/openrouter/key

Add an oxclaude command that sets the variables for that one run only:

cat >> ~/.zshrc <<'EOF'

# Ox Alpha (OpenRouter): only inside `oxclaude`; plain `claude` stays on Anthropic
oxclaude() {
  local key="${OPENROUTER_API_KEY:-$(cat ~/.config/openrouter/key 2>/dev/null)}"
  if [[ -z "$key" ]]; then
    echo "No OpenRouter key: put it in ~/.config/openrouter/key or export OPENROUTER_API_KEY" >&2
    return 1
  fi
  ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="https://openrouter.ai/api" \
  ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN="$key" \
  ANTHROPIC_API_KEY= \
  ANTHROPIC_MODEL="stealth/ox-alpha" \
  ANTHROPIC_SMALL_FAST_MODEL="stealth/ox-alpha" \
  ANTHROPIC_CUSTOM_MODEL_OPTION="stealth/ox-alpha" \
  ANTHROPIC_CUSTOM_MODEL_OPTION_NAME="Ox Alpha" \
  ANTHROPIC_CUSTOM_MODEL_OPTION_DESCRIPTION="OpenRouter stealth · free · 1M context" \
  command claude "$@"
}
EOF

source ~/.zshrc

claude → your normal Anthropic account, untouched.
oxclaude → same CLI, same project, running on Ox Alpha.
The three ANTHROPIC_CUSTOM_MODEL_OPTION* lines are what put Ox Alpha in the /model list inside that session.

On bash, append the same function to ~/.bashrc.

Launch and verify

cd your-project

claude

Started via oxclaude? Use that instead of claude. Type /status inside the session. The API base and model should read OpenRouter / Ox Alpha, and /model lists Ox Alpha as a pickable entry.

zsh - claude

$ claude

✻ Welcome to Claude Code

> /status

  Account
    API base     https://openrouter.ai/api
    Auth         ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN (sk-or-v1-…)
  Model
    Main         stealth/ox-alpha
    Small/fast   stealth/ox-alpha

> explain what this repo does
  ⏺ Reading files…

What /status looks like when traffic goes to OpenRouter.

Live token usage: openrouter.ai/activity

If something breaks

Symptom	Fix
`401 Unauthorized`	Key wrong, or `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` not blanked. Check with `echo $ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN`.
`404 not found`	Base URL has a trailing `/v1`. Use `https://openrouter.ai/api`.
Still hitting Anthropic	Stale vars in another terminal tab, or a `settings.json` override. Open a fresh terminal.
`model not found`	ID must be exactly `stealth/ox-alpha`. Stealth models get renamed. Check the model page.

Privacy: stealth models log prompts for the lab behind them. Don't send secrets or client code. Logging options: openrouter.ai/settings/privacy.

opencode talks to OpenRouter natively. You log in once, add one small config block, and pick the model in the picker.

Install opencode

curl -fsSL https://opencode.ai/install | bash

or with npm:

npm install -g opencode-ai@latest

or with Homebrew:

brew install sst/tap/opencode

Sign in to OpenRouter and create a key

Go to openrouter.ai/settings/keys and sign in. Continue with GitHub works without a password.

openrouter.ai/settings/keys - sign in

The GitHub icon (left of the three) signs you in with your GitHub account.

Then Create Key and copy the sk-or-v1-… value. Ox Alpha is $0 during preview, no credits needed:

openrouter.ai/stealth/ox-alpha

The real model page: ID stealth/ox-alpha, price Free, context 1M.

Give opencode the key

opencode auth login

Choose OpenRouter, paste the key, press Enter.

zsh - opencode auth login

$ opencode auth login

  ┌  Add credential
  │
  ◆  Select provider
  │  ○ Anthropic
  │  ● OpenRouter
  │  ○ OpenAI
  │  ○ Google
  │
  ◆  Enter your API key
  │  sk-or-v1-••••••••••••••••••••••••
  └  ✓ OpenRouter credentials saved

Credentials are stored in ~/.local/share/opencode/auth.json.

or skip the prompt with an environment variable:

export OPENROUTER_API_KEY="sk-or-v1-YOUR-KEY-HERE"

Add Ox Alpha to the config

Stealth models are new, so declare it once. This single command writes the global config at ~/.config/opencode/opencode.json:

mkdir -p ~/.config/opencode && cat > ~/.config/opencode/opencode.json <<'EOF'
{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "model": "openrouter/stealth/ox-alpha",
  "provider": {
    "openrouter": {
      "models": {
        "stealth/ox-alpha": {
          "name": "Ox Alpha (stealth)",
          "limit": { "context": 1000000, "output": 64000 },
          "tool_call": true
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
EOF

Want it for one repo only? Put the same JSON in opencode.json at the repo root. It overrides the global file. All options: opencode.ai/docs/config

Run it

cd your-project

opencode

Type /models, pick Ox Alpha (stealth). The active model shows in the status bar.

zsh - opencode

  opencode  ~/projects/demo

  /models
  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐
  │ ▸ OpenRouter                             │
  │   ● Ox Alpha (stealth)   free · 1M ctx   │
  │   ○ Claude Opus 4.5                      │
  │   ○ Gemini 3 Pro                         │
  └──────────────────────────────────────────┘

  > add tests for src/parser.ts
    ⏺ reading src/parser.ts …

  ──────────────────────────────────────────────
  build                    openrouter/stealth/ox-alpha

/models → OpenRouter → Ox Alpha; status bar confirms it.

or run one shot from the shell, no TUI:

opencode run -m openrouter/stealth/ox-alpha "summarize this repo"

If something breaks

Symptom	Fix
Model not in `/models`	Config JSON invalid or in the wrong path. Run `opencode --print-logs` and look for a parse error.
`401` / auth error	Re-run `opencode auth login`, or check `echo $OPENROUTER_API_KEY`.
Tools never fire	Keep `"tool_call": true` in the model block.
`command not found`	The installer puts the binary in `~/.opencode/bin`. Add it to `PATH`.

Privacy: stealth models log prompts for the lab behind them. Don't send secrets or client code. Logging options: openrouter.ai/settings/privacy.