Claude GPT Launcher

Claude GPT Launcher is a tiny native macOS app for developers who enjoy the Claude Code terminal experience and want to route it through GPT models exposed by a local Codex-compatible proxy.

Pick a repository. Pick a model. Get a real Claude Code session—without copying tokens, pasting environment variables, or leaving a proxy running forever.

Why does this exist?

Claude Code has a distinctive interactive harness: project awareness, planning, edits, tool calls, and a terminal-first workflow. Codex-backed GPT models offer a different model family and subscription path. This project joins those two pieces behind a friendly Mac launcher and an optional MCP bridge.

Native Mac app or Codex chat
             ↓
      Claude Code harness
             ↓
  localhost compatibility proxy
             ↓
       Codex / GPT models

Related MCP server: claude-code

What you get

Quick start

1. Install the prerequisites

Install Claude Code using Anthropic's package:

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

Install the proxy:

brew install raine/claude-code-proxy/claude-code-proxy

Start the proxy's supported browser OAuth flow:

claude-code-proxy codex auth login
claude-code-proxy codex auth status

The login result is stored by the proxy in macOS Keychain. Never paste or commit the resulting credential.

2. Install Claude GPT Launcher

Install and build from npm:

npx claude-gpt-launcher install

Or download the Apple-notarized ZIP from the latest GitHub release, verify its checksum, and move Claude GPT.app to Applications:

shasum -a 256 -c Claude-GPT-Launcher-*.zip.sha256

3. Open a project

Open Claude GPT from ~/Applications, drag in a Git repository, choose a model, and select Open Claude GPT.

Or skip the window:

claude-gpt "$HOME/code/my-project"

Bring the harness into Codex

The installed app bundles a local stdio MCP server:

• claude_code_plan performs a read-only harness consultation.

• claude_code_edit performs repository edits without Bash or network tools.

Register it with Codex:

claude-gpt-launcher mcp install --enable-edits
claude-gpt-launcher mcp status --json

Then open a new Codex chat. The MCP result returns directly to that chat—no second terminal and no prompt copy/paste.

To protect sensitive repositories by remote substring:

claude-gpt-launcher mcp install \
  --enable-edits \
  --protected-remotes "company/production,example/private-app"

Matching repositories remain denied until a caller explicitly opts in.

Useful commands

# Check platform, dependencies, app, backend, and MCP state
claude-gpt-launcher doctor --json

# Open the app
claude-gpt-launcher open

# Remove only the MCP registration
claude-gpt-launcher mcp remove

# Remove owned app, helper, and MCP artifacts
claude-gpt-launcher uninstall

Safety model

The defaults are intentionally narrow:

• The proxy binds to a randomly selected 127.0.0.1 port.

• A port collision fails closed instead of reusing an unknown listener.

• OAuth material is never printed, extracted, or committed by this project.

• MCP edits require both installation-time enablement and call-time confirmation.

• The MCP excludes Bash and network tools.

• Repository roots and symlinks are canonicalized before delegation.

• Prompts, turns, output, and runtime are bounded.

• Installation and removal refuse to overwrite unrelated same-name artifacts.

Read the full security policy and adversarial threat model before enabling MCP edits broadly.

FAQ

No. Authentication is initiated through the proxy's supported OAuth screen. This project never prints or asks you to paste the resulting token.

No. It is an open-source compatibility project built on another open-source proxy. Provider policies and protocols can change, so use it with that risk in mind.

You absolutely can. This project is specifically for people who prefer the Claude Code harness or want Codex to call that harness through MCP.

Yes. Each launcher session owns a temporary proxy process and cleans it up when Claude Code exits.

Build from source

./script/install_backend.sh
./script/build_and_run.sh --install
npm test

Requirements: Apple-silicon Mac, macOS 14+, Swift 5.9+, Node.js 20+, Claude Code, and claude-code-proxy.

Contributing

Issues, focused pull requests, documentation improvements, and security-minded reviews are welcome. Start with CONTRIBUTING.md. Please use private vulnerability reporting for security issues.

Acknowledgements

• raine/claude-code-proxy for the Anthropic-compatible local proxy.

• Claude Code and Codex for inspiring a delightfully strange bridge between two excellent developer workflows.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.