4.2 KiB
Interactive Mode
The full Claude Code experience, different brain.
This is how most people use Claudish. You pick a model, start a session, and work interactively just like normal Claude Code.
Starting a Session
claudish
That's it. No flags needed.
You'll see the model selector:
╭──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ Select an OpenRouter Model │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ # Model Provider Pricing Context Caps │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 1 google/gemini-3-pro-preview Google $7.00/1M 1048K ✓ ✓ ✓ │
│ 2 openai/gpt-5.1-codex OpenAI $5.63/1M 400K ✓ ✓ ✓ │
│ ... │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
Enter number (1-7) or 'q' to quit:
Pick a number, hit Enter. You're in.
Skip the Selector
Already know which model you want? Skip straight to it:
claudish --model x-ai/grok-code-fast-1
This starts an interactive session with Grok immediately.
What You Get
Everything Claude Code offers:
- File operations - Read, write, edit files
- Bash commands - Run terminal commands
- Multi-turn conversation - Context persists across messages
- Project awareness - Reads your
.claude/settings - Tool use - All Claude Code tools work normally
The only difference is the model processing your requests.
Auto-Approve Mode
By default, Claudish runs with --dangerously-skip-permissions.
Why? Because you're explicitly choosing to use an alternative model. You've already made the decision to trust it.
Want prompts back?
claudish --no-auto-approve
Now it'll ask before file writes and bash commands.
Verbose vs Quiet
Default behavior:
- Interactive mode: Shows
[claudish]status messages - Single-shot mode: Quiet by default
Override:
# Force verbose
claudish --verbose
# Force quiet
claudish --quiet
Using a Custom Model
See option 7 in the selector? That's your escape hatch.
Any model on OpenRouter works. Just enter the full ID:
Enter custom OpenRouter model ID:
> mistralai/mistral-large-2411
Boom. You're running Mistral Large.
Or skip the selector entirely:
claudish --model mistralai/mistral-large-2411
Session Tips
Switching models mid-session? You can't. Exit and restart with a different model.
Context window exhausted? Start fresh. Or switch to a model with larger context (Gemini 3 Pro has 1M tokens).
Model acting weird? Some models handle tool use differently. If file edits are broken, try a different model.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Same as Claude Code:
Ctrl+C- Cancel current operationCtrl+D- Exit sessionEscape- Cancel multi-line input
Environment Variable Shortcut
Set a default model so you don't have to pick every time:
export CLAUDISH_MODEL='x-ai/grok-code-fast-1'
claudish # Now uses Grok by default
Or the Claude Code standard:
export ANTHROPIC_MODEL='openai/gpt-5.1-codex'
CLAUDISH_MODEL takes priority if both are set.
Next
- Single-Shot Mode - For automation and scripts
- Model Mapping - Different models for different roles