Cheap Agent

Cheap Agent

Moves routine coding in Claude Code or Codex to a low-cost model that must prove its work with a test, so your main model's usage lasts longer.

Made by muaaz9329 on GitHub. These notes are Mindket's, written from its README; the project's own files and license are in its repository.

About

What it is: Cheap Agent splits coding work between two models in Claude Code or Codex. Your main model plans and decides. A much cheaper model does the typing in a private copy of your project and has to show a passing test before you see any of it. The aim is to make your Claude or ChatGPT plan last longer.

Who it suits: It suits developers who run into plan limits because a top model spends its usage on routine typing.

Industry | Who uses it | How they use it | Example
Software development | Developers on a Claude or ChatGPT plan | Let a cheap model do the typing while the main model plans | One feature built with 57k Opus tokens instead of 154k
Education | Students who cannot afford a $100 plan | Stretch a plan they already pay for | The project aims at $50 to 70 of value from a $20 plan
Small teams | Teams watching their AI spend | Pay a few dollars of API usage for the typing | A few dollars lasting hundreds of tasks

Anyone who uses neither Claude Code nor Codex can skip it.

Where to use it: It adds itself to Claude Code or Codex and runs on macOS, Linux and Windows.

• Claude Code: it installs itself for every project, then you allow it once in each project
• Codex: it comes as a plugin from a marketplace, with three hooks you trust on first run
• Windows: it also needs Git for Windows, which provides Git Bash
• Providers: OpenRouter, DeepSeek, OpenCode Go, OpenCode Zen, Command Code or a local server

Use case | Who | What they get back
Build a feature | Developers | A tested change from a cheap model that worked in a separate copy of the project
Save plan usage | People who hit usage limits | Fewer Opus tokens spent on the same feature
Choose the models | Cost-conscious users | Balanced, cheapest or strongest presets, or your own provider and model

How to set it up: You need Claude Code or Codex, Node.js and an API key before you start.

• Claude Code or Codex
• Node.js 20+
• A funded API key (a few dollars is enough) from OpenRouter, DeepSeek, Command Code, OpenCode Go or OpenCode Zen, or a local model instead
• On Windows, Git for Windows

1. Run the login command and pick a provider. Choose OpenRouter if you are unsure.
2. Press Enter for the recommended models and paste your API key.
3. It tests your key, then registers itself in Claude Code across all your projects.
4. In each project, run the allow command once.

npx cheap-agent

Then, once in each project, inside Claude Code:

/cheapag:allow

For Codex, log in with the same command. If you do not use Claude, decline when it offers to install itself into Claude Code. Then add the plugin:

codex plugin marketplace add muaaz9329/cheap-ag
codex plugin add cheapag@cheap-agent

Launch codex inside your project. When it asks about the 3 cheapag hooks, trust them. Then, once in each project:

$cheapag:allow

If you prefer, paste a setup prompt from the README into Claude Code. It asks for your provider and models, then hands you one command to run.

How to use it: Ask Claude or Codex for changes as you always do. The main model plans, the cheap one writes the code in a separate copy of the project, and a test has to pass before the result reaches you.

Tool | What it does
npx cheap-agent | Logs you in, checks your key and adds Cheap Agent to Claude Code
/cheapag:allow | Run once in each project before you use it in Claude Code
$cheapag:allow | The same one-time step in Codex
claude mcp list | Shows cheapag when the Claude Code install worked

Example: You ask Claude Code to add a feature as usual. In the README's side-by-side test of one feature, Claude Code alone spent 154k Opus tokens over 5 turns. With Cheap Agent the same job took 57k Opus tokens over 2 turns, a 63% cut, plus about half a cent on the cheap model. Both versions passed their tests.

For newcomers and experts: If you pay for Claude or ChatGPT, your plan has a usage limit, and a big model spends part of it on routine typing. Cheap Agent hands that typing to a far cheaper model. Install it for Claude Code first, then ask for one small change.

Underneath, your main model plans and decides while a cheap model, run through the OpenCode engine, implements in its own copy of the project. It is listed as tested on SWE-bench Verified. The author says it will not make Opus ten times cheaper. The cheap model also cannot read dependency folders such as node_modules in its copy, though your tests still run normally.

Your main model plans and decides
A cheap model gets the task in its own project copy
It writes the code and proves it with a test
The result reaches you once the test passes

Good to know:

• Cost: a few dollars on an API key lasts hundreds of tasks
• Provider notes: a Command Code key needs a plan that includes API access, and for the DeepSeek models OpenCode Go wants its console Regions set to Global
• Windows start-up: the first job takes roughly 2 minutes while the OpenCode engine installs itself
• Windows crashes: a crashed engine's leftover copy may keep running as opencode.exe until you close it or restart
• Numbers: the token counts come from the author's own side-by-side runs
• License: MIT

Title: Opus tokens in the README's two tests
Test 1, Claude Code alone: 154 thousand tokens
Test 1, with Cheap Agent: 57 thousand tokens
Test 2, Claude Code alone: 233 thousand tokens
Test 2, with Cheap Agent: 132 thousand tokens

On GitHub, 7 November 2026

• Stars: 310
• Forks: 29
• Open issues and pull requests: 2
• Language: TypeScript
• License: MIT
• Topics: agentic-coding, ai-agents, anthropic, cheap-llm, claude, claude-code, claude-code-hooks, claude-code-plugin, claude-code-skill, cost-optimization, deepseek, developer-tools

Links

• Code: https://github.com/muaaz9329/cheap-ag
• Website: https://cheapag.com/
• Releases: https://github.com/muaaz9329/cheap-ag/releases
• Issues: https://github.com/muaaz9329/cheap-ag/issues
• Star history: https://www.star-history.com/#muaaz9329/cheap-ag&Date

Get the code

git clone https://github.com/muaaz9329/cheap-ag.git

Then follow the setup in its README. Nothing in this kit runs by itself.