Sference Switch

Sference Switch is a macOS menu bar app with a local gateway. It routes the coding agents you already use, Claude Code and Codex, between their native providers and open models served by sference. One switch turns sference routing on or off, and per-client mappings choose which model serves each request.

sference launch claude runs one Claude Code session entirely on one sference model. Switch is for keeping both: Claude models still go to Anthropic with your normal login, sference models appear next to them in /model, and you can send whole model families to an open model, such as the sonnet family that sub-agents often request. Once connected, it applies to every Claude Code session you start.

Install

curl -fsSL https://get.sference.com | sh

The installer downloads the latest release, verifies its checksum, installs the sference-switch CLI to ~/.local/bin and the app to ~/Applications. Homebrew and administrator rights are not needed.

Get started

Open the app, then:

1. Sign in. Go to Account → Sign In. The app shows a verification code and opens the approval page in your browser.

2. Turn on the Switch. This turns on sference routing. No administrator password is needed.

3. Connect Claude Code. Run this once in a terminal. The app does not do this step for you:

   sference-switch claude on

   Then restart any Claude Code sessions that are already running. New sessions pick it up automatically.

4. Pick a model. In Claude Code, run /model. Sference models are listed next to the Claude models. For a 1M-context model, choose the entry whose id ends in [1m]; Claude Code assumes any other unrecognized model holds only 200K tokens.

Claude models keep working as before. Anything you don't route to sference goes to Anthropic with your normal login.

What the app shows

• Switch: global routing on/off. Your model mappings are kept while it is off.
• Account: the signed-in sference account and session state.
• Live request path: for each client, the gateway's health, the model that is actually serving requests, and the fallback.
• Traffic and Requests: recent requests, latency, and spend.
• Clients: per-client model mapping for Claude Code and Codex.

Claude Code

sference-switch claude on edits the env block of ~/.claude/settings.json. It sets ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL to the local gateway and CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_GATEWAY_MODEL_DISCOVERY=1, and fills Claude Code's /model list from the gateway. It backs up any values it replaces, and sference-switch claude off restores them. Check the current state with sference-switch claude status.

No credential is added to Claude Code. Your claude.ai login stays the active one, so your organization's claude.ai connectors keep working.

You can map whole Claude model families to a sference model, for example so that sub-agents requesting sonnet run on GLM:

sference-switch claude route sonnet zai-org/GLM-5.3
sference-switch claude route sonnet native     # send this family back to Anthropic
sference-switch claude route sonnet default    # remove the override
sference-switch claude subagents zai-org/GLM-5.3

Coming soon. Mapping a family to sference/auto is not available on the public API yet (auto model routing). Intended command:

sference-switch claude route sonnet sference/auto

Codex

Codex support is opt-in. Switch writes a separate profile (~/.codex/sference.config.toml) and does not modify ~/.codex/config.toml:

sference-switch codex on
sference-switch codex route zai-org/GLM-5.3
codex --profile sference

The first codex on may ask to enable the gateway's Codex listener. Choose the sference model with sference-switch codex route, not Codex's -m flag, which would override the profile's model. Start Codex without --profile sference to use OpenAI as usual. sference-switch codex off removes the profile. To configure Codex by hand instead, see Codex.

Turning it off

Flip the Switch off in the app, or run sference-switch off. Every request then passes through to its native provider, but Claude Code still connects through the local gateway. To disconnect Claude Code from the gateway completely, also run:

sference-switch claude off

While Claude Code is connected, the gateway has to be running, including for requests that go to Anthropic. If it is stopped, Claude Code cannot reach any model. Start it with sference-switch up, or disconnect with sference-switch claude off.

sference-switch uninstall --dry-run shows everything a full uninstall would remove. sference-switch uninstall restores Claude Code's settings and removes the Codex profile, the app, and the background services. It keeps configuration, logs, and telemetry unless you pass --purge --yes.

sudo sference-switch hosts-clean

How it works

Claude Code sends its requests to the gateway on 127.0.0.1. For each request, the gateway checks the model against your mappings. Requests for sference models go to sference with your sference credential. Everything else goes to Anthropic unchanged, with your own login. The gateway runs as two user-level background services. It needs no /etc/hosts entry, certificate authority, or root service.

• Everything stays on loopback. The gateway and its admin API bind only to 127.0.0.1.
• Credentials go only to their own provider. Your sference credential is sent only to sference, and your Anthropic or OpenAI credentials only to Anthropic or OpenAI.
• Telemetry is local, metadata only. Records contain no prompts, responses, headers, or credentials. To stop recording, set telemetry_enabled: false in ~/.sference/switch/gateway.yaml. Existing records are in ~/.sference/switch/telemetry/.

Troubleshooting

sference-switch status
sference-switch doctor --probe

doctor checks the whole request path and prints the first failure with a concrete fix. Logs are in ~/.sference/switch/logs/: router.log for routing and door.log for the endpoint Claude Code connects to. If your session expires, sign in again from the app or with sference-switch auth login.

Source, the full command reference, and releases: github.com/s-ference/sference-switch (MIT).