backend¶

View or switch the selected coding backend.

In the apps: Settings → Coding Backend in the desktop app and console switches the same setting; the desktop onboarding flow chooses it during first-time setup.

Usage¶

openbase-coder backend status
openbase-coder backend list
openbase-coder backend use codex

Options¶

status and use accept:

use additionally accepts:

Supported Backends¶

• codex: default native Codex app-server backend.
• openbase_cloud: Cloud-proxied Claude Code through Openbase Cloud, authenticated with Openbase login.
• claude_code: Claude Code backend for Super Agents UI-driver sessions using local Claude auth/billing, not ANTHROPIC_API_KEY.

use first checks that the target backend has a usable login (Claude Code login for claude_code, ~/.codex/auth.json for codex, the Openbase login for openbase_cloud) and fails without changing anything when it is missing; pass --skip-login-check to switch anyway. It then persists the selection into ~/.openbase/.env as OPENBASE_CODING_BACKEND=<backend> — the same setting written by openbase-coder setup --backend ... and read by the local console — and applies the change to the running services (see below). Backend model/provider configuration is applied by the service as codex app-server -c launch overrides; it is never written into your ~/.codex/config.toml.

The backend setting controls super-agents-mcp coding sessions. Codex uses the local codex-app-server service. Openbase Cloud and direct Claude Code use Claude Code for Super Agents UI-driver sessions and bypass codex-app-server. In the apps, saving a changed backend first asks for confirmation, then applies the switch in place: the selected engine's app-servers come up (and the other engine's go down), and the dispatcher thread is recreated on the new backend. backend use does the equivalent on the CLI (use --no-restart to only persist the setting). No Openbase service restarts for the switch: django-cli and the voice worker read the backend from ~/.openbase/.env and rebuild their backend clients for the next turn or call, so the switch takes effect within a few seconds; turns still running on the previous backend lose their live output. Only a voice call in progress is ended, by restarting the voice worker, because that call is bound to the previous backend. The switch clears the current dispatcher conversation context; it does not delete Super Agent threads or project files. Separately running Codex or Claude clients may still need to be reopened so their MCP process reloads the backend.

For Claude Code, Openbase uses your own shared ~/.claude home and your own Claude Code login (claude login). Check it with:

openbase-coder claude status
openbase-coder claude login

For Codex, Openbase uses your own ~/.codex/auth.json — just run codex login.

Openbase Cloud does not require a personal Claude or Anthropic login. It runs Claude Code through the Openbase Anthropic proxy, authenticated with an Openbase machine token. The legacy Codex-over-Openbase-Cloud proxy path remains available internally as openbase_cloud_codex for compatibility but is not listed as a normal backend choice.