I am using Claude code, my experience with it so far is great. I use it primarily from terminal, this way I stay focused while reading code and CC doing its job in the background.

I’ve heard this repeated that using the env vars you can use gpt models, for example.

But then also that running a proxy tool locally is needed.

I haven’t tried this setup, and can’t say offhand if Cerebras’ hosted qwen described here is “OpenAI” compatible.

I also don’t know if all of the tools CC uses out of the box are supported in the most compatible non-Anthropic models.

Can anyone provide clarity / additional testimony on swapping out the engine on Claude Code?

I've used Kimi K2, it works well. Personally I'm using Claude Code Router.

https://github.com/musistudio/claude-code-router