What is qwen-code?

Qwen Code is an AI assistant that runs in your terminal and helps you work with code faster. Instead of switching between your editor and a web browser to ask ChatGPT questions, you can stay in the command line and ask the AI to understand your codebase, write tests, refactor functions, or explain how things work, all without leaving your terminal. The tool works by connecting to an AI model (by default, Alibaba's Qwen models, but it also supports OpenAI, Anthropic, and other providers). You type a question or command, and the AI reads your project files, understands the code structure, and gives you answers or makes changes. It can run in different modes: as an interactive chat in your terminal, as a one-off command for scripts, or integrated directly into VS Code, Zed, or JetBrains IDEs if you prefer not to leave your editor. Most developers would use this if they spend a lot of time in the terminal or command line. A solo founder might use it to quickly understand a large codebase they just inherited. A team could use it to automate code reviews or generate unit tests. You need an API key from one of the supported providers (Alibaba Cloud, OpenAI, Google, etc.) to use it, though you can also run open-source models locally with Ollama or vLLM if you don't want to rely on cloud services. What makes this project stand out is that it's open-source (you can see and modify the code) and designed specifically for developers who live in the terminal. The authentication setup is flexible, you configure it once in a settings file and can switch between different AI models on the fly. The README mentions that free OAuth access was discontinued in April 2026, so now you need a paid API key or subscription, but that trade-off gives you more reliable access and higher usage limits.