le-claude

Use Claude Code with France's Albert API — the government-approved LLM service.

One command. Zero config after first run. Complete privacy.

npx le-claude

What is this?

Claude Code is Anthropic's AI coding assistant that runs in your terminal. It normally requires an Anthropic API subscription. le-claude lets you use Claude Code with Albert, the French government's LLM platform operated by DINUM/Etalab, instead.

It works by running a lightweight local translation proxy that converts between the Anthropic API format (which Claude Code speaks) and the OpenAI-compatible API format (which Albert speaks). Everything runs on your machine — no data is sent anywhere except directly to the Albert API.

Prerequisites

1. Node.js 22+ — required to run the proxy
2. Claude Code — install with:

   # macOS / Linux
   curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash
   
   # or via Homebrew
   brew install --cask claude-code

   Verify with claude --version. See full install docs.
3. An Albert API key — see below

Getting an Albert API key

Albert is available to French state public servants (agents de la fonction publique d'État).

1. Request access on the Albert website — you will receive your credentials by email within 24 hours
2. Once you have your credentials, log in to the Albert playground to generate an API key
3. Keep this key safe — you'll need it during setup

If you're unsure about access, contact your organization's IT department or refer to the DINUM documentation.

Quick start

npx le-claude

On first run, you'll be prompted for your API key and asked to choose a model. Configuration is saved to ~/.config/le-claude/config.json for subsequent runs.

$ npx le-claude

  le-claude - Use Claude Code with Albert API

  No configuration found. Let's set things up!

  Albert API Key: ****
  Testing connection... ok

  Available models:
    1. openai/gpt-oss-120b (text-generation)
  Select model [1]: 1

  Configuration saved to ~/.config/le-claude/config.json

  Starting proxy... ok (port 52341)
  Launching Claude Code...

Every subsequent run just works:

npx le-claude

Make it a single command

Add an alias to your shell config so you can just type le-claude:

# Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc:
alias le-claude="npx le-claude"

Then reload your shell (source ~/.zshrc) and from now on:

le-claude

Alternatively, install globally to skip npx entirely:

npm install -g le-claude
le-claude

Options

npx le-claude [options] [-- claude-args...]

Options:
  --setup         Configure le-claude (API key and/or default model)
  --model         Choose which model to use for this session
  --debug         Enable proxy debug logging
  -h, --help      Show help

Examples:

npx le-claude --debug                    # See request/response details
npx le-claude --model                    # Choose a model for this session
npx le-claude --setup                    # Change API key or default model
npx le-claude -- -p "Fix the bug"        # Pass arguments to Claude Code

How it works

Claude Code  ──[Anthropic API]──▶  Local proxy (127.0.0.1)  ──[OpenAI API]──▶  Albert API
             ◀─────────────────  (translates between formats)  ◀──────────────

le-claude starts a translation proxy on a random localhost port, then launches Claude Code pointed at it. The proxy translates:

• Requests: Anthropic Messages format → OpenAI Chat Completions format
• Responses: OpenAI format → Anthropic format (including streaming SSE)
• Tool use: Full bidirectional translation of tool definitions and tool calls

When Claude Code exits, the proxy stops automatically.

Security

• Localhost only — the proxy binds to 127.0.0.1, never exposed to the network
• No data logging — message content and API keys are never logged (even in debug mode, content is truncated)
• Zero dependencies — no npm packages, no supply chain risk. Pure Node.js builtins
• Your API key is stored in ~/.config/le-claude/config.json with 600 permissions (owner-only read)
• Direct connection — your data goes from your machine straight to Albert API. Nothing in between
• SecNumCloud certification — Albert API ensures all data are processed in a secure cloud environment

Important notes

• Claude Code is designed for Claude models. The experience with other models depends on their capability with structured tool calling and complex system prompts
• Some Claude Code features that rely on Claude-specific capabilities may not work with all Albert models
• This is an unofficial community tool, not endorsed by Anthropic or DINUM

License

MIT