Architecture Review: 1Code

1Code claims to be an Open source Cursor-like UI for Claude Code. It positions itself as the “GUI layer” for Anthropic’s powerful but terminal-bound “Claude Code” agent. Let’s look under the hood.

🛠️ The Tech Stack

1Code is a classic modern desktop wrapper built to orchestrate a CLI tool.

• Core Framework: Electron. The app uses electron-vite for the build pipeline, ensuring a cross-platform desktop experience (macOS/Windows/Linux).
• Frontend: React paired with Radix UI for the component library (providing the accessible, clean “Cursor-like” aesthetic). It uses @git-diff-view/react to render file changes, mirroring the VS Code diff experience.
• Data Layer: SQLite (via better-sqlite3 and Drizzle ORM). This is crucial-it stores agent sessions, history, and state locally, allowing you to “rewind” or manage parallel tasks without losing context.
• AI Engine: It is not a standalone AI model. It interfaces directly with Claude Code (Anthropic’s CLI agent) via the @anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk.
• Tooling: Bun is used for local scripts and package management, optimizing the development loop.

💰 Pricing Model

1Code operates on a clear Freemium (Open Core) model:

• Free (Open Source): You can clone the repo (21st-dev/1code), build it, and run it locally on your machine. This uses your own API keys and local compute. It includes the core feature set: parallel agents, local git worktree isolation, and terminal management.
• Paid (Pro - ~$20/mo): This tier unlocks the Hosted Web Version. The value add here is “Remote Sandboxes”-instead of running agents on your local laptop, they run in cloud containers with live browser previews. This allows for coding from any device (even an iPad) without local environment setup.

⚖️ Architect’s Verdict

Verdict: Sophisticated Wrapper

1Code is technically a Wrapper, but it falls into the “Workflow Orchestrator” category rather than a “Thin Wrapper.”

A simple wrapper just forwards API calls. 1Code, however, solves a specific runtime problem: concurrency. Claude Code (the CLI) blocks your terminal while working. 1Code creates a multi-threaded UI that allows you to spin up 3-4 agents simultaneously, each working on a different feature in an isolated git worktree. This transforms the AI from a “chat bot” into a “dev team” manager.

While it relies entirely on Anthropic for intelligence, the engineering effort to manage git isolation, diff rendering, and parallel process orchestration makes it a robust production tool for developers who are already sold on the Claude ecosystem.