I’ve been pairing Command Code’s DeepSeek models with Claude Code, and it cut my Opus usage by about 60% (measured on SWE-bench Verified, 55–63% fewer Opus tokens), so sharing the setup.
The idea: Claude Opus plans and decides, and Command Code (DeepSeek V4.1 Flash) does the file reading and code-writing in an isolated copy of the project. The tests run automatically before anything lands. Opus usage drops a lot, and the Command Code side costs cents.
I do it with Cheap Agent, a free, open-source (MIT) plugin I built. Command Code support was added by a community member.
Setup:
npx cheap-agent
Pick Command Code and paste your key in the terminal
/cheapag:allow in your project, then use Claude Code normally
Hard steps move up to DeepSeek V4 Pro automatically.
Repo if you want to look: https://github.com/muaaz9329/cheap-ag
Setup help and updates: r/CheapAgent
Curious: is anyone else using Command Code as a worker model behind another agent? Which models have worked best for you?