OpenCode has moved to the 2.0 branch — the largest rework in its history.

OpenCode 2.0
https://anoma.ly/notes/opencode-2-0/
A good refactoring. Now a single background service starts automatically, and TUI, web, and desktop all work with one process. The API was rewritten from scratch — the authors themselves say the old one "grew chaotically and was bad."

The main new feature is Code Mode, where the agent calls tools not one at a time but as a script, so several calls go in a single exchange with the model, and thousands of MCP servers barely inflate the context. Background subagents and background commands were added, and almost every 2.0 feature was made an internal plugin (80+).

Free models in Zen
https://opencode.ai/docs/zen/
In Zen, developers help test agents, so there are often more than a dozen free models, from stealths and Big Pickle, Space Bunny to MiMo, Ling, Nemotron, Muse Spark, GLM. No account, no key, no card: just /models and go. For a quick test or comparing several models on real tasks, this is the most convenient free playground in the industry.

But in August the gateway started rejecting requests without proprietary headers (429 FreeUsageLimitError), in September a requirement for a full set of tools was added (403), and in October now you also need a properly signed opencode session, or you'll get OpenCode's free tier can only be used from within OpenCode. The catalog is great, but using it from Pi, DSH, Claude Code, or any other harness is getting harder and harder.

Discussion
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50094994
The most notable thing is the more flexible architecture; the client-server model is now finally used to the fullest: the agent on one machine, control from another. The main dispute is autonomy versus security. Some believe the agent should create plugins itself and change the environment, otherwise automation becomes an eternal confirmation of actions. Others respond: if the agent changes its own tools and the changes immediately take effect, it expands its capabilities without a separate permission, and a mistake, prompt injection, or malicious plugin could leak secrets or damage the system. They advise isolation in a container or VM, keeping keys outside, and reviewing important changes separately. A separate complaint: 2.0 allegedly pulls remote configuration from the model provider, which poses a risk of executing untrusted code — but this is a claim from the discussion, not an independently confirmed audit.

Overall, OpenCode never had flexible security configuration before, and it continues to be that way.

#opencode #mcp