Zen now allows you to define `roles` for an external CLI and delegate work to another CLI via the new `clink` tool (short for `CLI + Link`). Gemini, for instance, offers 1000 free requests a day - this means you can save on tokens and your weekly limits within Claude Code by delegating work to another entirely capable CLI agent!
Define your own system prompts as `roles` and make another CLI do anything you'd like. Like the current tool you're connected to, the other CLI has complete access to your files and the current context. This also works incredibly well with Zen's `conversation continuity`.
feat: Azure OpenAI / Azure AI Foundry support. Models should be defined in conf/azure_models.json (or a custom path). See .env.example for environment variables or see readme. https://github.com/BeehiveInnovations/zen-mcp-server/issues/265
feat: OpenRouter / Custom Models / Azure can separately also use custom config paths now (see .env.example )
refactor: Model registry class made abstract, OpenRouter / Custom Provider / Azure OpenAI now subclass these
refactor: breaking change: `is_custom` property has been removed from model_capabilities.py (and thus custom_models.json) given each models are now read from separate configuration files
fix: model definition re-introduced into the schema but intelligently and only a summary is generated per tool. Required to ensure CLI calls and uses the correct model
fix: removed `model` param from some tools where this wasn't needed
fix: fixed adherence to `*_ALLOWED_MODELS` by advertising only the allowed models to the CLI
fix: removed duplicates across providers when passing canonical names back to the CLI; the first enabled provider wins
Disabled secondary tools by default (for new installations), updated README.md with instructions on how to enable these in .env
run-server.sh now displays disabled / enabled tools (when DISABLED_TOOLS is set)
fix: Minor tweaks to prompts
fix: Improved support for smaller models that struggle with strict structured JSON output
Rearranged reasons to use the MCP above quick start (collapsed)
README improvements:
- Reduce README from 725 to 169 lines (77% reduction)
- Focus on quick start and essential information
- Link to detailed docs instead of duplicating content
- Improve scannability with clear sections and emojis
- Add concise tool categorization and workflows
Documentation structure:
- Create comprehensive getting-started.md guide
- Move detailed setup instructions from README
- Include troubleshooting, configuration templates
- Add step-by-step installation for all methods
Benefits:
- Faster onboarding for new users
- Progressive disclosure of information
- Better GitHub discovery experience
- Maintainable documentation structure
- Clear separation of concerns
The README now serves as an effective landing page while the
detailed documentation provides comprehensive guidance.
## Description
This PR implements a new [DIAL](https://dialx.ai/dial_api) (Data & AI Layer) provider for the Zen MCP Server, enabling unified access to multiple AI models through the DIAL API platform. DIAL provides enterprise-grade AI model access with deployment-specific routing similar to Azure OpenAI.
## Changes Made
- [x] Added support of atexit:
- Ensures automatic cleanup of provider resources (HTTP clients, connection pools) on server shutdown
- Fixed bug using ModelProviderRegistry.get_available_providers() instead of accessing private _providers
- Works with SIGTERM/Ctrl+C for graceful shutdown in both development and containerized environments
- [x] Added new DIAL provider (`providers/dial.py`) inheriting from `OpenAICompatibleProvider`
- [x] Updated server.py to register DIAL provider during initialization
- [x] Updated provider registry to include DIAL provider type
- [x] Implemented deployment-specific routing for DIAL's Azure OpenAI-style endpoints
- [x] Implemented performance optimizations:
- Connection pooling with httpx for better performance
- Thread-safe client caching with double-check locking pattern
- Proper resource cleanup with `close()` method
- [x] Added comprehensive unit tests with 16 test cases (`tests/test_dial_provider.py`)
- [x] Added DIAL configuration to `.env.example` with documentation
- [x] Added support for configurable API version via `DIAL_API_VERSION` environment variable
- [x] Added DIAL model restrictions support via `DIAL_ALLOWED_MODELS` environment variable
### Supported DIAL Models:
- OpenAI models: o3, o4-mini (and their dated versions)
- Google models: gemini-2.5-pro, gemini-2.5-flash (including search variant)
- Anthropic models: Claude 4 Opus/Sonnet (with and without thinking mode)
### Environment Variables:
- `DIAL_API_KEY`: Required API key for DIAL authentication
- `DIAL_API_HOST`: Optional base URL (defaults to https://core.dialx.ai)
- `DIAL_API_VERSION`: Optional API version header (defaults to 2025-01-01-preview)
- `DIAL_ALLOWED_MODELS`: Optional comma-separated list of allowed models
### Breaking Changes:
- None
### Dependencies:
- No new dependencies added (uses existing OpenAI SDK with custom routing)
* WIP: new workflow architecture
* WIP: further improvements and cleanup
* WIP: cleanup and docks, replace old tool with new
* WIP: cleanup and docks, replace old tool with new
* WIP: new planner implementation using workflow
* WIP: precommit tool working as a workflow instead of a basic tool
Support for passing False to use_assistant_model to skip external models completely and use Claude only
* WIP: precommit workflow version swapped with old
* WIP: codereview
* WIP: replaced codereview
* WIP: replaced codereview
* WIP: replaced refactor
* WIP: workflow for thinkdeep
* WIP: ensure files get embedded correctly
* WIP: thinkdeep replaced with workflow version
* WIP: improved messaging when an external model's response is received
* WIP: analyze tool swapped
* WIP: updated tests
* Extract only the content when building history
* Use "relevant_files" for workflow tools only
* WIP: updated tests
* Extract only the content when building history
* Use "relevant_files" for workflow tools only
* WIP: fixed get_completion_next_steps_message missing param
* Fixed tests
Request for files consistently
* Fixed tests
Request for files consistently
* Fixed tests
* New testgen workflow tool
Updated docs
* Swap testgen workflow
* Fix CI test failures by excluding API-dependent tests
- Update GitHub Actions workflow to exclude simulation tests that require API keys
- Fix collaboration tests to properly mock workflow tool expert analysis calls
- Update test assertions to handle new workflow tool response format
- Ensure unit tests run without external API dependencies in CI
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code)
Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
* WIP - Update tests to match new tools
* WIP - Update tests to match new tools
* WIP - Update tests to match new tools
* Should help with https://github.com/BeehiveInnovations/zen-mcp-server/issues/97
Clear python cache when running script: https://github.com/BeehiveInnovations/zen-mcp-server/issues/96
Improved retry error logging
Cleanup
* WIP - chat tool using new architecture and improved code sharing
* Removed todo
* Removed todo
* Cleanup old name
* Tweak wordings
* Tweak wordings
Migrate old tests
* Support for Flash 2.0 and Flash Lite 2.0
* Support for Flash 2.0 and Flash Lite 2.0
* Support for Flash 2.0 and Flash Lite 2.0
Fixed test
* Improved consensus to use the workflow base class
* Improved consensus to use the workflow base class
* Allow images
* Allow images
* Replaced old consensus tool
* Cleanup tests
* Tests for prompt size
* New tool: docgen
Tests for prompt size
Fixes: https://github.com/BeehiveInnovations/zen-mcp-server/issues/107
Use available token size limits: https://github.com/BeehiveInnovations/zen-mcp-server/issues/105
* Improved docgen prompt
Exclude TestGen from pytest inclusion
* Updated errors
* Lint
* DocGen instructed not to fix bugs, surface them and stick to d
* WIP
* Stop claude from being lazy and only documenting a small handful
* More style rules
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
