| name | test-claude-locally |
| description | Run the Weave router locally in docker compose and drive it with `claude -p` to reproduce and verify routing/translation behavior for a specific upstream model (e.g. GLM-5.1, DeepSeek, Qwen). Use when verifying a router fix end-to-end, reproducing a prod routing bug, confirming a model's streaming behavior (nudges, tool-call suppression, loop/no-progress breaks), or testing a `/force-model` route — without touching the user's global Claude Code config. |
Testing the router locally
For an automated pre-merge regression net (fixture-driven, asserts caching/streaming/decision-headers against real Anthropic), run make smoke — see docs/SMOKE.md. This skill is the interactive counterpart: stand the stack up by hand and drive it with claude -p to reproduce or verify a one-off bug.
Stand up the router in docker compose, point a one-off claude -p session at it via --settings, and read the local server logs to confirm behavior. Two upstream modes: the real provider API (needs a working key + credits) or a mock upstream that emits an exact SSE shape (deterministic, no credits).
Critical gotchas (read first)
~/.claude/settings.json env overrides inherited env vars. Setting ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL in the shell does NOT redirect claude — settings.json wins and the request silently goes to prod. Always redirect with claude --settings <file> (see scripts/local-settings.json). Never edit the user's global ~/.claude.json or ~/.claude/settings.json — that breaks their live session.
claude -p is stateless across invocations. A standalone /force-model call does not persist to the next claude -p. Put /force-model <model> as the first line of the SAME prompt that contains the task.
- The router ignores the request's
model field and routes via the cluster scorer. The ONLY way to pin a specific model is /force-model through a Claude Code session (raw curl cannot).
- Port 8085 conflict. The monorepo's pubsub emulator may already own host port 8085. Drop the router's host binding with a
docker-compose.override.yml (see workflow). The server still reaches the emulator over the compose network.
- No credits / no key = no reproduction. If the real upstream returns an error (e.g. OpenRouter "Insufficient credits"), use the mock-upstream path instead.
Workflow
- [ ] 1. Bring up the stack (handle port 8085)
- [ ] 2. Seed an API key
- [ ] 3. Choose upstream: real provider OR mock
- [ ] 4. Write a one-off local-settings.json
- [ ] 5. Drive with `claude -p --settings`, forcing the target model
- [ ] 6. Read local logs to verify behavior
- [ ] 7. Clean up
1. Bring up the stack
cd <router-repo>
cat > docker-compose.override.yml <<'EOF'
services:
pubsub-emulator:
ports: !reset []
EOF
docker compose up -d --build server
until curl -sf http://localhost:8080/health >/dev/null; do sleep 2; done
The override file is gitignored-by-intent scaffolding — delete it in cleanup.
2. Seed an API key
docker compose run --rm seed
Copy the rk_... key it prints.
3. Choose the upstream
Real provider — set the provider key in .env.local (e.g. FIREWORKS_API_KEY=...) and restart docker compose up -d server. Confirm the boot log shows <Provider> provider enabled with the real base_url. Use this to confirm a model genuinely produces the behavior.
Mock upstream — for a deterministic, credit-free repro of a precise SSE shape. Point the provider's base URL at a local mock and restart:
python3 scripts/mock_openai_upstream.py >/tmp/mock.log 2>&1 &
docker compose up -d server
Edit the mock's emitted chunks to match the upstream shape you're reproducing. Provider→env-var names live in internal/providers/provider.go; base-URL overrides are read in cmd/router/main.go (<PROVIDER>_BASE_URL).
4. One-off local settings
cat > /tmp/local-settings.json <<EOF
{ "env": {
"ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL": "http://localhost:8080",
"ANTHROPIC_CUSTOM_HEADERS": "X-Weave-Router-Key: rk_REPLACE_ME"
}}
EOF
5. Drive it
cd <scratch-dir-with-files-to-act-on>
env -u CLAUDE_CODE_SESSION_ID -u ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL -u ANTHROPIC_CUSTOM_HEADERS \
claude -p 'First send exactly: /force-model z-ai/glm-5.1
Then <task that requires tool use>, then stop.' \
--settings /tmp/local-settings.json --max-turns 10 --verbose
6. Verify via logs
The decision + completion log per action (one ProxyMessages complete) carries the signals you need. Strip ANSI first:
docker compose logs server --since=3m 2>&1 | sed -E 's/\x1b\[[0-9;]*m//g' \
| grep 'ProxyMessages complete' | grep 'decision_model=z-ai/glm-5.1'
Useful fields: decision_model, decision_provider, upstream_finish_reason, suppressed_tool_calls, text_only_turn_nudged, tool_use_blocks, resp_stop_reason, stop_reason_demoted. Also grep for recovery nudge, tool-call loop, no-progress.
Confirm the model was actually served before drawing conclusions:
docker compose logs server --since=3m 2>&1 | sed -E 's/\x1b\[[0-9;]*m//g' \
| grep 'ProxyMessages complete' | grep -oE 'decision_model=[^ ]+' | sort | uniq -c
If you only see other models, /force-model didn't take — recheck step 5.
7. Clean up
pkill -f mock_openai_upstream.py 2>/dev/null
rm -f docker-compose.override.yml /tmp/local-settings.json
Testing the balance gate / subscription usage-bypass (managed billing)
For fixes to internal/billing + internal/server/middleware/balance_check.go + the usage-bypass path (internal/proxy/usage_bypass.go), the setup differs from the model-behavior workflow above:
- The balance gate only attaches in managed mode with billing enabled. Set
ROUTER_DEPLOYMENT_MODE=managed on the server service. Billing auto-enables when the router schema's billing tables exist (they do after migrate), logged as Router billing enabled. In default selfhosted mode WithBalanceCheck is never wired and none of this triggers.
- The Anthropic provider has no
ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL override (unlike Fireworks/Together/etc.) — cmd/router/main.go hardcodes anthropic.DefaultBaseURL. To point Anthropic at a mock, temporarily edit that line to config.GetOr("ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL", anthropic.DefaultBaseURL), rebuild, and revert it after testing (don't ship it in the fix PR). The boot log line still prints DefaultBaseURL cosmetically — verify the mock is actually hit via the mock's own logs, not the boot log.
- Requests must be MainLoop-shaped to reach the usage-bypass decision. Short prompts (small
max_tokens, no tools) classify as Probe/Classifier/TitleGen — all hard-pinned, short-circuiting before the usage-bypass and scorer branches. A trivial "say hi" will wrongly hit the refusal path. Use a realistic turn: tools present + max_tokens>=4096 + a normal user message. Confirm turn_type=main_loop in the turnloop classified log before trusting the result.
- Drive with raw
curl on the production router-key path — no claude binary needed, and it lets you pin the requested model (the usage-bypass path serves the requested model verbatim, so no /force-model needed here):
curl -sS -N -D /tmp/h.txt -X POST http://localhost:8080/v1/messages \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $RK" \
-H "X-Weave-Anthropic-Subscription: sk-ant-oat01-anything" \
-H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"model":"claude-sonnet-4-5","max_tokens":4096,"stream":true,"tools":[{"name":"Bash","input_schema":{"type":"object"}}],"messages":[{"role":"user","content":"<realistic multi-sentence task>"}]}'
A fake token is enough for router-side classification; the mock doesn't validate it.
Notes
- Local cluster version comes from
ROUTER_CLUSTER_VERSION in .env.local; it may differ from prod, which is why /force-model (not the scorer) is the reliable way to hit one model.
- GLM-5.1's primary binding is Together (then Fireworks, then OpenRouter) — see
internal/router/catalog/catalog.go.
- To confirm a deploy contains a given router commit: the prod Cloud Run revision name maps to a monorepo commit;
git ls-tree <monorepo-commit> router-internal/router shows the pinned router submodule SHA.