What is maximal?

If you pay for GitHub Copilot, you already have access to top AI models — Claude, GPT, and more. maximal lets the AI tools you already use run on those models, so you don’t pay for a second AI subscription on top of Copilot.

Here’s the whole idea: you install a small desktop app, sign in with GitHub once, and switch on the tools you want. From then on, they run on your Copilot plan.

Who it’s for

  • You have a GitHub Copilot plan — your own, or one from work or GitHub Enterprise.
  • You use an AI coding tool like Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, or opencode — or you’d like to.
  • You’re on a Mac. (Windows is coming soon.)

You don’t need to be a developer, and you don’t need any other accounts or keys. If you have Copilot, you have everything maximal needs.

Get set up (about five minutes)

  1. Install maximal. Download the maximal app and drag it into your Applications folder, then open it. → Install maximal
  2. Sign in with GitHub. Open maximal, click Sign in with GitHub, and approve the short code it shows you. This is what connects your Copilot plan. → Connect GitHub Copilot
  3. Switch on your tools. In the Apps section, flip the switch next to a tool like Claude Code. maximal sets it up for you. → Connect your tools

Now open your tool and use it the way you always have. It’s running on your Copilot models.

One heads-up: it’s early

maximal is pre-alpha. It works — it’s been used against a real company’s GitHub Enterprise setup — but you’ll hit the occasional rough edge. If something looks off, Troubleshooting has the common fixes.

For developers

Want to wire things up yourself, or connect a tool that isn’t in the Apps list (like Codex, opencode, or your own scripts)? maximal runs a small local server that speaks the Anthropic and OpenAI APIs, so any compatible tool can point at it:

  • Anthropic-compatible: http://localhost:4141
  • OpenAI-compatible: http://localhost:4141/v1

Set your tool’s base URL to that address and use a key from the Endpoint section. For Claude Code, that looks like:

export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=http://localhost:4141
export ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN=<your-maximal-key>

Prefer the terminal? There’s a maximal command-line tool too:

brew install stuffbucket/tap/maximal

Full details are in Connect your tools and How maximal works.