Feature: Add ZCode (Z.ai / GLM-5.2) as a first-class supported agent

[JWu527]

Title

Feature: Add ZCode (Z.ai / GLM-5.2) as a first-class supported agent

Body

Is your feature request related to a problem?
Yes. ZCode (Z.ai's AI coding agent running GLM-5.2) cannot be selected as an agent
in Orca. It is absent from the agent registry, so users cannot spawn it from the
Orca UI, and Orca's status bar cannot report "ZCode is working".

Proposed solution
Add ZCode to Orca's supported agent list, alongside Claude Code / Codex / Cursor / Gemini.
Concretely, one or more of:

1. Ship a zcode-hook.sh entry under ~/.orca/agent-hooks/ mirroring the existing
   cursor-hook.sh / kimi-hook.sh templates (they differ only by URL path).
2. Provide an official wrapper recipe bridging ZCode's local-subprocess hooks to
   Orca's HTTP hook endpoint, so lifecycle state (SessionStart / PreToolUse / Stop / …)
   is forwarded into Orca.
3. Engage with Z.ai on zai-org/feedback#32
   as an integration partner, since that bug currently blocks native-agent hook firing.

Why ZCode is a good fit

• ZCode already exposes a lifecycle hooks model
  (docs) that is structurally close to Claude Code's
  (SessionStart / UserPromptSubmit / PreToolUse / PostToolUse / Stop), so the existing
  Claude hook adapter is a reasonable starting point.
• ZCode supports invoking arbitrary CLI sub-agents via its Task tool, and tool events
  match Agent / Task aliases — this aligns naturally with Orca's multi-agent orchestration.
• ZCode has a non-trivial user base in the GLM ecosystem and is available as a free desktop app.

Current blockers (measured on a real machine)

• Orca's on-disk agent registry ~/.orca/agent-hooks/ lists 12 agents and does NOT include zcode:
  antigravity claude codex command-code copilot cursor devin droid gemini grok kimi openclaude.
• ZCode's hooks today only support a local subprocess protocol (type: "process" / "command").
  There is no HTTP / webhook / IPC callback, which is what Orca's hook model expects
  (agent POSTs to http://127.0.0.1:${ORCA_AGENT_HOOK_PORT}/hook/<agent>).
• ZCode has an open P2 bug — zai-org/feedback#32 —
  where the native/built-in agent does not fire configured hooks.events lifecycle events.
  Only "external CLI sub-agents" trigger them.

Environment snapshot

Orca: /Applications/Orca.app, orca CLI at /opt/homebrew/bin/orca
On-disk agent-hooks (12): antigravity claude codex command-code copilot cursor
                          devin droid gemini grok kimi openclaude
ZCode: ~/.zcode/v2 (desktop app); no standalone `zcode` binary on PATH
Platform: darwin 25.5.0 arm64

Workaround users currently have
orca terminal create --worktree active --command "zcode" (or a wrapper) launches ZCode
inside an Orca-managed terminal/worktree, but without status-bar integration or agent-dropdown
support — a "lightweight" path only.

---

[blacktoast]

Thanks for adding ZCode support. Could you also add Z.ai to AI Provider Accounts / the Usage popover?

For the active Z.ai Coding Plan account, please surface the available quota in the same way as existing providers:

• remaining/used amount for each published usage window (for example, 5-hour and weekly)
• the next reset time
• a clear “usage unavailable” state when local data cannot be read

This would let Z.ai users see when they can safely run more GLM/ZCode work without opening the Z.ai dashboard. It would make the ZCode integration complete alongside the current account and usage-tracking UI.

[JWu527]

Thanks — this is a reasonable extension to the overall Z.ai integration.

It is related to this issue, but slightly broader than its original scope, which focuses on registering/launching ZCode and forwarding its lifecycle hooks into Orca. Adding Z.ai to Provider Accounts and the Usage popover would also require account discovery plus a reliable, authorized source for Coding Plan quota data.

I'd support tracking that as a follow-up capability, or as a separate linked issue. If implemented, the UI should enumerate whatever usage windows Z.ai actually exposes rather than hard-coding 5-hour or weekly limits, show reset times when available, and fall back cleanly to "usage unavailable" when the data cannot be read.

[nwparker]

Opened #22464 — first-class ZCode harness, built against the newly open-sourced zai-org/ZCode (agent CLI 0.16.9).

Two things that repo settles for this issue:

The hooks blocker has a root cause, and it's fixable. This issue cites zai-org/feedback#32 — configured hooks.events never firing. In the source, DefaultRuntimeConfig ships hooks.enabled: false, so registering events isn't enough on its own. Orca's installer sets that flag, and reports a partial install if it's ever turned back off. Hooks then fire normally — no HTTP transport needed, since ZCode's type: "command" hooks run a shell command exactly like Claude's.

ZCode's hook payload is already Claude-compatible. Its runner deliberately writes hook_event_name/session_id/tool_name/tool_input/last_assistant_message aliases alongside its own camelCase fields, and its clarification tool is literally AskUserQuestion with Claude's questions/options shape — so Orca's existing question card renders it unchanged.

This also resolves the provenance question raised on #21756: zcode is now first-party, declared as "bin": { "zcode": ... } in Z.ai's own repo.

The PR covers status, questions/approvals, notifications, send-to-agent, orchestration, session resume, SSH/Windows installs, and a captured PTY transcript, with screenshots of each against the real CLI.

Usage tracking (#21757) is a deliberate follow-up, and the open-sourcing helps there too: ZCode records usage locally in ~/.zcode/cli/db/db.sqlite (a model_usage table with per-request token columns), so a local provider is possible without calling the undocumented billing endpoint that thread was rightly wary of.

Credit to #13965 / #10654 (@guanbear, @innocarpe) and #21756 (@sunganhao8-lgtm) — earlier attempts that reached the same config-install and registration conclusions independently.

[nwparker]

Installable builds are up — please try them before we merge

#22464 is ready and CI is green. There are now signed macOS and Windows builds you can install without touching a checkout:

https://github.com/stablyai/orca-adhoc/releases/tag/v1.4.210-adhoc.20260923230858

• macOS Apple Silicon → orca-macos-arm64.dmg
• macOS Intel → orca-macos-x64.dmg
• Windows → orca-windows-setup.exe (unsigned; SmartScreen → More info → Run anyway)

Full test checklist is on the PR: #22464 (comment) — #22464 (comment)

Short version: ZCode should show in the agent picker, auto-install its hooks into ~/.zcode/cli/config.json, report working/blocked/done status, surface questions and approvals as "ZCode - action required", notify on completion, accept sent prompts, and resume sessions.

Once a few of you confirm it works, we'll approve and merge.

Two honest caveats about what I could and couldn't verify:

• I tested on macOS only. Windows, Linux, and SSH remote hosts are covered by contract tests but not by a real machine.
• My test box has no Z.ai model configured, so I drove the status transitions by posting ZCode's own hook payloads rather than running live turns. Nobody has yet watched this work end to end through a real ZCode session with an actual account — if you have a Coding Plan, that's the most valuable thing you can check.

On the original blocker in this issue: the hooks.events problem (zai-org/feedback#32) has a root cause visible in the open-sourced code — DefaultRuntimeConfig ships hooks.enabled: false, so declaring events was never enough. Orca's installer sets that flag, and reports a partial install if it's ever switched off.

Usage tracking (#21757, #18506) is deliberately a follow-up, not part of this PR.

cc @JWu527 @christh @Codemaster64 @jerrdasur @justforyoudear @kevinjkinder @liuhaoxh @megastruktur @verylovestars @blacktoast @AmethystLiang @brennanb2025

[nwparker]

ZCode harness is green — please try it and comment on #22464

Test instructions: #22464 (comment)

Build: https://github.com/stablyai/orca-adhoc/releases/tag/v1.4.210-adhoc.20260923230858
orca-macos-arm64.dmg · orca-macos-x64.dmg · orca-windows-setup.exe (unsigned on Windows — SmartScreen → More info → Run anyway)

CI is now fully green (31/31). Please comment on #22464 with what you find — whether it works or breaks. Include your OS and zcode --version. Once a few people confirm it works on real machines, we approve and merge.

The two gaps I can't close myself:

• A live session with a real Z.ai account. My test box has no model configured, so I proved the status pipeline with ZCode's own hook payloads rather than real turns. Nobody has watched an actual ZCode session drive Orca end to end.
• Windows, Linux, and SSH on real hardware. Covered by contract tests, never run on a real host.