Qwen3.6:27b + Custom Go Agent: A Local Alternative to Claude Code

A developer (codehamr) who runs a local LLM integration business describes experimenting with local models as a fallback for Claude Code. They report that Qwen3.6:27b at Q8 on an RTX 6000 with 96GB and 128k context delivers a similar coding experience to Claude Code, and note that a consumer RTX 5090 with 32GB at Q4_M can achieve comparable results.

For the agent layer, they built a minimal, single Go binary named codehamr (MIT open source) — no plugins, no MCP, no themes. The agent handles search, dependencies, and file work through bash on demand. The repo is available at: https://github.com/codehamr/codehamr

Key Details

• Model: Qwen3.6:27b at Q8 quantisation, running on RTX 6000 (96GB) with 128k context — overkill for a 30B model.
• Consumer alternative: RTX 5090 (32GB) at Q4_M should give a similar coding experience with good prompting discipline.
• Agent build: Custom Go binary — minimal, no plugins, no MCP. Uses bash for search, dependencies, file operations.
• License: MIT open source, available for fork or ignore.

The developer emphasizes that every step toward local LLMs reduces dependency on cloud tools. This setup, combined with disciplined prompting, is the first local configuration where they don't miss Claude Code.