Claude Code, Codex and Gemini CLI not connecting from China? Here is the fix

In short: these tools talk directly to the Anthropic, OpenAI and Google APIs, which either time out or reject the region from inside China. The fix is a stable overseas route for your terminal plus correct proxy variables. Stellar ships routing rules for exactly these domains, so after installing it usually needs no extra setup.

What the errors mean

| Error | Cause | | --- | --- | | fetch failed / ETIMEDOUT / ECONNRESET | The API domain is unreachable directly | | Request not allowed / unsupported_country | Your exit IP is in an unsupported region | | Login page never loads, OAuth callback hangs | Browser and terminal are on different routes | | Frequent 429 | A crowded shared exit IP; switch line |

Option 1: install the Stellar client (recommended)

  1. Install the macOS, Windows or Linux client from the downloads page and log in.
  2. Connect and stay in smart mode. The Anthropic, OpenAI and Google API domains are already in the built-in rules, so terminal and browser share the overseas route.
  3. Run claude, codex or gemini again. If you previously exported HTTPS_PROXY pointing at another tool, unset it first.

For headless Linux boxes use the command-line Stellar Helper; see install CLI.

Option 2: proxy only the terminal

To keep the browser direct and proxy just the shell, Stellar exposes a local HTTP proxy on port 8668 by default:

export HTTPS_PROXY=http://127.0.0.1:8668
export HTTP_PROXY=http://127.0.0.1:8668
export NO_PROXY=localhost,127.0.0.1,.cn

Confirm the port in the client settings or with stellar-helper ctl state. Put the lines in ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc and open a new terminal.

Tool-specific notes

  • Claude Code: the first claude run opens a browser for OAuth; browser and terminal must be on the same route. The token is stored locally afterwards, so only API reachability matters.
  • Codex CLI: same OpenAI API domains; make sure OPENAI_BASE_URL is not pointing at a dead relay.
  • Gemini CLI: Google checks region more strictly; on location not supported switch to a US or Japan line.

Still failing

  1. Switch to another line and retry.
  2. Temporarily use global mode to rule out a missing rule.
  3. curl -I https://api.anthropic.com — if headers come back, the network is fine and the problem is tool config.
  4. See troubleshooting or contact support with the exact error text.

With Stellar installed, Claude Code, Codex and Gemini work from China the way they do abroad. Download Stellar.