ZCode 3.17: build a website and deploy it in one click — hands-on

ZCode went from a 7,300-star CLI you build from source to an 8,518-star desktop app that deploys websites in one click. Version 3.17.2, released November 3, 2026, adds the official ZCode Sites plugin — this guide installs it, builds a site, and publishes it.

• Who: ZCode by Z.ai (Zhipu AI) — zai-org/ZCode on GitHub, Apache-2.0.
• What: v3.17.2, released November 3, 2026; the official ZCode Sites plugin adds one-click website deployment, and plugin management gains update-all.
• Momentum: 8,518 stars and 2,652 forks (November 6, 2026), up from 7,300 stars when we first covered it on October 2; the repo has been public since September 20, 2026.
• Models: GLM-5.3 is the default agent model; 3.17.2 adds Kimi K3.1 Pro and MiniMax M3.1 Flash as model options.
• Requirements: macOS 13 Ventura or later, or Windows; building from source needs Git, Node.js 24.14.0, and pnpm 10.33.2; a Z.ai account to sign in.
• System: Electron 44 (Chromium 152); the plugin marketplace arrived in 3.16.2.

A month ago ZCode was a 7,300-star curiosity we built from source. Today it has 8,518 stars, and version 3.17.2, released November 3, 2026, turns the coding agent into a publisher: the official ZCode Sites plugin deploys a website in one click. This guide installs the desktop app, has the agent build a small site, and puts it live.

This is a sequel to our first ZCode guide, which built the agent CLI from source and wrapped its shell calls in a guardrail hook. That setup still works — this one is for people who want the desktop app and the new deploy flow. One thing the release notes don't spell out: ZCode Sites is described as one-click deployment, but Z.ai doesn't publish the hosting details or a custom-domain flow in the public changelog. This guide shows the flow as shipped and says plainly where the docs stop.

What you'll need

• A Mac on macOS 13 Ventura or later, or a Windows PC — 3.17.2 runs on Electron 44 and drops macOS 12.
• The v3.17.2 installer from zcode.z.ai, whose changelog page links desktop downloads for every version.
• A Z.ai account to sign in — the agent runs GLM models through a GLM Coding Plan.
• A project folder, or an empty folder for the demo site.
• About 30 minutes.

Step 1: Install ZCode 3.17.2

Download the installer from zcode.z.ai. The v3.17.2 release ships macOS (arm64 and x64) and Windows (arm64 and x64) builds, and the changelog page links the downloads for every version. Install it like any desktop app and open it — it should report version 3.17.2.

Prefer the source build? The repository's own README is the authority, and its versions haven't moved since October: Git, Node.js 24.14.0, and pnpm 10.33.2, with mise.toml as the source of truth for tool versions.

git clone https://github.com/zai-org/ZCode.git
cd ZCode
pnpm bootstrap
pnpm dev:desktop

pnpm bootstrap installs workspace dependencies and prepares the desktop runtime assets; pnpm dev:desktop starts the Electron app. If you already cloned it for the October guide, pull the latest code and run pnpm bootstrap again — the commands are unchanged.

Step 2: Sign in and pick a model

Sign in with your Z.ai account. GLM-5.3 is the agent's default model — ZCode is Z.ai's official harness for it. Version 3.17.2 adds two more engines to the model configuration: Kimi K3.1 Pro and MiniMax M3.1 Flash. Pick one in the model settings if you want a different model behind the same harness.

The input box lets you switch models, adjust thinking effort, and select team plans directly — that arrived in 3.16.2, and it's the fastest way to compare engines on the same task without leaving the chat.

Step 3: Install the ZCode Sites plugin

Open the plugin marketplace — it arrived in 3.16.2 — and install the official ZCode Sites plugin. It is the piece that adds website deployment to the app.

While you're there, use 3.17.2's other plugin change: plugin management now updates all plugins with one click. Run it first, so nothing stale interferes with the deploy.

Step 4: Have the agent build a site

Open a project folder — or an empty folder for the demo — and start a task with a concrete prompt. Something small and checkable beats something ambitious:

Build a one-page personal site in this folder: a hero with my name and a one-line bio, a three-card projects section, and a contact footer. Plain HTML and CSS, no build step, no external fonts. Then open the preview.

The agent writes the files into the workspace. Check the result in the built-in browser preview — in 3.17.2 preview cards open directly by clicking anywhere on the card — and read the files it created before you trust them. If anything looks off, tell it what to fix in the same task; the session keeps the context.

Prefer a browser tab to the desktop window? The CLI distribution the October guide built runs the same agent as a web UI:

zcode --web --workspace /path/to/project --port 3030 --no-open

Web mode binds 127.0.0.1 by default and opens a browser. For LAN access, --host 0.0.0.0 exposes it and generates an access token — use the token-bearing URL the terminal prints.

Step 5: Deploy it in one click

With the site built and previewed, open the ZCode Sites plugin panel and run its deploy action. One click publishes the project and returns a live URL — that is the whole deployment step, and it's the headline feature of 3.17.2.

Open the URL in a fresh browser and check the hero, the project cards, and the footer render. If the deploy fails, check the obvious first: the project folder holds the finished files, and the plugin is the official ZCode Sites build, not a third-party lookalike.

Step 6: Tidy up with the 3.17.2 housekeeping

The release isn't only the Sites plugin. Three small changes make the app easier to live with:

• Bulk project management: the Settings page now manages projects in bulk, with the option to clean up a project's data when you delete it.
• Quota-paused workflows resume themselves: workflows paused because a quota ran out now resume automatically when the quota resets — long multi-agent jobs no longer stall overnight.
• Unread task filtering: filter the task list to unread tasks, so a busy workspace stays readable.

What you built

A live one-page site, built by the GLM-5.3 agent inside ZCode and published from the Sites plugin — plus a repeatable flow: any folder becomes a deployable site, and the same harness builds the next one. If you run several coding agents side by side, our Magpie guide routes them all through one local gateway so they share models and keys.

Honest limitations

• The hosting is undocumented. The public changelog doesn't say where Sites hosts the site, what the URL pattern is beyond the one it returns, or how custom domains work. Treat the first deploy as a demo, not production hosting, until Z.ai documents it.
• The models aren't open. The harness is Apache-2.0, but the agent needs a Z.ai account and a GLM Coding Plan — the models run on Z.ai's side.
• macOS 12 is out. Version 3.17.2 needs macOS 13 Ventura or later; macOS 12 Monterey and earlier are no longer supported.
• The source build is still exacting. Building from source wants precisely Node.js 24.14.0 and pnpm 10.33.2, and packaging your own desktop bundle needs the platform tooling. The installer is the sane default.

For how ZCode stacks up against the other harnesses before you commit to it, see our comparison of Claude Code, Copilot, and Cursor.