GLM 5.2: why I’m replacing Opus in Claude Code with this new model
How I AI
1 DAYS AGO
GLM 5.2: why I’m replacing Opus in Claude Code with this new model
GLM 5.2: why I’m replacing Opus in Claude Code with this new model

How I AI
1 DAYS AGO
This podcast episode features a hands-on evaluation of GLM 5.2, an open-weight coding model from Z.AI, tested across four real-world software development tasks. The host, Claire Vo, assesses the model's performance, cost, and practicality by integrating it into her workflow and running it against her actual codebase.
Claire Vo tests GLM 5.2 by performing a codebase architecture audit, a UI redesign, a 45-minute autonomous bug-hunting session, and generating an architecture page. The model, accessed via OpenRouter and integrated into Cursor and Claude Code, costs $3.36 for 6 million tokens. It excels at HTML/CSS generation, tool queries, and autonomous bug prioritization, producing a prioritized fix plan from Sentry and Vercel logs. However, it struggles with TypeScript and React, requiring initial error corrections. Despite this, the model's output for the UI redesign matched the existing design system on the first try, and the autonomous task successfully compiled and began fixing bugs. Claire plans to ship the fixes and continue using GLM 5.2 for front-end and long-running backend tasks, considering local deployment in the future.
00:00
00:00
Testing GLM 5.2 for Opus-level reasoning at lower cost.
01:39
01:39
Opus-level intelligence at a fraction of the price
04:02
04:02
Rivals Claude Opus 4.8 and GPT 5.5 on coding tasks.
06:04
06:04
Claude Code has better documentation for this process
08:41
08:41
Configure Claude Code and Cursor to use GLM 5.2 via OpenRouter
11:04
11:04
GLM 5.2 is fast and accurate
12:44
12:44
Impressed with the open-weight model's performance.
19:34
19:34
Fast, cost-effective, and capable of good design output.
20:58
20:58
Model autonomously built a prioritized bug-fix plan
22:36
22:36
Excels at HTML/CSS and tool queries
23:50
23:50
It excels at autonomous bug-hunting and prioritization.
25:23
25:23
GLM 5.2 cost $3.36 for 6 million tokens.