ZCode is giving away 100M GLM-5.3 tokens: how to claim one of 50,000 slots
ZCode is promoting a limited GLM-5.3 token offer for new users: 100 million tokens in total, 50,000 slots, running from August 21 at 09:00 to August 23 at 18:00 Pacific Time on a first-come basis. That averages about 2,000 tokens per slot, not 100 million per person. The public homepage does not show every campaign rule, so eligibility, crediting and stacking limits must be checked after signing in.
The bottom line
If you already wanted to try ZCode, this is worth claiming early. Just do not let the words “100 million tokens” do the thinking for you.
ZCode is running a limited GLM-5.3 token promotion for new users: 100 million tokens in total, 50,000 slots, from 9:00 a.m. on August 21 to 6:00 p.m. on August 23 Pacific Time, first come first served.
The number most likely to mislead readers is the total. This is not 100 million tokens per person. Dividing the pool by the slots gives an average of about 2,000 tokens per slot. The actual allocation, whether every account receives the same amount and whether a first task is required must be checked on the campaign page after login. The public homepage mainly presents ZCode as the “Official Harness for GLM-5.3”; complete promotion rules may appear only after login or in a temporary campaign panel.
This is not a normal ChatGPT trial; it is a coding-agent entry point
ZCode is not just a chat box. Z.ai presents it as an agent workspace for planning, coding, review and deployment, with New Task, Open Workspace, Skills, a terminal and multi-agent collaboration.
The useful test is a real small project: let the agent inspect the repository, break the work into tasks, change files, run tests and hand back a diff for review. A few isolated questions will not show whether it is useful as a coding agent.
Convert the deadline before you miss it
The promotion uses Pacific Time. Because August uses daylight saving time in 2026:
- August 21 at 09:00 Pacific is approximately August 22 at 00:00 in Beijing and 01:00 in Japan;
- August 23 at 18:00 Pacific is approximately August 24 at 09:00 in Beijing and 10:00 in Japan.
Do not wait for the final hour in a first-come-first-served offer. A page that lets you claim a reward does not mean the credit lasts forever; pricing, access or eligibility may change after the campaign.
A practical five-step way to try it
1. Open the official entry and sign in to ZCode
Go to [zcode.z.ai/en](https://zcode.z.ai/en) and click Log in. Use an account you will keep. Do not create batches of accounts to chase slots; promotions commonly apply account, device, region and anti-abuse limits.
2. Find the campaign or usage page
After signing in, check the homepage, account menu, Billing/Usage section or a campaign pop-up. Confirm three things: whether the account is eligible, whether tokens were credited and the expiry date and model scope.
If you only see the download page, do not assume the reward was claimed. Save a screenshot of the campaign message and credit balance so you have something to compare if the balance changes.
3. Install the right ZCode client
The official homepage provides installers for Apple Silicon Mac, Intel Mac and Windows. For a first test, open a low-risk small repository in the desktop client and confirm sign-in, model selection, credit display and terminal permissions.
4. Give it a task with a clear acceptance check
Start with one of these:
- add a small feature to an existing web page, after asking it to inspect the tree first;
- fix a bug with tests and require it to run the tests;
- explain an unfamiliar module and propose the smallest safe change;
- build a tiny utility and report commands, file changes and known risks.
Ask it to state a plan, list changes and run tests every time. That tests whether the agent can finish, not only whether its first code block looks plausible.
5. Check credits and privacy immediately after use
Free does not make data irrelevant. Do not upload API keys, customer records, unreleased source, medical documents or original contracts. Review ZCode's privacy, logging, team-sharing and terminal-permission settings. Before the promotion ends, export important results and changes to a repository you control.
How much is 100 million tokens in practice?
If 50,000 slots were divided evenly, the pool would average about 2,000 tokens per slot. That is enough for a very short trial, not an unlimited coding plan. The promotion could instead use fixed rewards, tiers, sampling or task-based credits, so the total alone cannot tell you the final balance.
That is why the account display matters more than a social screenshot. The useful facts are how many tokens you received, when they expire, which models they cover, whether input and output are counted separately and whether retries consume credits.
Our judgement: claim the experience, not a year of free coding
This is worth covering and worth trying because ZCode puts GLM-5.3 inside a harness that can operate on repositories, terminals and workflows, while the promotion lowers the cost of a first experiment.
But 100 million tokens is the campaign pool and 50,000 is the scarcity hook; neither is a promise that every user receives the same large balance. The public homepage does not currently show every rule, so the post-login campaign page, account balance and official terms are the final authority.
The best use is not farming prompts. Take a real small problem through the full loop: plan, edit, test, inspect the diff and review the failure. Even if the credits disappear quickly, you will know whether ZCode fits your work.
What to watch
- Whether the campaign page states each account's reward and expiry;
- Whether the 50,000 slots are counted by signup, login, first task or region;
- Whether tokens are shared credits or restricted to GLM-5.3, and how input and output are counted;
- Pricing, rate limits, privacy and model availability after the promotion ends.