diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f3ceb44b..b1632122 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -88,6 +88,14 @@ export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://dashscope-intl.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1"
 export OPENAI_MODEL="qwen3-coder-plus"
 ```
 
+OpenRouter also provides free Qwen3-Coder model access:
+
+```bash
+export OPENAI_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"
+export OPENAI_BASE_URL=https://openrouter.ai/api/v1
+export OPENAI_MODEL="qwen/qwen3-coder:free"
+```
+
 ## Usage Examples
 
 ### Explore Codebases
diff --git a/packages/core/src/core/openaiContentGenerator.ts b/packages/core/src/core/openaiContentGenerator.ts
index 84e49a32..2df0c241 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/core/openaiContentGenerator.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/core/openaiContentGenerator.ts
@@ -118,11 +118,21 @@ export class OpenAIContentGenerator implements ContentGenerator {
       timeoutConfig.maxRetries = contentGeneratorConfig.maxRetries;
     }
 
+    // Check if using OpenRouter and add required headers
+    const isOpenRouter = baseURL.includes('openrouter.ai');
+    const defaultHeaders = isOpenRouter
+      ? {
+          'HTTP-Referer': 'https://github.com/QwenLM/qwen-code.git',
+          'X-Title': 'Qwen Code',
+        }
+      : undefined;
+
     this.client = new OpenAI({
       apiKey,
       baseURL,
       timeout: timeoutConfig.timeout,
       maxRetries: timeoutConfig.maxRetries,
+      defaultHeaders,
     });
   }