cli-claude-code

name	cli-claude-code
description	Claude Code CLI executor for Anthropic-backed reasoning, edits, reviews, and structured cross-AI handoff.
allowed-tools	["Bash","Read","Glob","Grep"]
version	1.1.13.0

Claude Code CLI Orchestrator - Cross-AI Task Delegation

CRITICAL — SELF-INVOCATION PROHIBITED

This skill dispatches to the Anthropic CLI binary (claude). If the agent currently reading this skill is itself running inside Claude Code (detection signals listed in §2), the skill MUST refuse to load and return the documented error message instead of generating any claude invocation.

A running CLI skill never dispatches itself. The cli-X skills are for cross-AI delegation only — never self-invocation.

Orchestrate Anthropic's Claude Code CLI from external AI assistants (Codex CLI, Copilot, etc.) for tasks that benefit from deep extended thinking, surgical code editing, structured output with JSON schema validation, agent delegation, or persistent memory context.

Core Principle: The calling AI stays the conductor. Delegate to Claude Code for what it does best — deep reasoning, precise code editing, and structured analysis. Validate and integrate the output.

---

1. WHEN TO USE

Activation Triggers

• Deep Reasoning — extended-thinking architectural decisions, multi-dimensional trade-off analysis, step-by-step algorithm design, root-cause analysis of subtle bugs.
• Code Editing — surgical diff-based edits, pattern-preserving refactors, multi-file coordinated changes, deep-context modifications.
• Structured Output — --json-schema-validated output, machine-readable analysis, guaranteed-structure data extraction, pipeline integration.
• Code Review — second-AI security audits, extended-thinking architecture review, cross-AI validation, pre-merge quality gates.
• Agent-Delegated Tasks — specialized .claude/agents/*.md matches, --permission-mode plan read-only exploration, @ai-council planning, session continuity (--continue, --resume).
• Background Processing — long-running offloaded analysis, parallel generation/docs, batch processing with --max-budget-usd cost control.

When NOT to Use

• You ARE Claude Code already. If your runtime is Claude Code (detection signal: $CLAUDECODE env var set, claude in process ancestry, or ~/.claude/state/<id>/lock present), this skill refuses to load. Self-invocation creates a circular dispatch loop and burns tokens for no value. The cli-X family is exclusively for cross-AI delegation.
• Simple, quick tasks where CLI overhead is not worth it.
• Tasks requiring interactive terminal UI (use claude directly instead).
• Context already loaded and understood by the calling AI.
• Tasks where Claude Code CLI is not installed.
• Real-time web search (Claude Code has no --search flag — use Codex).

---

2. SMART ROUTING

Prerequisite Detection

# Verify Claude Code CLI is available before routing
command -v claude || echo "Not installed. Run: npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code"

# SELF-INVOCATION GUARD: If you ARE Claude Code, do not use this skill — use native capabilities
[ -n "$CLAUDECODE" ] && echo "ERROR: Already inside Claude Code session. Do not self-invoke."

Self-Invocation Guard

def detect_self_invocation():
    """Returns a non-None signal when the orchestrator is already running inside Claude Code."""
    # Layer 1: env var lookup — Claude Code sets CLAUDECODE on session start
    if os.environ.get('CLAUDECODE'):
        return ('env', 'CLAUDECODE')
    # Layer 2: process ancestry — claude in parent tree
    try:
        ancestry = subprocess.check_output(['ps', '-o', 'command=', '-p', str(os.getppid())]).decode()
        if '/claude' in ancestry or 'claude ' in ancestry:
            return ('ancestry', 'claude')
    except subprocess.SubprocessError:
        pass
    # Layer 3: state lock-file probe
    state_dir = os.path.expanduser('~/.claude/state')
    if os.path.isdir(state_dir):
        for entry in os.listdir(state_dir):
            if os.path.exists(os.path.join(state_dir, entry, 'lock')):
                return ('lockfile', entry)
    return None

if detect_self_invocation():
    refuse(
        "Self-invocation refused: this agent is already running inside Claude Code. "
        "Use a sibling cli-* skill or a fresh shell session in a different runtime to dispatch a different model."
    )

Resource Loading Levels

Level	When to Load	Resources
ALWAYS	Every skill invocation	references/cli_reference.md, assets/prompt_quality_card.md
CONDITIONAL	If intent signals match	Intent-mapped reference docs
ON_DEMAND	Only on explicit request	Extended templates and patterns

Smart Router

Provider-specific dictionaries (used by the shared helper functions in system-spec-kit/references/cli/shared_smart_router.md):

INTENT_SIGNALS = {
    "DEEP_REASONING":    {"weight": 4, "keywords": ["reason", "think", "analyze", "trade-off", "architecture", "extended thinking", "chain-of-thought"]},
    "CODE_EDITING":      {"weight": 4, "keywords": ["edit", "refactor", "modify", "fix", "change code", "surgical edit", "diff-based"]},
    "STRUCTURED_OUTPUT": {"weight": 4, "keywords": ["json", "schema", "structured", "extract", "parse", "validate output", "--json-schema"]},
    "REVIEW":            {"weight": 4, "keywords": ["review", "audit", "security", "quality", "second opinion", "cross-validate"]},
    "AGENT_DELEGATION":  {"weight": 4, "keywords": ["delegate", "agent", "background", "parallel", "offload", "claude agent"]},
    "TEMPLATES":         {"weight": 3, "keywords": ["template", "prompt", "how to ask", "claude prompt"]},
    "PATTERNS":          {"weight": 3, "keywords": ["pattern", "workflow", "orchestrate", "session", "continue", "resume"]},
}

RESOURCE_MAP = {
    "DEEP_REASONING":    ["references/cli_reference.md", "references/claude_tools.md"],
    "CODE_EDITING":      ["references/cli_reference.md", "assets/prompt_templates.md"],
    "STRUCTURED_OUTPUT": ["references/cli_reference.md", "references/claude_tools.md"],
    "REVIEW":            ["references/integration_patterns.md", "references/agent_delegation.md"],
    "AGENT_DELEGATION":  ["references/agent_delegation.md", "references/integration_patterns.md"],
    "TEMPLATES":         ["assets/prompt_templates.md", "references/cli_reference.md"],
    "PATTERNS":          ["references/integration_patterns.md", "references/cli_reference.md"],
}

LOADING_LEVELS = {
    "ALWAYS": ["references/cli_reference.md", "assets/prompt_quality_card.md"],
    "ON_DEMAND_KEYWORDS": ["full reference", "all templates", "deep dive", "complete guide", "extended thinking", "json schema", "claude agent", "claude prompt", "diff-based edit"],
    "ON_DEMAND": ["references/claude_tools.md", "assets/prompt_templates.md"],
}

UNKNOWN_FALLBACK_CHECKLIST = [
    "Is the user asking about Claude Code CLI specifically?",
    "Does the task benefit from deep reasoning or extended thinking?",
    "Is structured JSON output needed (--json-schema)?",
    "Would surgical code editing or agent delegation help?",
]

Call sequence (using shared helpers from shared_smart_router.md):

1. discover_markdown_resources() — recursively enumerate current .md files under existing references/ and assets/ folders at routing time.
2. _guard_in_skill() + load_if_available() — sandbox paths to this skill, reject non-markdown loads, skip missing files, and suppress duplicates.
3. score_intents(task) and select_intents(scores, ambiguity_delta=1.0) — preserve provider-specific weighted intent scoring and top-2 ambiguity handling.
4. get_routing_key(task, intents) — derive the provider routing key from task/provider context, then fall back to claude_code.
5. ALWAYS-load LOADING_LEVELS["ALWAYS"], then return UNKNOWN_FALLBACK with UNKNOWN_FALLBACK_CHECKLIST when max score is 0.
6. CONDITIONAL-load RESOURCE_MAP[intent], ON_DEMAND-load keyword matches, and return a notice when no provider-specific knowledge base is available beyond always-load resources.

The route_claude_code_resources(task) function body lives in shared_smart_router.md — substitute <PROVIDER> = claude_code.

---

3. HOW IT WORKS

Prerequisites

# Verify installation
command -v claude || echo "Not installed. Run: npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code"

# Self-invocation guard
[ -n "$CLAUDECODE" ] && echo "ERROR: Already inside a Claude Code session — do not self-invoke"

# Authentication — API key OR setup-token (CI/CD)
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your-key-here
claude setup-token

Authentication options: ANTHROPIC_API_KEY env var (direct API), claude auth login (interactive OAuth), or claude setup-token (non-interactive CI/CD).

Provider Auth Pre-Flight (Smart Fallback)

MANDATORY before any first dispatch in a session. The default Anthropic auth (API key OR OAuth OR setup-token) may not be configured on this machine — silently failing with 401 Unauthorized mid-dispatch wastes a round-trip. Run this check once per session, cache the result, and re-run it only if a dispatch fails with an auth error.

# One-shot pre-flight: capture auth status for routing
[ -n "$ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" ] && ANTHROPIC_KEY_OK=1 || ANTHROPIC_KEY_OK=0
CLAUDE_AUTH=$(claude config list 2>&1)
echo "$CLAUDE_AUTH" | grep -qi "oauth\|setup-token" && CLAUDE_OAUTH_OK=1 || CLAUDE_OAUTH_OK=0

Decision tree (apply in order — first match wins):

State	ANTHROPIC_KEY_OK	CLAUDE_OAUTH_OK	Action
Default available	1	*	Proceed with claude -p "<prompt>" --model claude-sonnet-4-6 --output-format text
API key missing, OAuth ready	0	1	ASK user before substituting — never auto-fall-back silently. Surface options A/B/C below.
Both missing	0	0	ASK user to configure auth — surface the login commands, do NOT dispatch.

User prompt template — API key missing, OAuth configured:

`$ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` is not set, but `claude auth login` OAuth is configured.
Pick one:
  A) Use the existing OAuth session (works for interactive `claude` calls; non-interactive `-p` may need an env var)
  B) Run `export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...` first, then retry the original dispatch
  C) Name a different model — paste the `--model <id>` you want to use

User prompt template — both missing:

No Anthropic auth is configured on this machine. Run one:
  - `export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...`  (recommended for direct API calls)
  - `claude auth login`                     (interactive OAuth flow)
  - `claude setup-token`                    (non-interactive CI/CD)
Which would you like to set up? Confirm when login finishes; the skill will retry the original dispatch.

Error-recovery contract. If a dispatch returns an auth error after pre-flight passed (key revoked or OAuth expired), invalidate the cache, rerun the pre-flight, and apply the same decision tree before retrying. Never substitute a model the user didn't approve.

Default Invocation (Skill Default)

Default model + flags + agent: claude-sonnet-4-6 · --output-format text · no --agent (general-purpose). For deep-reasoning work, override with --model claude-opus-4-6 --effort high. The pinned shape:

claude -p "<prompt>" \
  --model claude-sonnet-4-6 \
  --output-format text \
  2>&1

User override (honor explicit user phrasing verbatim):

User says	Resolve to
(nothing specified)	--model claude-sonnet-4-6 --output-format text
"Use Opus extended thinking"	--model claude-opus-4-6 --effort high
"JSON schema output"	Append --json-schema '<schema>' --output-format json
"Cost-capped"	Append --max-budget-usd 1.00
"Plan mode"	Append --permission-mode plan (read-only)

Core Invocation Pattern

All non-interactive Claude Code CLI calls use the -p (print) flag:

claude -p "prompt" --output-format text 2>&1

Flag / Option	Purpose
-p "prompt"	Non-interactive mode — send prompt, get response, exit
--output-format text	Plain text output (default for human consumption)
--output-format json	JSON output with metadata (role, content, cost)
--output-format stream-json	Streaming JSON for real-time processing
--model claude-sonnet-4-6	Model selection (default: sonnet)
--permission-mode plan	Read-only safe exploration — no file writes
--permission-mode bypassPermissions	Auto-approve all operations — requires explicit user approval
--json-schema '{"type":"object",...}'	Schema-validated structured output
--max-budget-usd 1.00	Cost cap for the session
--agent review	Route to a specialized agent
--continue	Continue the most recent conversation
--resume SESSION_ID	Resume a specific session

Model Selection

Model	ID	Use Case
Opus	claude-opus-4-6	Deep reasoning, complex architecture, extended thinking
Sonnet	claude-sonnet-4-6	Balanced performance/cost — default for most tasks
Haiku	claude-haiku-4-5-20251001	Optional-unverified; use only when explicitly requested or after adoption for fast, lightweight tasks

Selection guidance: Default to Sonnet unless the task specifically needs deep reasoning (Opus + --effort high). Use Haiku only when explicitly requested or after adoption.

Claude Code Agent Delegation

The calling AI is the conductor; Claude Code agents in .claude/agents/*.md shape HOW Claude Code processes the task.

Task Type	Agent	Invocation Pattern
Codebase exploration	context	claude -p "Analyze the architecture of src/" --agent context --permission-mode plan --output-format text 2>&1
Systematic debugging	debug	claude -p "Debug this error: [error]" --agent debug --output-format text 2>&1
Session state capture	handover	claude -p "Create handover for current work" --agent handover --output-format text 2>&1
Multi-agent coordination	orchestrate	claude -p "Coordinate review and testing of auth module" --agent orchestrate --output-format text 2>&1
Evidence gathering	research	claude -p "Research best practices for [topic]" --agent research --output-format text 2>&1
Code review / audit	review	claude -p "Review @src/auth.ts for security issues" --agent review --permission-mode plan --output-format text 2>&1
Spec documentation	speckit	claude -p "Create spec folder for [feature]" --agent speckit --output-format text 2>&1
Multi-strategy planning	ai-council	claude -p "Plan the authentication redesign" --agent ai-council --permission-mode plan --output-format text 2>&1
Documentation generation	write	claude -p "Generate README for this project" --agent write --output-format text 2>&1

See agent_delegation.md for complete agent roster.

Unique Claude Code Capabilities

Capability	Purpose	Invocation
Extended Thinking	Deep chain-of-thought reasoning	claude -p "..." --effort high --model claude-opus-4-6
Edit Tool	Surgical diff-based code editing	Built-in — Claude Code edits files directly
Agent Tool	Spawn focused subagents within a session	Built-in — agents defined in .claude/agents/
--json-schema	Schema-validated structured output	claude -p "..." --json-schema '{"type":"object",...}'
--permission-mode plan	Read-only safe exploration	claude -p "..." --permission-mode plan
--max-budget-usd	Cost-controlled execution	claude -p "..." --max-budget-usd 1.00
Skills System	On-demand specialized workflows	Loaded via SKILL.md files
Spec Kit Memory	Persistent structured context across sessions	Via MCP tools
Hooks	Pre/post tool-call automation	Configured in settings
Session continuity	Continue or resume conversations	--continue or --resume SESSION_ID

Essential Commands

# Deep reasoning with extended thinking (Opus)
claude -p "Analyze the trade-offs between microservices and monolith for this project." \
  --model claude-opus-4-6 --effort high --output-format text 2>&1

# Code review (read-only — safe exploration)
claude -p "Review @src/auth.ts for security vulnerabilities" \
  --permission-mode plan --output-format text 2>&1

# Structured JSON output with schema validation
claude -p "Analyze src/utils.ts and return function signatures" \
  --json-schema '{"type":"object","properties":{"functions":{"type":"array"}}}' \
  --output-format json 2>&1

# Agent-delegated architecture analysis
claude -p "Map the dependency graph for src/" \
  --agent context --permission-mode plan --output-format text 2>&1

# Cost-controlled background execution
claude -p "Generate comprehensive tests for src/utils.ts" \
  --max-budget-usd 0.50 --output-format text 2>&1 &

# Continue previous conversation
claude -p "Now refactor the auth module based on the review" --continue --output-format text 2>&1

Error Handling

Issue	Solution
CLI not installed	npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY not set	export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your-key or run claude auth login
Nested session detected	Cannot run claude inside Claude Code — use a different terminal or exit first
Rate limit exceeded	Wait for auto-retry or reduce request frequency
Budget exceeded	Increase --max-budget-usd or reduce prompt complexity
Permission denied	Match --permission-mode to task requirements
Context too large	Specify files explicitly with @./path rather than broad prompts

---

4. RULES

✅ ALWAYS

1. Verify Claude Code CLI is installed before first invocation (command -v claude); check $CLAUDECODE for nesting.

2. Use --permission-mode plan for review/analysis/exploration (no file writes); --output-format text unless JSON is specifically needed.

3. Validate output before applying — correctness, completeness, alignment, syntax checks if code generated.

4. Capture stderr (2>&1) to catch errors and warnings.

5. Specify --model explicitly: default claude-sonnet-4-6 unless task needs Opus (deep reasoning). Use Haiku only when explicitly requested or after adoption.

6. Route to the appropriate --agent <name> when the task matches a specialization (see Section 3 routing table).

7. Pass the spec folder to the delegated agent in the prompt: if the calling AI has an active Gate-3 spec folder, include Spec folder: <path> (pre-approved, skip Gate 3). If none, ASK the user before delegating — the delegated agent cannot answer Gate 3 interactively.

8. Prompt construction & model-craft (cli- family precedence).* Compose every dispatch prompt via the 3-tier rule canonical in ../sk-prompt-small-model/assets/cli_prompt_quality_card.md:

   1. Fast path (default). Build from the local assets/prompt_quality_card.md, which delegates the framework table + CLEAR check to the canonical card.
   2. Model override (mandatory for a profiled model). If the target model has a profile at ../sk-prompt-small-model/references/models/<id>.md, that profile OVERRIDES the cross-model default. The sk-prompt-small-model hub owns per-model prompt-craft (framework + scaffold + gotchas, mirroring sk-prompt-small-model/assets/model_profiles.json recommended_frameworks); consult it before composing for any small model.
   3. Deep path (escalation). Dispatch @prompt-improver via the Task tool (never load full sk-prompt inline) when any canonical Tier 3 trigger applies — the trigger list lives in ../sk-prompt-small-model/assets/cli_prompt_quality_card.md under "Tier 3 — Deep path"; do not re-enumerate it here.

   Tag the framework in the Bash invocation comment and use the returned ENHANCED_PROMPT. Apply the CLEAR 5-question check from the canonical card via the local delegating card.

9. Code Standards Loading (surface-aware contract) — When dispatching for code review or code generation, instruct the dispatched session to: (1) load sk-code; (2) let sk-code emit a surface tag matching the detected stack from markers and target files; (3) load the selected surface resources and run its verification commands; (4) add sk-code-review only for formal findings-first review output. Fallback: if the surface cannot be determined confidently, ask for the runtime surface and verification command set. NEVER hardcode obsolete sibling code skills in dispatch prompts.

10. Single-dispatch discipline (operator-gated, session-scoped) — Default: launch ONE cli-* dispatch at a time across the cli-* family (cli-codex, cli-opencode, cli-claude-code). Wait for the dispatched agent's work to return, verify outputs exist, then SIGKILL the dispatcher process + any orphan children (pkill -9 -f "claude -p" for this skill, plus gtimeout / positional_scoring_fallback:app cleanup). Only launch the next dispatch (this skill OR a sibling) after the prior one is dead and RSS has dropped. Within a deep-flow session (deep-review / deep-research): the operator authorizes the whole multi-iteration session at start — iterations chain back-to-back with kill-between as the safety mechanism, NOT a per-iteration operator confirmation prompt. Exception (cross-skill parallel): when the operator explicitly authorizes N parallel dispatches, run N concurrently — but still SIGKILL each as its work returns.

11. Set AI_SESSION_CHILD=1 in the dispatched child's env when sessions may be launched through the per-session worktree wrapper (.opencode/bin/worktree-session.sh). A dispatched claude -p run is an orchestrated sub-session, not a new top-level session, so it must SHARE the parent's worktree rather than allocate its own. The wrapper checks AI_SESSION_CHILD (plus a git --git-common-dir structural backstop) and exec's in place when set. Pattern: AI_SESSION_CHILD=1 claude -p .... Harmless when the wrapper is not in use. See .opencode/bin/README.md → "Worktree session isolation".

❌ NEVER

1. Use --permission-mode bypassPermissions without explicit user approval (auto-approves all writes/tool calls).
2. Trust output blindly for security-sensitive code (review for XSS, injection, hardcoded secrets, eval), or send sensitive data (API keys, passwords, credentials) in prompts — Claude Code transmits to Anthropic's API.
3. Hammer the API with rapid sequential calls — respect rate limits; use --max-budget-usd for cost control.
4. Use Claude Code for tasks where context is already loaded — direct action by the calling AI is faster.

⚠️ ESCALATE IF

1. Claude Code CLI is not installed and user has not acknowledged (provide npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code).
2. Rate limits or budget caps are persistently hit (suggest increasing --max-budget-usd or checking quota).
3. Output conflicts with existing code patterns (present both perspectives; user decides).
4. Task requires --permission-mode bypassPermissions (describe risks; get explicit user approval).

Memory Handback Protocol

When the calling AI needs to preserve session context from a Claude Code CLI delegation, run the canonical 7-step procedure (extract MEMORY_HANDBACK section → build structured JSON → scrub secrets → invoke generate-context.js via --stdin/--json/temp-file → memory_index_scan). Full procedure and caveats: system-spec-kit/references/cli/memory_handback.md.

Claude-Code-specific Memory Epilogue template: see assets/prompt_templates.md §11.

Example invocation:

printf '%s' "$JSON_PAYLOAD" | node .opencode/skills/system-spec-kit/scripts/dist/memory/generate-context.js --stdin [spec-folder]

---

5. REFERENCES

Core References

• cli_reference.md - Complete CLI flags, commands, models, authentication, and configuration
• integration_patterns.md - Cross-AI orchestration patterns (reversed: external AI conducts, Claude Code executes)
• claude_tools.md - Unique capabilities and comparison with Codex CLI
• agent_delegation.md - 9 agent roster, routing table, and invocation patterns

Templates and Assets

• prompt_templates.md - Copy-paste ready prompt templates for common tasks

Shared (cli-* family)

• shared_smart_router.md - Helper-function bodies for the smart router.
• memory_handback.md - Canonical 7-step Memory Handback procedure.

External

• Claude Code GitHub - Official repository
• Anthropic Console - API key management
• Claude Code Documentation - Official docs

Reference Loading Notes

• Load only references needed for current intent.
• Smart Routing (Section 2) is the single routing authority.
• cli_reference.md is ALWAYS loaded as baseline.

---

6. SUCCESS CRITERIA

Task Completion

• Claude Code CLI invoked with correct flags, model, and permission mode.
• Output captured, validated, and integrated appropriately.
• No security vulnerabilities introduced from generated code.
• Rate limits and budget caps handled gracefully.
• Appropriate agent routed for specialized tasks.
• Permission mode matched to task type (plan for review, default for generation).

Skill Quality

• All 8 sections present with proper anchor comments.
• Smart routing covers all intent signals with UNKNOWN_FALLBACK.
• Reference files provide deep-dive content without duplication.

---

7. INTEGRATION POINTS

Framework Integration

This skill operates within the behavioral framework defined in AGENTS.md.

Key integrations:

• Gate 2: Skill routing via skill_advisor.py
• Tool Routing: Per AGENTS.md Section 6 decision tree
• Memory: Context preserved via Spec Kit Memory MCP

Tool roles: Bash dispatches the CLI; Read/Glob/Grep validate output.

---

8. REFERENCES AND RELATED RESOURCES

The router discovers reference, asset, and script docs dynamically. Start with references/cli_reference.md, references/integration_patterns.md, assets/prompt_quality_card.md, assets/prompt_templates.md, references/agent_delegation.md, references/claude_tools.md, then load task-specific resources from references/, templates from assets/, and automation from scripts/ when present.

Related skills: cli-codex for sandboxed OpenAI perspective, cli-opencode for full OpenCode runtime dispatch, sk-code for code-quality contracts, mcp-code-mode for external MCP work, and system-spec-kit for packet handback.