use-claude

name

use-claude

description

This skill should be used when a non-Claude agent (e.g. Codex) is considering delegating a coding task to Claude Code's headless mode (claude -p) — hard long-horizon bug fixing, implementation where first-pass completeness matters more than token cost, test authoring, or a cross-model-family second opinion on a plan or diff. Claude Code spends an Anthropic subscription/API budget instead of the caller's tokens. Invoked for "use claude", "ask claude", "delegate to claude", "claude -p", or "second opinion from claude".

Use Claude

If you are Claude, you do not need this skill — stop reading and proceed however you otherwise would. Delegating to yourself gains nothing; this skill exists for other agents delegating scoped work to Claude Code's headless mode (claude -p).

Should this go to Claude?

Delegate when the task is scoped, hard, and correctness matters more than token cost:

• Implementation where first-pass completeness counts — Claude spends more tokens but blind reviewers rate its output more complete
• Long-horizon debugging in real repos (multi-file root causes, tangled state)
• Test authoring and verification-heavy work
• Cross-family second opinion / adversarial review of a plan or diff (a different model family catches different bugs)
• Repo work that benefits from project context — Claude Code auto-loads the repo's CLAUDE.md, memory, and skills

A headless one-shot cannot interview the user, so ambiguous or underspecified work, open architecture decisions, and anything needing a long conversation are not delegation targets — they belong to whoever holds the user conversation. Reduce unknowns first, then delegate the well-specified remainder. Also skip delegation for cheap mechanical sweeps if the caller is the more token-efficient model — Claude's edge is quality, not thrift.

Full rationale, evidence, and cost notes: references/task-fit.md. If the decision is "don't delegate", stop here — no need to read further.

Quick start

claude -p --output-format json --model sonnet \
  --tools="Read,Grep,Glob" \
  "<self-contained prompt with all context Claude needs>" > /tmp/claude-out.json

Headless mode emits nothing until done, then a single JSON object: .result is the final message (intermediate activity is never printed, so tokens aren't double-spent), .session_id enables follow-ups, .total_cost_usd reports spend.

• Models: sonnet (workhorse), haiku (quick lookups), opus / fable (hardest work); --effort low|medium|high|xhigh|max.
• Write access: default denies edits; add --permission-mode acceptEdits and/or --allowedTools when Claude should change files (then review the diff).
• Resume: claude -p --resume <session-id> "follow-up" keeps full context.
• Gotcha: variadic flags like --tools swallow a following prompt — use = syntax (--tools="Read,Grep").

Full flag reference, permission ladder, session resume, piping, and failure modes: references/invocation.md.

After it returns

Treat the output as a peer's work, not an authority's: verify claims against the code, run tests on any diff, and attribute Claude's contribution when reporting.