claude-agent-sdk

name

claude-agent-sdk

description

Build production AI agents with the Claude Agent SDK (TypeScript: @anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk, Python: claude-agent-sdk). Use this skill whenever: building programmatic agents with Claude, using query() or ClaudeSDKClient, configuring hooks/subagents/MCP servers/custom tools, setting up permissions or sessions, deploying agents to Docker/CI/CD/cloud, importing @anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk or claude-agent-sdk, mentioning 'agent sdk' or 'claude sdk' in a coding context, building autonomous agents that read files/run commands/edit code, or any task involving programmatic Claude Code integration. Even if the user just says 'build an agent' or 'automate with Claude' — use this skill.

Claude Agent SDK

Build AI agents that autonomously read files, run commands, search the web, edit code, and more. The Agent SDK gives you the same tools and agent loop that power Claude Code, programmable in Python and TypeScript.

Renamed: The Claude Code SDK is now the Claude Agent SDK. Package names changed to claude-agent-sdk (Python) and @anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk (TypeScript).

Quick Start

Install

# TypeScript
npm install @anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk

# Python (uv)
uv init && uv add claude-agent-sdk

# Python (pip)
pip install claude-agent-sdk

The TypeScript SDK bundles a native Claude Code binary — no separate install needed.

Set API Key

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your-api-key

Also supports Bedrock (CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK=1), Vertex AI (CLAUDE_CODE_USE_VERTEX=1), and Azure (CLAUDE_CODE_USE_FOUNDRY=1).

First Agent

# Python
import asyncio
from claude_agent_sdk import query, ClaudeAgentOptions, AssistantMessage, ResultMessage

async def main():
    async for message in query(
        prompt="Find and fix bugs in utils.py",
        options=ClaudeAgentOptions(
            allowed_tools=["Read", "Edit", "Glob"],
            permission_mode="acceptEdits",
        ),
    ):
        if isinstance(message, AssistantMessage):
            for block in message.content:
                if hasattr(block, "text"):
                    print(block.text)
        elif isinstance(message, ResultMessage):
            print(f"Done: {message.subtype}")

asyncio.run(main())

// TypeScript
import { query } from "@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk";

for await (const message of query({
  prompt: "Find and fix bugs in utils.ts",
  options: {
    allowedTools: ["Read", "Edit", "Glob"],
    permissionMode: "acceptEdits"
  }
})) {
  if (message.type === "assistant") {
    for (const block of message.message.content) {
      if ("text" in block) console.log(block.text);
    }
  } else if (message.type === "result") {
    console.log(`Done: ${message.subtype}`);
  }
}

Core Concepts

The agent loop: Receive prompt → Evaluate → Call tools → Observe results → Repeat → Return result.

Each round-trip (Claude calls tools, SDK executes, results feed back) is one turn. The loop ends when Claude responds with text only (no tool calls), yielding a ResultMessage.

Choosing an Entry Point

Feature	query()	ClaudeSDKClient (Python)
Session	New each call	Reuses same session
Multi-turn	Via resume/continue	Automatic
Interrupts	No	Yes (client.interrupt())
Best for	One-off tasks, CI/CD	Interactive apps, chatbots

TypeScript uses query() with continue: true for multi-turn. For a session-holding client, see the TypeScript V2 preview.

# Python multi-turn with ClaudeSDKClient
async with ClaudeSDKClient(options=options) as client:
    await client.query("Analyze the auth module")
    async for msg in client.receive_response():
        print_response(msg)

    await client.query("Now refactor it to use JWT")
    async for msg in client.receive_response():
        print_response(msg)

Configuration

Key options for ClaudeAgentOptions (Python) / Options (TypeScript):

Option	Python	TypeScript	Description
Model	model	model	Claude model ID (e.g. "claude-sonnet-4-6")
Effort	effort	effort	"low", "medium", "high", "xhigh", "max"
Max turns	max_turns	maxTurns	Cap agentic round-trips
Max budget	max_budget_usd	maxBudgetUsd	Cost ceiling in USD
Permission mode	permission_mode	permissionMode	See Permission Modes below
Allowed tools	allowed_tools	allowedTools	Auto-approved tools list
Disallowed tools	disallowed_tools	disallowedTools	Always-denied tools
System prompt	system_prompt	systemPrompt	Custom or preset ("claude_code")
Working dir	cwd	cwd	Agent's working directory
MCP servers	mcp_servers	mcpServers	External tool servers
Agents	agents	agents	Programmatic subagent definitions
Hooks	hooks	hooks	Lifecycle callback hooks
Output format	output_format	outputFormat	Structured JSON output schema
Thinking	thinking	thinking	{"type": "adaptive"} or {"type": "enabled", "budget_tokens": N}
File checkpointing	enable_file_checkpointing	enableFileCheckpointing	Track file changes for rewindFiles() undo
Plugins	plugins	—	Extend with bundled commands, agents, MCP servers
Setting sources	setting_sources	settingSources	Load CLAUDE.md, skills, hooks from project

For full type definitions, read references/typescript-api.md or references/python-api.md.

Message Handling

The SDK streams messages as the agent works. Key types:

Type	When	What it contains
SystemMessage (subtype "init")	Session start	Session ID, tools, model, MCP status
AssistantMessage	Each Claude response	Text blocks + tool call blocks
UserMessage	After tool execution	Tool results fed back to Claude
ResultMessage	Loop ends	Final text, cost, usage, session ID

Checking ResultMessage

Always check subtype before reading result:

# Python
if isinstance(message, ResultMessage):
    if message.subtype == "success":
        print(message.result)
        print(f"Cost: ${message.total_cost_usd:.4f}")
    elif message.subtype == "error_max_turns":
        print(f"Hit turn limit. Resume: {message.session_id}")
    elif message.subtype == "error_max_budget_usd":
        print("Hit budget limit.")

// TypeScript
if (message.type === "result") {
  if (message.subtype === "success") {
    console.log(message.result);
    console.log(`Cost: $${message.total_cost_usd.toFixed(4)}`);
  } else if (message.subtype === "error_max_turns") {
    console.log(`Hit turn limit. Resume: ${message.session_id}`);
  }
}

Result subtypes: success, error_max_turns, error_max_budget_usd, error_during_execution, error_max_structured_output_retries.

Permission Modes

Mode	Behavior	Use case
default	Unmatched tools trigger canUseTool callback	Custom approval flows
acceptEdits	Auto-approve Edit/Write + filesystem cmds (mkdir, rm, mv, cp, sed) within cwd	Trusted dev workflows
dontAsk	Deny anything not in allowedTools	Locked-down headless agents
plan	No tool execution, planning only	Pre-implementation review
bypassPermissions	All tools run without prompts	Sandboxed CI, containers
auto (TS only)	Model classifier approves/denies each tool call autonomously	Autonomous with guardrails

Evaluation order: Hooks → Deny rules → Permission mode → Allow rules → canUseTool callback.

disallowedTools blocks tools even in bypassPermissions mode. allowedTools does NOT constrain bypassPermissions — use disallowedTools to block specific tools in that mode.

Built-in Tools

Tool	What it does
Read	Read any file
Write	Create new files
Edit	Precise edits to existing files
Bash	Run terminal commands, scripts, git
Monitor	Watch a background script and react to each output line as an event
Glob	Find files by pattern
Grep	Search file contents with regex
WebSearch	Search the web
WebFetch	Fetch and parse web pages
Agent	Spawn subagents
AskUserQuestion	Ask user clarifying questions
TodoWrite	Track tasks
ToolSearch	Dynamically discover and load tools

Hooks

Hooks are callback functions that intercept agent behavior at key execution points. Register them in options.hooks as a dict/object mapping event names to arrays of matchers.

Hook Events

Event	Description	Python	TypeScript
PreToolUse	Before tool execution (can block/modify)	Yes	Yes
PostToolUse	After tool execution	Yes	Yes
PostToolUseFailure	Tool execution failed	Yes	Yes
UserPromptSubmit	User submits prompt	Yes	Yes
Stop	Agent execution stops	Yes	Yes
SubagentStart	Subagent spawned	Yes	Yes
SubagentStop	Subagent completed	Yes	Yes
PreCompact	Before context compaction	Yes	Yes
Notification	Agent status messages	Yes	Yes
PermissionRequest	Permission needed	Yes	Yes
SessionStart / SessionEnd	Session lifecycle	No	Yes

Hook Pattern

# Python
async def protect_env(input_data, tool_use_id, context):
    file_path = input_data["tool_input"].get("file_path", "")
    if file_path.endswith(".env"):
        return {
            "hookSpecificOutput": {
                "hookEventName": input_data["hook_event_name"],
                "permissionDecision": "deny",
                "permissionDecisionReason": "Cannot modify .env files",
            }
        }
    return {}

options = ClaudeAgentOptions(
    hooks={"PreToolUse": [HookMatcher(matcher="Write|Edit", hooks=[protect_env])]}
)

// TypeScript
const protectEnv: HookCallback = async (input, toolUseID, { signal }) => {
  const preInput = input as PreToolUseHookInput;
  const filePath = (preInput.tool_input as any)?.file_path as string;
  if (filePath?.endsWith(".env")) {
    return {
      hookSpecificOutput: {
        hookEventName: preInput.hook_event_name,
        permissionDecision: "deny",
        permissionDecisionReason: "Cannot modify .env files"
      }
    };
  }
  return {};
};

const options = {
  hooks: { PreToolUse: [{ matcher: "Write|Edit", hooks: [protectEnv] }] }
};

Hooks can: block tools (permissionDecision: "deny"), modify inputs (updatedInput), inject context (systemMessage), auto-approve (permissionDecision: "allow"), or run async side effects ({ async: true }).

For full hook API and recipes, read references/hooks-guide.md.

Subagents

Spawn specialized agents with isolated context windows. Define them programmatically via the agents option:

# Python
options = ClaudeAgentOptions(
    allowed_tools=["Read", "Grep", "Glob", "Agent"],
    agents={
        "code-reviewer": AgentDefinition(
            description="Expert code reviewer for security and quality.",
            prompt="Analyze code quality. Be thorough but concise.",
            tools=["Read", "Grep", "Glob"],
            model="sonnet",
        ),
    },
)

// TypeScript
const options = {
  allowedTools: ["Read", "Grep", "Glob", "Agent"],
  agents: {
    "code-reviewer": {
      description: "Expert code reviewer for security and quality.",
      prompt: "Analyze code quality. Be thorough but concise.",
      tools: ["Read", "Grep", "Glob"],
      model: "sonnet"
    }
  }
};

Key AgentDefinition fields: description (when to use), prompt (system prompt), tools (restrict tools), model ("sonnet" / "opus" / "haiku" / full ID), maxTurns, background, effort, permissionMode.

Subagents cannot spawn their own subagents — don't include Agent in a subagent's tools.

Include Agent in the parent's allowedTools. Claude auto-delegates based on descriptions, or use explicit prompting: "Use the code-reviewer agent to..."

Tracking: Messages from inside a subagent include parent_tool_use_id, letting you identify which subagent produced each message.

Resuming: Subagents can be resumed by capturing the session_id and agentId from the first run, then passing resume=session_id with the agent ID in the follow-up prompt. Subagent transcripts persist independently and survive main conversation compaction.

Custom Tools

Define your own functions Claude can call using in-process MCP servers:

# Python
from claude_agent_sdk import tool, create_sdk_mcp_server

@tool("get_temperature", "Get current temperature", {"latitude": float, "longitude": float})
async def get_temperature(args):
    # fetch weather data...
    return {"content": [{"type": "text", "text": f"Temperature: {temp}°F"}]}

weather = create_sdk_mcp_server(name="weather", tools=[get_temperature])
options = ClaudeAgentOptions(
    mcp_servers={"weather": weather},
    allowed_tools=["mcp__weather__get_temperature"],
)

// TypeScript
import { tool, createSdkMcpServer } from "@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk";
import { z } from "zod";

const getTemp = tool("get_temperature", "Get current temperature", {
  latitude: z.number(), longitude: z.number()
}, async (args) => {
  // fetch weather data...
  return { content: [{ type: "text", text: `Temperature: ${temp}°F` }] };
});

const weather = createSdkMcpServer({ name: "weather", tools: [getTemp] });
const options = {
  mcpServers: { weather },
  allowedTools: ["mcp__weather__get_temperature"]
};

Tool naming: mcp__{server_name}__{tool_name}. Use mcp__server__* wildcards in allowedTools.

For schemas, error handling, annotations, and images, read references/custom-tools.md.

MCP Servers (External)

Connect to external tools via MCP — databases, browsers, APIs:

# stdio (local process)
mcp_servers={"github": {"command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"], "env": {"GITHUB_TOKEN": token}}}

# HTTP/SSE (remote)
mcp_servers={"api": {"type": "sse", "url": "https://api.example.com/mcp/sse", "headers": {"Authorization": f"Bearer {token}"}}}

Transport types: stdio (local), sse (streaming remote), http (non-streaming remote), sdk (in-process).

Always add MCP tools to allowedTools — they're available but not auto-approved by default. permissionMode: "acceptEdits" does NOT auto-approve MCP tools.

Sessions

Pattern	How	When
Continue (most recent)	continue_conversation=True / continue: true	Single-user, same directory
Resume (specific ID)	resume=session_id / resume: sessionId	Multi-user, restart recovery
Fork	resume=id + fork_session=True / forkSession: true	Try alternatives, keep original

Capture session ID from ResultMessage.session_id. Sessions persist conversation, not filesystem — use file checkpointing for file snapshots.

Sessions are stored at ~/.claude/projects/<encoded-cwd>/<session-id>.jsonl. The cwd must match when resuming.

User Input

Tool Approval (canUseTool)

Handle permission prompts programmatically:

async def can_use_tool(tool_name, input_data, context):
    if approved:
        return PermissionResultAllow(updated_input=input_data)
    return PermissionResultDeny(message="User rejected")

options = ClaudeAgentOptions(can_use_tool=can_use_tool)

Clarifying Questions (AskUserQuestion)

Claude can ask multiple-choice questions. Check tool_name == "AskUserQuestion" in your canUseTool callback, display questions, collect answers, return them:

return PermissionResultAllow(updated_input={
    "questions": input_data["questions"],
    "answers": {"How should I format output?": "Summary"},
})

Include AskUserQuestion in your tools array if you restrict tools.

Streaming Input

Pass an AsyncIterable as prompt (instead of a string) for interactive apps:

# Python
async def messages():
    yield {"type": "user", "message": {"role": "user", "content": "Analyze auth.py"}}
    yield {"type": "user", "message": {"role": "user", "content": [
        {"type": "text", "text": "Check this diagram"},
        {"type": "image", "source": {"type": "base64", "media_type": "image/png", "data": b64}},
    ]}}

async with ClaudeSDKClient(options) as client:
    await client.query(messages())
    async for msg in client.receive_response(): print(msg)

// TypeScript
async function* messages() {
  yield { type: "user" as const, message: { role: "user" as const, content: "Analyze auth.ts" } };
}
for await (const msg of query({ prompt: messages(), options })) { /* ... */ }

Streaming input enables: image attachments, queued messages, mid-task interruption, and natural multi-turn. Single message mode (string prompt) doesn't support images or interruption.

Hosting & Deployment

Container Patterns

Pattern	Description	Example
Ephemeral	New container per task, destroy on completion	Bug fix, invoice processing
Long-running	Persistent container, multiple SDK processes	Email agent, site builder
Hybrid	Ephemeral + hydrated with session history	Deep research, project manager

Requirements

• Python 3.10+ or Node.js 18+
• 1 GiB RAM, 5 GiB disk, 1 CPU (minimum)
• Outbound HTTPS to api.anthropic.com

Sandbox Providers

Modal, Cloudflare Sandboxes, Daytona, E2B, Fly Machines, Vercel Sandbox.

For production patterns, cost tracking, and security hardening, read references/patterns.md.

Structured Output

Force Claude to return JSON matching a schema:

options = ClaudeAgentOptions(
    output_format={"type": "json_schema", "schema": {"type": "object", "properties": {"summary": {"type": "string"}}, "required": ["summary"]}},
)
# Access via message.structured_output on ResultMessage

File Checkpointing

Enable enable_file_checkpointing / enableFileCheckpointing to track file changes. Use rewindFiles(userMessageId) to undo changes since a specific message.

Pre-warming (startup() — TypeScript only)

const warm = await startup({ options: { maxTurns: 3 } });
const q = warm.query("What files are here?");
for await (const msg of q) { /* ... */ }
warm.close();

Critical Defaults (v0.1.0+)

Since v0.1.0, the SDK no longer behaves like the Claude Code CLI out of the box:

No system prompt by default. To get Claude Code's full system prompt:

• Python: system_prompt={"type": "preset", "preset": "claude_code"}
• TypeScript: systemPrompt: { type: "preset", preset: "claude_code" }

No settings loaded by default. CLAUDE.md, skills, slash commands, and settings.json are NOT read unless you opt in:

• Python: setting_sources=["user", "project", "local"]
• TypeScript: settingSources: ["user", "project", "local"]

Pass [] or omit entirely for fully isolated behavior — ideal for CI/CD and multi-tenant deployments.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Fix
thinking.type.enabled error with Opus 4.7	Upgrade to SDK v0.2.111+
MCP server shows "failed"	Check env vars, verify package installed, test network
Tools not being called	Add to allowedTools (MCP tools need explicit approval)
Agent behaves differently than CLI	Set systemPrompt: { type: "preset", preset: "claude_code" } — see Critical Defaults
System prompt / CLAUDE.md not loading	Set setting_sources=["project"] — settings not loaded by default since v0.1.0
Session resume returns fresh session	Ensure cwd matches original session
canUseTool not firing (Python)	Use streaming input mode + dummy PreToolUse hook
Subagent permissions multiplying	Use PreToolUse hooks to auto-approve, or set permissionMode on agent

Reference Files

Read these for deeper API details — they're loaded on-demand:

File	When to read
references/typescript-api.md	Full TS types: Options, Query, messages, hooks, tools
references/python-api.md	Full Python types: ClaudeAgentOptions, ClaudeSDKClient, messages
references/hooks-guide.md	All hook events, callback signatures, recipes
references/patterns.md	Production hosting, session strategies, cost tracking
references/custom-tools.md	tool() decorator, schemas, error handling, annotations