Claude Print — Development skill for Claude Code

claude-print

Drop-in replacement for `claude -p` (print/headless mode) that drives the Claude Code interactive TUI via PTY — keeping sessions on the unlimited subscription pool rather than the per-token Agent SDK credit pool.

Why this exists

Anthropic routes `claude -p` (headless/SDK mode) through a separate Agent SDK credit pool ($100–$200/month on Max plans). Only the interactive TUI (`cc_entrypoint=cli`) draws from the unlimited subscription.

The billing path is determined by an `isatty` check inside the `claude` binary: when stdout is a TTY, the session is tagged `cc_entrypoint=cli` and billed against the subscription. When stdout is a pipe (as with `claude -p`), it becomes `cc_entrypoint=sdk-cli` and draws from the credit pool instead.

`claude-print` allocates a PTY, drives the interactive TUI over it, auto-dismisses the trust dialog, injects the user prompt via bracketed paste, waits for the Stop hook via a FIFO, reads the JSONL transcript, and emits clean stdout output — giving callers `claude -p` wire-compatible output while billing against the subscription.

Prerequisites

• Claude Code must be installed and authenticated. See claude.ai/code.
• An active Claude subscription (Pro or Max plan) is required. The whole point is to bill against subscription, not credits.
• HOME must be set to a non-empty value for the user running claude-print. Claude Code configuration, trust state, and transcripts are resolved beneath this directory.
• Linux only. PTY support requires POSIX — no Windows ConPTY.

Install

sh install.sh

`install.sh` downloads a pre-built static musl binary from GitHub Releases (`jedarden/claude-print`), runs `--check` to verify the setup, and copies `claude-print.yaml` to `~/.needle/agents/` if NEEDLE is present.

Set `SKIP_MOCK_CLAUDE=1` to skip the `mock_claude` test fixture download.

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/jedarden/claude-print
cd claud