claude-code – Coding skill for AI agents

Claude Code — Hermes Orchestration Guide

Delegate coding tasks to [Claude Code](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/cli-reference) (Anthropic's autonomous coding agent CLI) via the Hermes terminal. Claude Code v2.x can read files, write code, run shell commands, spawn subagents, and manage git workflows autonomously.

Prerequisites

• Install: npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
• Auth: run claude once to log in (browser OAuth for Pro/Max, or set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY)
• Console auth: claude auth login --console for API key billing
• SSO auth: claude auth login --sso for Enterprise
• Check status: claude auth status (JSON) or claude auth status --text (human-readable)
• Health check: claude doctor — checks auto-updater and installation health
• Version check: claude --version (requires v2.x+)
• Update: claude update or claude upgrade

Two Orchestration Modes

Hermes interacts with Claude Code in two fundamentally different ways. Choose based on the task.

Mode 1: Print Mode (-p) — Non-Interactive (PREFERRED for most tasks)

Print mode runs a one-shot task, returns the result, and exits. No PTY needed. No interactive prompts. This is the cleanest integration path.

terminal(command="claude -p 'Add error handling to all API calls in src/' --allowedTools 'Read,Edit' --max-turns 10", workdir="/path/to/project", timeout=120)

When to use print mode:

• One-shot coding tasks (fix a bug, add a feature, refactor)
• CI/CD automation and scripting
• Structured data extraction with --json-schema
• Piped input processing (cat file | claude -p "analyze this")
• Any task where you don't need multi-turn conversation

Print mode skips ALL interactive dialogs — no workspace trust prompt, no permission confirmations. This makes it ideal for automation.

Mode 2: Interactive PTY via tmux — Multi-Turn Sessions

Interactive mode gives you a full conversational REPL where you can send follow-up prompts, use slash commands, and watch Claude work in real time. Requires tmux orchestration.

# Start a tmux session
terminal(command="tmux new-session -d -s claude-work -x 140 -y 40")

# Launch Claude Code inside it
terminal(command="tmux send-keys -t claude-work 'cd /path/to/project && claude' Enter")

# Wait for startup, then send your task
# (after ~3-5 seconds for the welcome screen)
terminal(command="sleep 5 && tmux send-keys -t claude-work 'Refactor the auth module to use JWT tokens' Enter")

# Monitor progress by capturing the pane
terminal(command="sleep 15 && tmux capture-pane -t claude-work -p -S -50")

# Send follow-up tasks
terminal(command="tmux send-keys -t claude-work 'Now add unit tests for the new JWT code' Enter")

# Exit when done
terminal(command="tmux send-keys -t claude-work '/exit' Enter")

When to use interactive mode:

• Multi-turn iterative work (refactor → review → fix → test cycle)
• Tasks requiring human-in-the-loop decisions
• Exploratory coding sessions
• When you need to use Claude's slash commands (/compact, /review, /model)

PTY Dialog Handling (CRITICAL for Interactive Mode)

Claude Code presents up to two confirmation dialogs on first launch. You MUST handle these via tmux send-keys:

Dialog 1: Workspace Trust (first visit to a directory)

❯ 1. Yes, I trust this folder    ← DEFAULT (just press Enter)
  2. No, exit

Handling: tmux send-keys -t <session> Enter — default selection is correct.

Dialog 2: Individual Permission Prompts (normal flow)

Each tool use that needs approval (file write, shell command, network) shows a prompt. Answer that one prompt — this is different from disabling prompts for the whole run:

# Read the prompt before answering it
terminal(command="tmux capture-pane -t <session> -p -S -30")
# Allow this one action (Enter = default "Yes"); Esc declines it
terminal(command="tmux send-keys -t <session> Enter")

Never send a blind Enter on a timer to approve prompts you have not read — that is the bypass flag with extra steps.

A narrower opt-in than the full bypass is --permission-mode acceptEdits: file edits in the working directory are accepted, shell and other tool calls still prompt. Use it only in a dedicated worktree after reviewing the task.

Robust Dialog Handling Pattern

# Default launch — keep permission prompts enabled
terminal(command="tmux send-keys -t claude-work 'claude \"your task\"' Enter")

# Handle trust dialog (Enter for default "Yes")
terminal(command="sleep 4 && tmux send-keys -t claude-work Enter")

# Now wait for Claude to work
terminal(command="sleep 15 && tmux capture-pane -t claude-work -p -S -60")

Note: After the first trust acceptance for a directory, the trust dialog won't appear again.

Opt-in: --dangerously-skip-permissions (isolated environments only)

This disables permission prompts for the whole run — grants filesystem, shell, and network access with no prompts. Acceptable only in a throwaway worktree or isolated container.

❯ 1. No, exit                    ← DEFAULT (safe choice)
  2. Yes, I accept

To accept: tmux send-keys -t <session> Down && sleep 0.3 && tmux send-keys -t <session> Enter

CLI Subcommands

| Subcommand | Purpose |

|------------|---------|

| claude | Start interactive REPL |

| claude "query" | Start REPL with initial prompt |

| claude -p "query" | Print mode (non-interactive, exits when done) |

| cat file \| claude -p "query" | Pipe content as stdin context |

| claude -c | Continue the most recent conversation in this directory |

| claude -r "id" | Resume a specific session by ID or name |

| claude auth login | Sign in (add --console for API billing, --sso for Enterprise) |

| claude auth status | Check login status (returns JSON; --text for human-readable) |

| claude mcp add <name> -- <cmd> | Add an MCP server |

| claude mcp list | List configured MCP servers |

| claude mcp remove <name> | Remove an MCP server |

| claude agents | List configured agents |

| claude doctor | Run health checks on installation and auto-updater |

| claude update / claude upgrade | Update Claude Code to latest version |

| claude remote-control | Start server to control Claude from claude.ai or mobile app |

| claude install [target] | Install native build (stable, latest, or specific version) |

| claude setup-token | Set up long-lived auth token (requires subscription) |

| claude plugin / claude plugins | Manage Claude Code plugins |

| claude auto-mode | Inspect auto mode classifier configuration |

Print Mode Deep Dive

Structured JSON Output

terminal(command="claude -p 'Analyze auth.py for security issues' --output-format json --max-turns 5", workdir="/project", timeout=120)

Returns a JSON object with:

{
  "type": "result",
  "subtype": "success",
  "result": "The analysis text...",
  "session_id": "75e2167f-...",
  "num_turns": 3,
  "total_cost_usd": 0.0787,
  "duration_ms": 10276,
  "stop_reason": "end_turn",
  "terminal_reason": "completed",
  "usage": { "input_tokens": 5, "output_tokens": 603, ... },
  "modelUsage": { "claude-sonnet-4-6": { "costUSD": 0.078, "contextWindow": 200000 } }
}

Key fields: session_id for resumption, num_turns for agentic loop count, total_cost_usd for spend tracking, subtype for success/error detection (success, error_max_turns, error_budget).

Streaming JSON Output

For real-time token streaming, use stream-json with --verbose:

terminal(command="claude -p 'Write a summary' --output-format stream-json --verbose --include-partial-messages", timeout=60)

Returns newline-delimited JSON events. Filter with jq for live text:

claude -p "Explain X" --output-format stream-json --verbose --include-partial-messages | \
  jq -rj 'select(.type == "stream_event" and .event.delta.type? == "text_delta") | .event.delta.text'

Stream events include system/api_retry with attempt, max_retries, and error fields (e.g., rate_limit, billing_error).

Bidirectional Streaming

For real-time input AND output streaming:

claude -p "task" --input-format stream-json --output-format stream-json --replay-user-messages

--replay-user-messages re-emits user messages on stdout for acknowledgment.

Piped Input

# Pipe a file for analysis
terminal(command="cat src/auth.py | claude -p 'Review this code for bugs' --max-turns 1", timeout=60)

# Pipe multiple files
terminal(command="cat src/*.py | claude -p 'Find all TODO comments' --max-turns 1", timeout=60)

# Pipe command output
terminal(command="git diff HEAD~3 | claude -p 'Summarize these changes' --max-turns 1", timeout=60)

JSON Schema for Structured Extraction

terminal(command="claude -p 'List all functions in src/' --output-format json --json-schema '{\"type\":\"object\",\"properties\":{\"functions\":{\"type\":\"array\",\"items\":{\"type\":\"string\"}}},\"required\":[\"functions\"]}' --max-turns 

… (full content is in the download package)