Claude CLI - PraisonAI

Overview

Claude Code CLI is Anthropic’s AI-powered coding assistant that can read files, run commands, search the web, edit code, and more. PraisonAI integrates with Claude CLI to use it as an external agent.

Installation

# Install Claude Code CLI
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

# Or using npm
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Authentication

Set your Anthropic API key:

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your-api-key

Or authenticate via Claude subscription:

claude setup-token

Basic Usage with PraisonAI

--external-agent claude invokes Claude CLI via a manager Agent by default. The manager reasons and calls Claude as a subagent tool. Use --external-agent-direct for pass-through proxy behavior.

# Manager delegation (default — manager reasons + calls claude as subagent tool)
praisonai "Fix the bug in auth.py" --external-agent claude

# Direct proxy (escape hatch — no manager, passes prompt straight to claude)
praisonai "Fix the bug in auth.py" --external-agent claude --external-agent-direct

# With verbose output
praisonai "Refactor this module" --external-agent claude --verbose

CLI Options Reference

Print Mode (Non-Interactive)

Option	Description
`-p, --print`	Print response and exit (useful for pipes/scripts)
`--output-format <format>`	Output format: `text` (default), `json`, or `stream-json`
`--include-partial-messages`	Include partial message chunks (with `stream-json`)
`--input-format <format>`	Input format: `text` (default) or `stream-json`

Model Selection

Option	Description
`--model <model>`	Model alias (`sonnet`, `opus`) or full name (`claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929`)
`--fallback-model <model>`	Fallback model when default is overloaded

System Prompts

Option	Description
`--system-prompt <prompt>`	Custom system prompt for the session
`--append-system-prompt <prompt>`	Append to default system prompt (recommended)

Tool Control

Option	Description
`--allowedTools <tools>`	Comma-separated list of allowed tools (e.g., `Bash,Edit,Read`)
`--disallowedTools <tools>`	Comma-separated list of denied tools
`--tools <tools>`	Specify available tools: `""` (none), `default` (all), or specific names

Permission Modes

Option	Description
`--permission-mode <mode>`	Permission mode for the session
`--dangerously-skip-permissions`	Bypass all permission checks (use with caution)

Permission Mode Values:

default - Standard permission behavior
acceptEdits - Auto-accept file edits
bypassPermissions - Bypass all permission checks
plan - Planning mode (no execution)
delegate - Delegate decisions
dontAsk - Don’t ask for permissions

Session Management

Option	Description
`-c, --continue`	Continue the most recent conversation
`-r, --resume [value]`	Resume by session ID or open picker
`--fork-session`	Create new session ID when resuming
`--no-session-persistence`	Disable session persistence
`--session-id <uuid>`	Use specific session ID

Budget & Limits

Option	Description
`--max-budget-usd <amount>`	Maximum dollar amount for API calls

MCP Integration

Option	Description
`--mcp-config <configs>`	Load MCP servers from JSON files
`--strict-mcp-config`	Only use MCP servers from `--mcp-config`

Additional Options

Option	Description
`--add-dir <directories>`	Additional directories for tool access
`--verbose`	Override verbose mode setting
`--debug`	Enable debug mode
`--json-schema <schema>`	JSON Schema for structured output validation
`--agents <json>`	JSON object defining custom agents
`--settings <file-or-json>`	Path to settings JSON file

Commands

Command	Description
`claude mcp`	Configure and manage MCP servers
`claude plugin`	Manage Claude Code plugins
`claude setup-token`	Set up authentication token
`claude doctor`	Check auto-updater health
`claude update`	Check for and install updates
`claude install [target]`	Install native build

Examples

Basic Query

# Simple question
praisonai "What files are in this directory?" --external-agent claude

# Code analysis
praisonai "Analyze the code quality of src/" --external-agent claude

With Tool Restrictions

# Allow only read operations
claude -p --allowedTools "Read,Glob,Grep" "Find all TODO comments"

# Deny bash access
claude -p --disallowedTools "Bash" "Review this code"

With Custom System Prompt

claude -p --append-system-prompt "You are a Python expert" "Optimize this function"

JSON Output

claude -p --output-format json "List all functions in main.py"

Continue Session

# Start a session
claude "Create a new feature"

# Continue the session
claude -c "Now add tests for it"

Python Integration

from praisonai.integrations import ClaudeCodeIntegration

# Create integration
claude = ClaudeCodeIntegration(
    workspace="/path/to/project",
    output_format="json",
    model="sonnet"
)

# Execute a task
result = await claude.execute("Refactor the auth module")
print(result)

# Stream output
async for event in claude.stream("Add error handling"):
    print(event)

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`	Anthropic API key
`CLAUDE_API_KEY`	Alternative API key variable

Built-in Tools

Claude Code includes these built-in tools:

Tool	Description
`Read`	Read any file in the working directory
`Write`	Create new files
`Edit`	Make precise edits to existing files
`Bash`	Run terminal commands, scripts, git operations
`Glob`	Find files by pattern
`Grep`	Search file contents with regex
`WebSearch`	Search the web for information
`WebFetch`	Fetch and parse web page content

​Overview

​Installation

​Authentication

​Basic Usage with PraisonAI

​CLI Options Reference

​Print Mode (Non-Interactive)

​Model Selection

​System Prompts

​Tool Control

​Permission Modes

​Session Management

​Budget & Limits

​MCP Integration

​Additional Options

​Commands

​Examples

​Basic Query

​With Tool Restrictions

​With Custom System Prompt

​JSON Output

​Continue Session

​Python Integration

​Environment Variables

​Built-in Tools

​Related

Overview

Installation

Authentication

Basic Usage with PraisonAI

CLI Options Reference

Print Mode (Non-Interactive)

Model Selection

System Prompts

Tool Control

Permission Modes

Session Management

Budget & Limits

MCP Integration

Additional Options

Commands

Examples

Basic Query

With Tool Restrictions

With Custom System Prompt

JSON Output

Continue Session

Python Integration

Environment Variables

Built-in Tools

Related