Claude Code

Claude Code — Zorro Orchestration Guide

Delegate coding tasks to Claude Code (Anthropic's autonomous coding agent CLI) via the Zorro 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

Zorro 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 Enter — default selection is correct.

Dialog 2: Bypass Permissions Warning (only with --dangerously-skip-permissions)

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

Handling: Must navigate DOWN first, then Enter:

tmux send-keys -t  Down && sleep 0.3 && tmux send-keys -t  Enter

Robust Dialog Handling Pattern

# Launch with permissions bypass
terminal(command="tmux send-keys -t claude-work 'claude --dangerously-skip-permissions \"your task\"' Enter")

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

# Handle permissions dialog (Down then Enter for "Yes, I accept")
terminal(command="sleep 3 && tmux send-keys -t claude-work Down && sleep 0.3 && 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. Only the permissions dialog recurs each time you use --dangerously-skip-permissions.

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 -- | Add an MCP server | | claude mcp list | List configured MCP servers | | claude mcp remove | 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 5", workdir="/project", timeout=90)

Parse structured_output from the JSON result. Claude validates output against the schema before returning.

Session Continuation

# Start a task
terminal(command="claude -p 'Start refactoring the database layer' --output-format json --max-turns 10 > /tmp/session.json", workdir="/project", timeout=180)

# Resume with session ID
terminal(command="claude -p 'Continue and add connection pooling' --resume $(cat /tmp/session.json | python3 -c 'import json,sys; print(json.load(sys.stdin)[\"session_id\"])') --max-turns 5", workdir="/project", timeout=120)

# Or resume the most recent session in the same directory
terminal(command="claude -p 'What did you do last time?' --continue --max-turns 1", workdir="/project", timeout=30)

# Fork a session (new ID, keeps history)
terminal(command="claude -p 'Try a different approach' --resume  --fork-session --max-turns 10", workdir="/project", timeout=120)

Bare Mode for CI/Scripting

terminal(command="claude --bare -p 'Run all tests and report failures' --allowedTools 'Read,Bash' --max-turns 10", workdir="/project", timeout=180)

--bare skips hooks, plugins, MCP discovery, and CLAUDE.md loading. Fastest startup. Requires ANTHROPIC_API_KEY (skips OAuth).

To selectively load context in bare mode: | To load | Flag | |---------|------| | System prompt additions | --append-system-prompt "text" or --append-system-prompt-file path | | Settings | --settings | | MCP servers | --mcp-config | | Custom agents | --agents '' |

Fallback Model for Overload

terminal(command="claude -p 'task' --fallback-model haiku --max-turns 5", timeout=90)

Automatically falls back to the specified model when the default is overloaded (print mode only).

Complete CLI Flags Reference

Session & Environment

| Flag | Effect | |------|--------| | -p, --print | Non-interactive one-shot mode (exits when done) | | -c, --continue | Resume most recent conversation in current directory | | -r, --resume | Resume specific session by ID or name (interactive picker if no ID) | | --fork-session | When resuming, create new session ID instead of reusing original | | --session-id | Use a specific UUID for the conversation | | --no-session-persistence | Don't save session to disk (print mode only) | | --add-dir | Grant Claude access to additional working directories | | -w, --worktree [name] | Run in an isolated git worktree at .claude/worktrees/ | | --tmux | Create a tmux session for the worktree (requires --worktree) | | --ide | Auto-connect to a valid IDE on startup | | --chrome / --no-chrome | Enable/disable Chrome browser integration for web testing | | --from-pr [number] | Resume session linked to a specific GitHub PR | | --file | File resources to download at startup (format: file_id:relative_path) |

Model & Performance

| Flag | Effect | |------|--------| | --model | Model selection: sonnet, opus, haiku, or full name like claude-sonnet-4-6 | | --effort | Reasoning depth: low, medium, high, max, auto | Both | | --max-turns | Limit agentic loops (print mode only; prevents runaway) | | --max-budget-usd | Cap API spend in dollars (print mode only) | | --fallback-model | Auto-fallback when default model is overloaded (print mode only) | | --betas | Beta headers to include in API requests (API key users only) |

Permission & Safety

| Flag | Effect | |------|--------| | --dangerously-skip-permissions | Auto-approve ALL tool use (file writes, bash, network, etc.) | | --allow-dangerously-skip-permissions | Enable bypass as an option without enabling it by default | | --permission-mode | default, acceptEdits, plan, auto, dontAsk, bypassPermissions | | --allowedTools | Whitelist specific tools (comma or space-separated) | | --disallowedTools | Blacklist specific tools | | --tools | Override built-in tool set ("" = none, "default" = all, or tool names) |

Output & Input Format

| Flag | Effect | |------|--------| | --output-format | text (default), json (single result object), stream-json (newline-delimited) | | --input-format | text (default) or stream-json (real-time streaming input) | | --json-schema | Force structured JSON output matching a schema | | --verbose | Full turn-by-turn output | | --include-partial-messages | Include partial message chunks as they arrive (stream-json + print) | | --replay-user-messages | Re-emit user messages on stdout (stream-json bidirectional) |

System Prompt & Context

| Flag | Effect | |------|--------| | --append-system-prompt | Add to the default system prompt (preserves built-in capabilities) | | --append-system-prompt-file | Add file contents to the default system prompt | | --system-prompt | Replace the entire system prompt (use --append instead usually) | | --system-prompt-file | Replace the system prompt with file contents | | --bare | Skip hooks, plugins, MCP discovery, CLAUDE.md, OAuth (fastest startup) | | --agents '' | Define custom subagents dynamically as JSON | | --mcp-config | Load MCP servers from JSON file (repeatable) | | --strict-mcp-config | Only use MCP servers from --mcp-config, ignoring all other MCP configs | | --settings | Load additional settings from a JSON file or inline JSON | | --setting-sources | Comma-separated sources to load: user, project, local | | --plugin-dir | Load plugins from directories for this session only | | --disable-slash-commands | Disable all skills/slash commands |

Debugging

| Flag | Effect | |------|--------| | -d, --debug [filter] | Enable debug logging with optional category filter (e.g., "api,hooks", "!1p,!file") | | --debug-file | Write debug logs to file (implicitly enables debug mode) |

Agent Teams

| Flag | Effect | |------|--------| | --teammate-mode | How agent teams display: auto, in-process, or tmux | | --brief | Enable SendUserMessage tool for agent-to-user communication |

Tool Name Syntax for --allowedTools / --disallowedTools

Read                    # All file reading
Edit                    # File editing (existing files)
Write                   # File creation (new files)
Bash                    # All shell commands
Bash(git *)             # Only git commands
Bash(git commit *)      # Only git commit commands
Bash(npm run lint:*)    # Pattern matching with wildcards
WebSearch               # Web search capability
WebFetch                # Web page fetching
mcp____   # Specific MCP tool

Settings & Configuration

Settings Hierarchy (highest to lowest priority)

1. CLI flags — override everything
2. Local project: .claude/settings.local.json (personal, gitignored)
3. Project: .claude/settings.json (shared, git-tracked)
4. User: ~/.claude/settings.json (global)

Permissions in Settings

{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": ["Bash(npm run lint:*)", "WebSearch", "Read"],
    "ask": ["Write(*.ts)", "Bash(git push*)"],
    "deny": ["Read(.env)", "Bash(rm -rf *)"]
  }
}

Memory Files (CLAUDE.md) Hierarchy

1. Global: ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md — applies to all projects
2. Project: ./CLAUDE.md — project-specific context (git-tracked)
3. Local: .claude/CLAUDE.local.md — personal project overrides (gitignored)

Use the # prefix in interactive mode to quickly add to memory: # Always use 2-space indentation.

Interactive Session: Slash Commands

Session & Context

| Command | Purpose | |---------|---------| | /help | Show all commands (including custom and MCP comm

…

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: braxtonROSE4
• Source: braxtonROSE4/zorro-agent
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.