Collaborating with Claude Code

Drive Claude Code headlessly as an independent collaborator while the calling agent stays responsible for verification, synthesis, and final user-facing decisions.

The bridge (scripts/claude_bridge.py) wraps claude --print, streams progress to stderr, returns structured JSON with telemetry, and manages multi-turn continuity via SESSION_ID. Always go through the bridge — don't invoke claude directly — so output parsing and session handling stay consistent.

In Claude Code, run non-trivial calls in the background and watch the stderr progress:

Bash tool call:
  command: python3 skills/collaborating-with-claude/scripts/claude_bridge.py --cd "/project" --PROMPT "Analyze auth flow in src/auth/"
  run_in_background: true

run_in_background is a host tool parameter, not a shell argument. Use the task-output view to monitor timestamped stderr progress (session, responses, tools, cost) and the final JSON result.

Safety

Default to read-only delegation: --permission-mode plan (analyze, no edits/commands) or --tools "Read,Glob,Grep". Grant writes only deliberately (acceptEdits/auto), preferably in an isolated worktree. Do not hand secrets, private keys, or production data to Claude. Full permission-mode set and the worktree pattern: cli-reference.md, handoff-patterns.md.