Agent SDK Integration

Purpose

Build production-ready AI agents using the Agent SDK for Python. This skill provides hands-on workflows for implementing agent features including simple queries, interactive conversations, custom MCP tools, permission control, context loading, and error handling.

Quick Start

Simple one-shot query:

from claude_agent_sdk import query

async for message in query(prompt="What is the capital of France?"):
    print(message)

Interactive conversation:

from claude_agent_sdk import ClaudeSDKClient

async with ClaudeSDKClient() as client:
    await client.query("Hello!")
    async for msg in client.receive_response():
        print(msg)

When to Use This Skill

Explicit Triggers:

• "build agent with SDK"
• "use query() function"
• "create ClaudeSDKClient"
• "implement agent workflows"
• "add custom MCP tools"
• "configure agent permissions"
• "load CLAUDE.md context"
• "implement agent hooks"

Implicit Triggers:

• Implementing autonomous agent behavior
• Creating interactive chat agents
• Building batch processing workflows
• Adding custom tools to agents
• Managing agent permissions
• Integrating project context into agents

Debugging Scenarios:

• Agent not connecting to CLI
• Tools not available to agent
• Permission denied errors
• Context not loading correctly
• Hooks not executing

Instructions

Step 1: Choose the Right API Mode

Use query() for:

• Simple one-shot questions
• Batch processing of independent tasks
• Stateless operations
• When all inputs are known upfront
• CI/CD automation scripts

Use ClaudeSDKClient for:

• Interactive conversations with follow-ups
• Chat applications or REPL interfaces
• When you need to send messages based on responses
• Long-running sessions with state management
• Interrupt capabilities

Step 2: Build Simple Agent (query() Function)

Basic implementation:

from claude_agent_sdk import query, ClaudeAgentOptions

async for message in query(
    prompt="Analyze this code for security issues",
    options=ClaudeAgentOptions(
        system_prompt="You are a security expert",
        cwd="/path/to/project",
        permission_mode="default"
    )
):
    if hasattr(message, 'content'):
        print(message.content)

Key configuration options:

• system_prompt: Define agent expertise
• cwd: Set working directory
• permission_mode: Control tool execution ("default", "acceptEdits", "bypassPermissions")
• model: Choose model ("claude-sonnet-4", "claude-opus-4")

Step 3: Build Interactive Agent (ClaudeSDKClient)

Full conversation example:

from claude_agent_sdk import ClaudeSDKClient, ClaudeAgentOptions

async with ClaudeSDKClient(
    options=ClaudeAgentOptions(
        system_prompt="You are a helpful coding assistant",
        permission_mode="acceptEdits"
    )
) as client:
    # Send initial message
    await client.query("Help me write a Python web server")

    # Process response
    async for msg in client.receive_response():
        print(msg)

    # Follow-up question
    await client.query("Can you add error handling?")
    async for msg in client.receive_response():
        print(msg)

See references/implementation-guide.md for detailed patterns.

Step 4: Create Custom MCP Tools

Define tools with @tool decorator:

from claude_agent_sdk import tool, create_sdk_mcp_server

@tool("greet", "Greet a user by name", {"name": str})
async def greet(args):
    return {
        "content": [{"type": "text", "text": f"Hello, {args['name']}!"}]
    }

# Create MCP server
calculator = create_sdk_mcp_server(
    name="calculator",
    version="1.0.0",
    tools=[greet]
)

# Use with agent
options = ClaudeAgentOptions(
    mcp_servers={"calc": calculator},
    allowed_tools=["greet"]
)

See references/implementation-guide.md for error handling and advanced patterns.

Step 5: Configure Permissions and Tool Access

Fine-grained tool restrictions:

options = ClaudeAgentOptions(
    # Allow only specific tools
    allowed_tools=["Read", "Grep", "search_code"],

    # Block dangerous tools
    disallowed_tools=["Bash", "Write"],

    # Permission mode
    permission_mode="default"
)

Dynamic permission callback:

from claude_agent_sdk import PermissionResultAllow, PermissionResultDeny

async def can_use_tool(tool_name, tool_input, context):
    if tool_name in ["Read", "Grep", "Glob"]:
        return PermissionResultAllow()

    if tool_name == "Bash" and "rm" in str(tool_input):
        return PermissionResultDeny(
            message="Destructive bash commands are not allowed",
            interrupt=True
        )

    return PermissionResultAllow()

options = ClaudeAgentOptions(can_use_tool=can_use_tool)

See references/implementation-guide.md for complete examples.

Step 6: Load CLAUDE.md Context (setting_sources)

Load project and user instructions:

options = ClaudeAgentOptions(
    # Load CLAUDE.md files
    setting_sources=["user", "project"],

    # user: ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md (user-level instructions)
    # project: ./CLAUDE.md or ./.claude/CLAUDE.md (project-level)

    cwd="/path/to/project"
)

async for message in query(
    prompt="Review this code following project standards",
    options=options
):
    print(message)

When to use which source:

• "user": Personal preferences, global workflows
• "project": Team standards, project architecture
• "local": Machine-specific settings
• Best practice: Use ["user", "project"] for most workflows

Step 7: Implement Error Handling

Try/catch with specific exceptions:

from claude_agent_sdk import (
    ClaudeSDKError,
    CLIConnectionError,
    CLINotFoundError,
    ProcessError
)

try:
    async for message in query(prompt="Hello"):
        print(message)

except CLINotFoundError:
    print("Install CLI: npm install -g claude-code")

except CLIConnectionError as e:
    print(f"Connection failed: {e}")

except ProcessError as e:
    print(f"Process error (exit {e.exit_code}): {e.stderr}")

See references/implementation-guide.md for retry patterns.

Step 8: Add Hooks for Event-Driven Automation

PreToolUse hook:

from claude_agent_sdk import HookMatcher

async def log_tool_use(input_data, tool_use_id, context):
    tool_name = input_data.get("tool", {}).get("name")
    print(f"About to use tool: {tool_name}")
    return {}  # Empty = allow

options = ClaudeAgentOptions(
    hooks={
        "PreToolUse": [
            HookMatcher(matcher="Bash|Write", hooks=[log_tool_use])
        ]
    }
)

See references/implementation-guide.md for PostToolUse and blocking patterns.

Step 9: Implement Agent Delegation

Define custom agents:

from claude_agent_sdk import AgentDefinition

options = ClaudeAgentOptions(
    agents={
        "python-expert": AgentDefinition(
            description="Python code expert",
            prompt="Expert Python developer",
            tools=["Read", "Write"],
            model="opus"
        )
    }
)

async for message in query(
    prompt="@python-expert Review this code",
    options=options
):
    print(message)

See references/implementation-guide.md for multi-agent patterns.

Supporting Files

References

• api-reference.md - Complete API documentation including all classes, functions, and types
• implementation-guide.md - Detailed patterns for all steps including production examples

Scripts

• verify_sdk.py - Verify Agent SDK installation and configuration
• claude_agent_examples.py - 9 comprehensive examples for claude_agent module
• hook_integration_example.py - Hook patterns and workflows

Expected Outcomes

Successful Agent Implementation:

✅ Agent created with proper configuration
✅ Tools accessible and executing correctly
✅ Permissions enforced as expected
✅ Context loaded from CLAUDE.md files
✅ Error handling captures all exceptions
✅ Hooks executing at correct lifecycle points

Common Issues:

• CLI not found: Install with npm install -g claude-code
• Permission denied: Check permission_mode and allowed_tools
• Tools unavailable: Verify mcp_servers configuration
• Context not loading: Check setting_sources and cwd path

Requirements

Python Dependencies:

pip install claude-agent-sdk
# or
uv pip install claude-agent-sdk

System Requirements:

# Claude CLI
npm install -g claude-code

# Verify installation
claude-code --version

Environment Variables:

# API Key (default)
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your_key

# OR Amazon Bedrock
export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK=1
export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your_key
export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your_secret
export AWS_REGION=us-east-1

# OR Google Vertex AI
export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_VERTEX=1
export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=/path/to/service-account.json

Integration Points

With Project Patterns

ServiceResult Pattern:

from domain.value_objects import ServiceResult

async def agent_query_service(prompt: str) -> ServiceResult[list]:
    try:
        messages = []
        async for message in query(prompt=prompt):
            messages.append(message)
        return ServiceResult.success(messages)
    except ClaudeSDKError as e:
        return ServiceResult.failure(f"Agent query failed: {e}")

Fail-Fast Imports:

# ✅ CORRECT - Fail fast
from claude_agent_sdk import query, ClaudeAgentOptions

# ❌ WRONG - Optional dependency
try:
    from claude_agent_sdk import query
except ImportError:
    query = None

See references/implementation-guide.md for dependency injection patterns.

Common Patterns

Code Review Agent

async def code_review_agent(file_path: str):
    async for message in query(
        prompt=f"Review {file_path} for code quality",
        options=ClaudeAgentOptions(
            system_prompt="Senior code reviewer",
            setting_sources=["project"],
            allowed_tools=["Read", "Grep"]
        )
    ):
        yield message

Batch Processing

async def batch_analyze(files: list[str]):
    results = {}
    for file_path in files:
        messages = []
        async for msg in query(
            prompt=f"Analyze {file_path}",
            options=ClaudeAgentOptions(allowed_tools=["Read"])
        ):
            messages.append(msg)
        results[file_path] = messages
    return results

See references/implementation-guide.md for interactive debugging and production patterns.

Red Flags to Avoid

• Using optional imports instead of fail-fast (violates project standards)
• Not handling CLINotFoundError (users get cryptic errors)
• Skipping permission configuration (security risk)
• Not loading project context with setting_sources (ignores team standards)
• Using bypassPermissions in production (dangerous)
• Not implementing error handling (unreliable agents)
• Hardcoding paths instead of using cwd parameter
• Not testing hooks before deployment
• Mixing query() and ClaudeSDKClient in same workflow (confusion)
• Not cleaning up client connections (resource leaks)

Notes

• API Mode Choice: Use query() for one-shot, ClaudeSDKClient for interactive
• Permission Modes: "default" = ask user, "acceptEdits" = auto-accept, "bypassPermissions" = no checks
• Context Loading: Always use ["user", "project"] for team workflows
• Error Handling: Always catch CLINotFoundError and CLIConnectionError
• Hook Matchers: Use regex patterns or None for all tools
• Tool Restrictions: Prefer allowed_tools over disallowed_tools for security
• Agent Delegation: Use @agent-name syntax in prompts
• Production: Always implement permission callbacks and logging hooks

See Also

• API Reference - Complete API documentation
• Implementation Guide - Detailed patterns and examples
• Official SDK Documentation - Anthropic's official docs