kid-sid/claude-spellbook/claude-api

Claude Code and agent skill by kid-sid/claude-spellbook

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Use when building or debugging apps that call the Claude API — implementing tool use, streaming, vision, prompt caching, batch processing, extended thinking, or an agentic loop with the Anthropic SDK.

Install

npx vskill@latest install kid-sid/claude-spellbook/claude-api

SKILL.md

Claude API

Build applications with the Anthropic Claude API and SDKs.

When to Activate

  • Building applications that call the Claude API
  • Code imports anthropic (Python) or @anthropic-ai/sdk (TypeScript)
  • User asks about Claude API patterns, tool use, streaming, or vision
  • Implementing agent workflows with Claude Agent SDK
  • Optimizing API costs, token usage, or latency

Model Selection

ModelIDBest For
Opus 4.1claude-opus-4-1Complex reasoning, architecture, research
Sonnet 4claude-sonnet-4-0Balanced coding, most development tasks
Haiku 3.5claude-3-5-haiku-latestFast responses, high-volume, cost-sensitive

Default to Sonnet 4 unless the task requires deep reasoning (Opus) or speed/cost optimization (Haiku). For production, prefer pinned snapshot IDs over aliases.

Python SDK

Installation
bash
pip install anthropic
Basic Message
python
import anthropic
client = anthropic.Anthropic() # reads ANTHROPIC_API_KEY from env
message = client.messages.create(
model="claude-sonnet-4-0",
max_tokens=1024,
messages=[
{"role": "user", "content": "Explain async/await in Python"}
]
)
print(message.content[0].text)
Streaming
python
with client.messages.stream(
model="claude-sonnet-4-0",
max_tokens=1024,
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Write a haiku about coding"}]
) as stream:
for text in stream.text_stream:
print(text, end="", flush=True)
System Prompt
python
message = client.messages.create(
model="claude-sonnet-4-0",
max_tokens=1024,
system="You are a senior Python developer. Be concise.",
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Review this function"}]
)

TypeScript SDK

Installation
bash
npm install @anthropic-ai/sdk
Basic Message
typescript
import Anthropic from "@anthropic-ai/sdk";
const client = new Anthropic(); // reads ANTHROPIC_API_KEY from env
const message = await client.messages.create({
model: "claude-sonnet-4-0",
max_tokens: 1024,
messages: [
{ role: "user", content: "Explain async/await in TypeScript" }
],
});
console.log(message.content[0].text);
Streaming
typescript
const stream = client.messages.stream({
model: "claude-sonnet-4-0",
max_tokens: 1024,
messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Write a haiku" }],
});
for await (const event of stream) {
if (event.type === "content_block_delta" && event.delta.type === "text_delta") {
process.stdout.write(event.delta.text);
}
}

Tool Use

Define tools and let Claude call them:

python
tools = [
{
"name": "get_weather",
"description": "Get current weather for a location",
"input_schema": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"location": {"type": "string", "description": "City name"},
"unit": {"type": "string", "enum": ["celsius", "fahrenheit"]}
},
"required": ["location"]
}
}
]
message = client.messages.create(
model="claude-sonnet-4-0",
max_tokens=1024,
tools=tools,
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "What's the weather in SF?"}]
)
# Handle tool use response
for block in message.content:
if block.type == "tool_use":
# Execute the tool with block.input
result = get_weather(**block.input)
# Send result back
follow_up = client.messages.create(
model="claude-sonnet-4-0",
max_tokens=1024,
tools=tools,
messages=[
{"role": "user", "content": "What's the weather in SF?"},
{"role": "assistant", "content": message.content},
{"role": "user", "content": [
{"type": "tool_result", "tool_use_id": block.id, "content": str(result)}
]}
]
)

Vision

Send images for analysis:

python
import base64
with open("diagram.png", "rb") as f:
image_data = base64.standard_b64encode(f.read()).decode("utf-8")
message = client.messages.create(
model="claude-sonnet-4-0",
max_tokens=1024,
messages=[{
"role": "user",
"content": [
{"type": "image", "source": {"type": "base64", "media_type": "image/png", "data": image_data}},
{"type": "text", "text": "Describe this diagram"}
]
}]
)

Extended Thinking

For complex reasoning tasks:

python
message = client.messages.create(
model="claude-sonnet-4-0",
max_tokens=16000,
thinking={
"type": "enabled",
"budget_tokens": 10000
},
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Solve this math problem step by step..."}]
)
for block in message.content:
if block.type == "thinking":
print(f"Thinking: {block.thinking}")
elif block.type == "text":
print(f"Answer: {block.text}")

Prompt Caching

Cache large system prompts or context to reduce costs:

python
message = client.messages.create(
model="claude-sonnet-4-0",
max_tokens=1024,
system=[
{"type": "text", "text": large_system_prompt, "cache_control": {"type": "ephemeral"}}
],
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Question about the cached context"}]
)
# Check cache usage
print(f"Cache read: {message.usage.cache_read_input_tokens}")
print(f"Cache creation: {message.usage.cache_creation_input_tokens}")

Batches API

Process large volumes asynchronously at 50% cost reduction:

python
import time
batch = client.messages.batches.create(
requests=[
{
"custom_id": f"request-{i}",
"params": {
"model": "claude-sonnet-4-0",
"max_tokens": 1024,
"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": prompt}]
}
}
for i, prompt in enumerate(prompts)
]
)
# Poll for completion
while True:
status = client.messages.batches.retrieve(batch.id)
if status.processing_status == "ended":
break
time.sleep(30)
# Get results
for result in client.messages.batches.results(batch.id):
print(result.result.message.content[0].text)

Claude Agent SDK

Build multi-step agents:

python
# Note: Agent SDK API surface may change — check official docs
import anthropic
# Define tools as functions
tools = [{
"name": "search_codebase",
"description": "Search the codebase for relevant code",
"input_schema": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {"query": {"type": "string"}},
"required": ["query"]
}
}]
# Run an agentic loop with tool use
client = anthropic.Anthropic()
messages = [{"role": "user", "content": "Review the auth module for security issues"}]
while True:
response = client.messages.create(
model="claude-sonnet-4-0",
max_tokens=4096,
tools=tools,
messages=messages,
)
if response.stop_reason == "end_turn":
break
# Handle tool calls and continue the loop
messages.append({"role": "assistant", "content": response.content})
# ... execute tools and append tool_result messages

Cost Optimization

StrategySavingsWhen to Use
Prompt cachingUp to 90% on cached tokensRepeated system prompts or context
Batches API50%Non-time-sensitive bulk processing
Haiku instead of Sonnet~75%Simple tasks, classification, extraction
Shorter max_tokensVariableWhen you know output will be short
StreamingNone (same cost)Better UX, same price

Error Handling

python
import time
from anthropic import APIError, RateLimitError, APIConnectionError
try:
message = client.messages.create(...)
except RateLimitError:
# Back off and retry
time.sleep(60)
except APIConnectionError:
# Network issue, retry with backoff
pass
except APIError as e:
print(f"API error {e.status_code}: {e.message}")

Environment Setup

bash
# Required
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"
# Optional: set default model
export ANTHROPIC_MODEL="claude-sonnet-4-0"

Never hardcode API keys. Always use environment variables.

Red Flags

  • Not setting `max_tokens` explicitly — omitting it uses the SDK default which may be far too low for your use case, causing truncated responses with no error raised
  • Using `client.messages.create()` in a tight loop without backoff — hitting rate limits with immediate retries amplifies the problem; use the SDK's built-in retry config or tenacity with exponential backoff
  • Passing raw user input directly as the user message — prompt injection can redirect the model's behavior; sanitize or structure user input within a constrained template
  • Enabling extended thinking (`budget_tokens`) without raising `max_tokens` — thinking tokens count against max_tokens; a small max_tokens causes the request to error before the model produces output
  • Polling the Batches API in a tight `while True` loop with `time.sleep(1)` — batches can take minutes to hours; use time.sleep(30) at minimum, or a webhook/callback if available
  • Caching the `Anthropic` client instance across forked processes — the underlying httpx session is not fork-safe; instantiate a new client per process in multiprocessing scenarios
  • Using an alias model ID (e.g., `claude-sonnet-4-0`) in production — aliases can be remapped to a new model version without warning, changing behavior; pin to a dated snapshot ID for reproducible production behavior
  • Logging the full request/response payload — responses may echo back sensitive user data; log only metadata (model, token counts, stop reason), never message content

Checklist

  • [ ] API key loaded from environment variable, not hardcoded
  • [ ] Model pinned to a specific version (not latest)
  • [ ] max_tokens set explicitly for every request
  • [ ] Rate limit and API errors caught and retried with backoff
  • [ ] Streaming used for long responses to avoid timeout
  • [ ] Tool schemas validated; required fields listed explicitly
  • [ ] Prompt caching headers set for repeated system prompts
  • [ ] Costs estimated before running batch or high-volume jobs
  • [ ] Response content checked for stop_reason before use
  • [ ] No sensitive data logged from request/response payloads

Security

  • Security scanPassed, 95 of 100Pattern checks on the skill's files.
  • Model reviewPassed

Quality evaluation

  • Task evaluationNot runNo evaluation yet. Run one in Skill Studio.

Source

Popularity

Repository stars
186
Repository forks
15
7-day trend score
26

Stars and forks are for the whole GitHub repository, not this skill alone. Not refreshed yet.

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