ccp

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Headless Claude Code automation without the headless mode 👀

What it is

ccp runs Claude Code like claude -p (feed a prompt, get the final answer on stdout), but bills your subscription instead of the Agent SDK credit pool.

It does this by driving a real interactive Claude Code TUI inside a detached tmux session: it launches Claude, types in your prompt, auto-answers the permission prompts, and scrapes the final reply. You get headless ergonomics; Claude thinks it's a normal interactive session.

claude -p     →  headless mode    →  Agent SDK credit pool
ccp.sh "..."  →  interactive TUI  →  subscription pool ✅

Requirements

• claude (logged in)
• tmux
• jq

Installation

Homebrew

brew install mthli/tap/ccp

This pulls in tmux and jq automatically and puts a ccp command on your PATH (use ccp wherever the examples below say ./ccp.sh). You still need claude installed separately and logged in.

From source

git clone https://github.com/mthli/ccp.git
cd ccp
./ccp.sh "say hi"

Usage

./ccp.sh "<prompt>"

The prompt goes in, the final answer comes out on stdout:

./ccp.sh "summarize README.md"
./ccp.sh "say hi" # quick end-to-end smoke test.

Permission mode

By default every tool call is auto-approved (allow). Choose how tool calls are handled with -p:

./ccp.sh -p allow "refactor utils.py" # auto-approve everything (default).
./ccp.sh -p deny  "scan the repo"     # reject every tool call.
./ccp.sh -p ask   "edit config"       # defer to the TUI's normal prompt.

Even under allow, a few irreversible Bash commands (rm -rf, mkfs, dd if=, fork bombs, …) are always hard-denied.

Setting environment variables

-e KEY=VALUE (repeatable) sets env vars on the launched session, inherited by Claude and every hook it runs:

./ccp.sh -e FOO=bar -e DEBUG=1 "print the FOO env var"

Naming the tmux session

By default the run uses a unique cc-<pid> tmux session. Pass -s to name it yourself, handy for attaching (tmux attach -t <name>) or running side by side:

./ccp.sh -s review "review the diff"

The name must not contain . or :, and must not match an existing session (ccp never reuses or kills a session it didn't create).

Passing options to claude

Everything after -- is forwarded verbatim to the underlying claude, so its own flags just work:

./ccp.sh "review the diff" -- --model opus --add-dir /tmp
./ccp.sh "audit deps"      -- --settings ./my-settings.json --mcp-config ./mcp.json

--settings is deep-merged into ccp's own settings; claude's -p/--print is ignored since ccp replaces headless mode.

Environment overrides

Variable	Default	Meaning
CCP_READY_TIMEOUT	60	Seconds to wait for the input box to appear.
CCP_ANSWER_TIMEOUT	0	Seconds to wait for the answer; 0 = wait forever.

Run ./ccp.sh --help for the full list of options.

How it works

ccp is pure bash, with no build step and no dependencies beyond the three tools above.

It coordinates four files:

• ccp.sh - the orchestrator. Writes a throwaway settings file (your real ~/.claude/settings.json is never touched), launches claude in a detached tmux session, pastes the prompt, waits for completion, and prints the answer.
• hooks/auto-permission.sh - a PreToolUse hook that answers each permission prompt, so the TUI never blocks on a y/n box.
• hooks/dump-transcript.sh - a Stop hook that pulls the final assistant reply out of the transcript and signals the orchestrator that it's done.
• hooks/dump-failure.sh - a StopFailure hook that fires when an API error ends the turn, so ccp stops waiting and exits instead of hanging.

If you run out of usage, ccp doesn't hang: an API-error turn trips the StopFailure hook (exit 5), and a subscription usage-limit wall (which the TUI shows without ending the turn, firing no hook) is detected in the pane and exits 4. The tmux session and temp files are cleaned up on every exit.

License

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2026 Matthew Lee