claude-code-sdk

What it is and what it does

Claude Code SDK is a Python wrapper for querying Claude Code, an AI agent that can read, write, and execute code. It provides both a simple async query interface and a more advanced client for bidirectional conversations with custom tools and lifecycle hooks. The package depends on anyio for async I/O, mcp for Model Context Protocol support, and typing-extensions for type hints.

The SDK is officially deprecated and no longer maintained; Anthropic recommends migrating to claude-agent-sdk. It supports Python 3.10 through 3.13 and is distributed as a pure wheel with low install friction. While the repository remains active and has accumulated significant GitHub stars, new projects should use the successor package.

Use it for:

• Query Claude Code for code generation or analysis tasks via a simple async interface.
• Build interactive agents that maintain bidirectional conversation state with Claude Code.
• Define custom tools as Python functions and expose them to Claude via in-process MCP servers.
• Implement hooks to intercept and validate tool use (e.g., blocking unsafe bash commands before execution).
• Migrate from external MCP server processes to in-process tool definitions for simpler deployment.

Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying

Python SDK for querying Claude Code and building interactive agents with custom tools and hooks, now deprecated in favor of claude-agent-sdk.

No—the package is officially deprecated and no longer maintained. Install claude-agent-sdk instead. If you have an existing codebase using claude-code-sdk, plan a migration to the successor package rather than starting new projects with this one.

Install

claude-code-sdk on PyPI

pip install claude-code-sdk

uv add claude-code-sdk

poetry add claude-code-sdk

Installing claude-code-sdk

Before you install

Low install friction with a pure-wheel distribution. Active maintenance as of the latest release, though the package is officially deprecated and no longer maintained—users should migrate to claude-agent-sdk.

License in practice

MIT license permits unrestricted use, modification, and distribution with minimal obligations, making it suitable for both open-source and commercial projects.

Quickstart

pip install claude-code-sdk

import anyio
from claude_code_sdk import query

async def main():
    async for message in query(prompt="What is 2 + 2?"):
        print(message)

anyio.run(main())

Requires Python 3.10+, Node.js, and Claude Code installed via npm (npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code).

Verify before relying

• Whether claude-agent-sdk is a direct drop-in replacement or requires code changes.
• Current status of the Claude Code CLI and whether it remains actively maintained.

Package facts

Evidence: claude_code_sdk-0.0.25-py3-none-any.whl

Keywords: ai, anthropic, claude, sdk

Tags

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Further reading