claude-better-cli
Compatibility-first Claude CLI reimplementation with faster startup, lower memory, and drop-in command compatibility
- Installs
- 788
- Last 24h
- —
- Trending rank
- —
- Security
- Not audited
Install
Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.
npx skills add https://github.com/reason-machines/trending-skills --skill claude-better-cli- 01
Install
Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.
- 02
Describe the task
Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads claude-better-cli automatically when relevant.
- 03
Review the result
The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.
SKILL.md
The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.
claude-better
Skill by ara.so — Daily 2026 Skills collection.
claude-better is a compatibility-first reimplementation of the Claude CLI focused on aggressive performance improvements: up to 73% faster startup and up to 80% lower resident memory, while maintaining 100% command-level compatibility with the original Claude CLI.
What It Does
- Faster cold starts:
--helpgoes from 182ms → 49ms;chatsession bootstrap from 311ms → 102ms - Lower memory: sustained interactive sessions drop from ~412MB → ~83MB RSS
- Drop-in compatible: 100% pass rate on primary command forms, 100% exit-code match, 98.7% byte-for-byte output parity
- Zero migration cost: existing scripts, aliases, and muscle memory continue to work unchanged
Availability
⚠️ Source code is provided for selected high-profile customers only and available upon request. Contact the maintainer at krzyzanowskim/claude-better for access.
If you have access, install as described in your onboarding materials. The binary is a drop-in replacement — substitute it wherever you invoke claude.
Installation (Once You Have Access)
# Typical binary drop-in replacement pattern
# Place the claude-better binary in your PATH before the original claude
export PATH="/path/to/claude-better/bin:$PATH"
# Verify it's being picked up
which claude
claude --version
# Or alias it explicitly without touching PATH
alias claude='/path/to/claude-better/bin/claude-better'
Key Commands
claude-better mirrors the Claude CLI surface exactly. All commands you know work as-is:
# Show help (cold start: ~49ms vs 182ms baseline)
claude --help
# Check auth status (warm start: ~58ms vs 146ms baseline)
claude auth status
# Start an interactive chat session (~102ms bootstrap vs 311ms baseline)
claude chat
# One-shot non-interactive command (~131ms vs 428ms baseline)
claude -p "Summarize this file" < input.txt
# All standard flags pass through unchanged
claude --model claude-opus-4-5 chat
claude --output-format json -p "List 3 facts about Rust"
Configuration
claude-better reads the same configuration as the original Claude CLI. No new config format is required.
# Standard Claude CLI env vars are respected
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=$ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
# The tool reads ~/.claude/ config directory as normal
# No migration of config files needed
Performance Characteristics
| Scenario | Baseline | claude-better | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
--help cold start | 182ms | 49ms | 73% faster |
auth status warm | 146ms | 58ms | 60% faster |
chat bootstrap | 311ms | 102ms | 67% faster |
| One-shot command | 428ms | 131ms | 69% faster |
| RSS after 30min session | 412MB | 83MB | 80% less |
| Streaming jitter p95 | 91ms | 24ms | 74% lower |
Scripting Patterns
Since compatibility is 100%, all existing scripting patterns work unchanged:
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Existing Claude CLI scripts work without modification
# Non-interactive pipeline usage
echo "Explain this error:" | cat - error.log | claude -p /dev/stdin
# Exit code handling (100% compatible)
if claude auth status; then
echo "Authenticated"
else
echo "Not authenticated — run: claude auth login"
exit 1
fi
# JSON output parsing
claude --output-format json -p "What is 2+2?" | jq '.content'
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Long-lived interactive session — memory pressure is significantly reduced
# Useful on memory-constrained machines (laptops, CI runners)
claude chat
Compatibility Notes
- CLI surface: 100% compatible with targeted Claude CLI command forms
- Exit codes: 100% match on documented exit-code behavior
- Output parity: 98.7% byte-for-byte; 100% semantic parity after whitespace/timestamp/terminal-width normalization
- Tested environments: macOS (Apple Silicon), Linux, containerized CI
- Tested against: 1,200 synthetic invocations, 87 flag combinations, 42 interactive flows, 14 failure-mode scenarios
Troubleshooting
Binary not found after install
# Ensure claude-better/bin is earlier in PATH than original claude
echo $PATH | tr ':' '\n' | grep -n claude
which claude # should point to claude-better
Unexpected output differences
# 1.3% of outputs differ before normalization (timestamps, whitespace, terminal width)
# If a script breaks on exact output matching, add normalization:
claude -p "..." | tr -s ' ' | sed 's/[[:space:]]*$//'
Auth not recognized
# claude-better reads the same auth store as the original CLI
# If auth fails, re-authenticate via the standard flow:
claude auth login
Falling back to original CLI
# If you hit an edge case, unset the alias/PATH change to revert instantly
unalias claude
# or
export PATH="<original-path-without-claude-better>"
Architecture Notes (For Contributors / Evaluators)
The performance gains come from specific implementation choices documented in the README:
- Zero-copy streaming pipeline for token output (reduces streaming jitter)
- Precomputed command registry instead of dynamic startup discovery (cuts cold-start time)
- Aggressively bounded allocation for session state (drives memory reduction)
- Lazy subsystem initialization — only the active command path pays startup cost
- Compatibility shim layer that preserves flags/behavior without carrying the full original stack
FAQ
What does the claude-better-cli skill do?
Compatibility-first Claude CLI reimplementation with faster startup, lower memory, and drop-in command compatibility
How do I install claude-better-cli?
Run npx skills add https://github.com/reason-machines/trending-skills --skill claude-better-cli in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/claude-better-cli/ (personal) or .claude/skills/claude-better-cli/ (project).
Which AI agents can use claude-better-cli?
Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.
Is claude-better-cli safe to install?
No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.
Who maintains claude-better-cli?
It is published by reason-machines in reason-machines/trending-skills. It has 788 recorded installs.
More from reason-machines/trending-skills
openclaw-control-center
reason-machines/trending-skills
Local-first, security-first control center for OpenClaw agents — visibility dashboard with readonly defaults, token attribution, collaboration tracing, and safe write operations.
inkos-multi-agent-novel-writing
reason-machines/trending-skills
Multi-agent CLI system for autonomous novel writing, auditing, and revision with human review gates
claude-hud-statusline
reason-machines/trending-skills
A Claude Code plugin that displays a real-time HUD showing context usage, active tools, running agents, and todo progress in your terminal statusline.
understand-anything-knowledge-graph
reason-machines/trending-skills
Turn any codebase into an interactive knowledge graph using Claude Code skills — explore, search, and ask questions about any project visually.
agency-agents-ai-specialists
reason-machines/trending-skills
A collection of specialized AI agent personalities for Claude Code, Cursor, Aider, Windsurf, and other AI coding tools — covering engineering, design, marketing, sales, and more.
agent-browser-automation
reason-machines/trending-skills
Headless browser automation CLI for AI agents using native Rust binary with Chrome DevTools Protocol
Popular business & finance skills
sales-enablement
coreyhaines31/marketingskills
When the user wants to create sales collateral, pitch decks, one-pagers, objection handling docs, or demo scripts. Also use when the user mentions 'sales deck,' 'pitch deck,' 'one-pager,' 'leave-behind,' 'objection handling,' 'deal-specific ROI analysis,' 'demo script,' 'talk track,' 'sales playbook,' 'proposal template,' 'buyer persona card,' 'battle card,' 'battlecard,' 'competitive one-pager,' 'win-loss analysis,' 'why are we losing deals,' 'loss reasons,' 'how do I respond to this objection,' 'prospect just said,' 'help my sales team,' 'sales materials,' or 'what should I give my sales reps,' 'cold call script,' or 'voicemail script.' Use this for any document or asset that helps a sales team close deals. For public competitor comparison pages, see competitors. For running buyer interviews or churn research, see customer-research. For marketing website copy, see copywriting. For cold outreach emails, see cold-email. For the offer being sold (bonuses, guarantees, pricing structure),
revops
coreyhaines31/marketingskills
When the user wants help with revenue operations, lead lifecycle management, or marketing-to-sales handoff processes. Also use when the user mentions 'RevOps,' 'revenue operations,' 'lead scoring,' 'outbound pipeline stages,' 'lead routing,' 'MQL,' 'SQL,' 'pipeline stages,' 'deal desk,' 'CRM automation,' 'marketing-to-sales handoff,' 'data hygiene,' 'leads aren't getting to sales,' 'pipeline management,' 'lead qualification,' or 'when should marketing hand off to sales.' Use this for anything involving the systems and processes that connect marketing to revenue. For cold outreach emails, see cold-email. For email drip campaigns, see emails. For pricing decisions, see pricing.
sales-funnel-blueprint
autonnel/autonnel-skills
Turn an offer into a concrete multi-step sales funnel spec - page-by-page structure, price ladder, copy outline and the metrics each step must hit. Use when asked to build a sales funnel, marketing funnel, landing page flow, lead magnet funnel, webinar funnel, tripwire or VSL funnel, when planning a product launch page flow, or when someone asks "what pages do I need" for selling something online.
pricing
coreyhaines31/marketingskills
When the user wants help with pricing decisions, packaging, or monetization strategy. Also use when the user mentions 'pricing,' 'pricing tiers,' 'freemium,' 'free trial,' 'packaging,' 'price increase,' 'value metric,' 'Van Westendorp,' 'willingness to pay,' 'monetization,' 'how much should I charge,' 'my pricing is wrong,' 'pricing page,' 'annual vs monthly,' 'per seat pricing,' 'should I offer a free plan,' 'pricing page teardown,' 'pricing page audit,' 'is my pricing page AI-readable,' or 'can AI read my pricing.' Use this whenever someone is figuring out what to charge, how to structure their plans, or wants to audit a pricing page (for humans and for the AI agents that shortlist tools). For in-app upgrade screens, see paywalls. For offer construction (bonuses, guarantees, value framing, naming) on services/courses/coaching/high-ticket B2B, see offers.
cross-border-ecommerce
nexscope-ai/ecommerce-skills
Cross-border e-commerce expansion advisor. Scores target markets on 8 weighted dimensions (market size, ecommerce penetration, competition, regulatory complexity, logistics infrastructure, payment ecosystem, cultural distance, IP protection), compares 5 fulfillment models with cost and transit data, provides country-by-country tax/duty compliance guides (EU VAT/IOSS, UK VAT, US sales tax, CA GST, AU GST, JP consumption tax), maps local payment preferences by market, and builds a phased expansion roadmap. No API key required.
pricing-strategy
coreyhaines31/marketingskills
When the user wants help with pricing decisions, packaging, or monetization strategy. Also use when the user mentions 'pricing,' 'pricing tiers,' 'freemium,' 'free trial,' 'packaging,' 'price increase,' 'value metric,' 'Van Westendorp,' 'willingness to pay,' 'monetization,' 'how much should I charge,' 'my pricing is wrong,' 'pricing page,' 'annual vs monthly,' 'per seat pricing,' or 'should I offer a free plan.' Use this whenever someone is figuring out what to charge or how to structure their plans. For in-app upgrade screens, see paywall-upgrade-cro.