claude-tap 0.1.47

Trace AI CLI API requests via local reverse and forward proxies. Inspect system prompts, messages, tools, and token usage.

claude-tap

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Intercept and inspect API traffic from Claude Code, Codex CLI, OpenCode, or Cursor CLI. See exactly how they construct system prompts, manage conversation history, select tools, and use tokens — in a beautiful trace viewer.

Dark Mode / Diff View

OpenClaw: If you are Openclaw and integrating claude-tap with OpenClaw, also read the dedicated setup guide.

Install

Requires Python 3.11+ and the CLI you want to trace: Claude Code, Codex CLI, OpenCode, or Cursor CLI.

# Recommended
uv tool install claude-tap

# Or with pip
pip install claude-tap

Upgrade: uv tool upgrade claude-tap or pip install --upgrade claude-tap

Quick Start

Run the client you want to inspect through claude-tap:

# Claude Code
claude-tap

# Claude Code with live browser viewer
claude-tap --tap-live

# Codex CLI
claude-tap --tap-client codex

# Cursor CLI
claude-tap --tap-client cursor -- -p --trust --model auto "hello"

Flags that are not --tap-* are forwarded to the selected client after --.

Claude Code examples

# Pass flags through to Claude Code
claude-tap -- --model claude-opus-4-6
claude-tap -c    # continue last conversation

# Skip all permission prompts (auto-accept tool calls)
claude-tap -- --dangerously-skip-permissions

# Live viewer + skip permissions + specific model
claude-tap --tap-live -- --dangerously-skip-permissions --model claude-sonnet-4-6

Codex CLI auth modes and examples

Codex CLI supports two authentication modes with different upstream targets:

Auth Mode	How to authenticate	Upstream target	Notes
OAuth (ChatGPT subscription)	codex login	https://chatgpt.com/backend-api/codex	Default for ChatGPT Plus/Pro/Team users
API Key	Set OPENAI_API_KEY	https://api.openai.com (default)	Pay-per-use via OpenAI Platform

claude-tap auto-detects the Codex target from your auth state when possible.

# OAuth users (ChatGPT Plus/Pro/Team) — auto-detected after `codex login`
claude-tap --tap-client codex

# If auto-detection cannot read your Codex auth file, specify the target explicitly
claude-tap --tap-client codex --tap-target https://chatgpt.com/backend-api/codex

# API Key users — default OpenAI API target works out of the box
claude-tap --tap-client codex

# With specific model
claude-tap --tap-client codex -- --model codex-mini-latest

# Full auto-approval (skip all permission prompts)
claude-tap --tap-client codex -- --full-auto

# OAuth + full auto + live viewer
claude-tap --tap-client codex --tap-live -- --full-auto

Cursor CLI examples

Cursor CLI uses forward proxy mode by default. Use --model auto on free plans, and omit --mode ask when you want tool calls.

claude-tap --tap-client cursor -- -p --trust --model auto "hello"
claude-tap --tap-client cursor -- -p --trust --model auto --continue "continue"

Browser preview, export, and proxy-only mode

# Disable auto-open of HTML viewer after exit (on by default)
claude-tap --tap-no-open

# Live mode — real-time viewer opens in browser while client runs
claude-tap --tap-live
claude-tap --tap-live --tap-live-port 3000    # fixed port for live viewer

# Standalone dashboard — browse trace history without launching a client
claude-tap dashboard
claude-tap dashboard --tap-output-dir ./my-traces --tap-live-port 3000

When the client exits, you can also manually open the generated viewer:

open .traces/*/trace_*.html

You can also regenerate a self-contained HTML viewer from an existing JSONL trace:

claude-tap export .traces/2026-02-28/trace_141557.jsonl -o trace.html
# or:
claude-tap export .traces/2026-02-28/trace_141557.jsonl --format html

Proxy-only mode

Start the proxy without launching a client — useful for custom setups or connecting from a separate terminal:

# Claude Code
claude-tap --tap-no-launch --tap-port 8080
# In another terminal:
ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8080 claude

# Codex CLI (OAuth)
claude-tap --tap-client codex --tap-target https://chatgpt.com/backend-api/codex --tap-no-launch --tap-port 8080
# In another terminal:
OPENAI_BASE_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1 codex -c 'openai_base_url="http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1"'

# Codex CLI (API Key)
claude-tap --tap-client codex --tap-no-launch --tap-port 8080
# In another terminal:
OPENAI_BASE_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1 codex -c 'openai_base_url="http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1"'

Run claude-tap --help for all options. Flags that are not --tap-* are forwarded to the selected client.

Viewer Features

Trace viewer capabilities

The viewer is a single self-contained HTML file (zero external dependencies):

• Structural diff — compare consecutive requests to see exactly what changed: new/removed messages, system prompt diffs, character-level inline highlighting
• Path filtering — filter by API endpoint (e.g., /v1/messages only)
• Model grouping — sidebar groups requests by model, with Claude-family priority ordering
• Token usage breakdown — input / output / cache read / cache creation
• Tool inspector — expandable cards with tool name, description, and parameter schema
• Search — full-text search across messages, tools, prompts, and responses
• Dark mode — toggle light/dark themes (respects system preference)
• Keyboard navigation — j/k or arrow keys
• Copy helpers — one-click copy of request JSON or cURL command
• i18n — English, 简体中文, 日本語, 한국어, Français, العربية, Deutsch, Русский

Architecture

How it works

How it works:

1. claude-tap starts a reverse or forward proxy and spawns the selected client
2. Base URL clients are pointed at the reverse proxy; clients without base URL support use proxy/CA environment variables
3. SSE and WebSocket streams are forwarded as chunks/messages arrive with low proxy overhead
4. Each request-response pair or WebSocket session is recorded to a dated trace_*.jsonl
5. On exit, a self-contained HTML viewer is generated
6. Live mode (optional) broadcasts updates to browser via SSE

Key features: 🔒 Common auth headers auto-redacted · ⚡ Low-overhead streaming · 📦 Self-contained viewer · 🔄 Real-time live mode

Community

Star History

Contributors

Thanks goes to these contributors:

liaohch3 💻 📖 🚧 ⚠️

BKK 💻

YoungCan-Wang 💻

0xkrypton 💻

CYJiang 💻

陈展鹏 📖

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Start with CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT