claudish-usage

What this skill does

plugin: bun
updated: 2026-01-20

# Claudish Usage Skill

**Version:** 1.1.0
**Purpose:** Guide AI agents on how to use Claudish CLI to run Claude Code with OpenRouter models
**Status:** Production Ready

## ⚠️ CRITICAL RULES - READ FIRST

### 🚫 NEVER Run Claudish from Main Context

**Claudish MUST ONLY be run through sub-agents** unless the user **explicitly** requests direct execution.

**Why:**
- Running Claudish directly pollutes main context with 10K+ tokens (full conversation + reasoning)
- Destroys context window efficiency
- Makes main conversation unmanageable

**When you can run Claudish directly:**
- ✅ User explicitly says "run claudish directly" or "don't use a sub-agent"
- ✅ User is debugging and wants to see full output
- ✅ User specifically requests main context execution

**When you MUST use sub-agent:**
- ✅ User says "use Grok to implement X" (delegate to sub-agent)
- ✅ User says "ask GPT-5 to review X" (delegate to sub-agent)
- ✅ User mentions any model name without "directly" (delegate to sub-agent)
- ✅ Any production task (always delegate)

### 📋 Workflow Decision Tree

```
User Request
    ↓
Does it mention Claudish/OpenRouter/model name? → NO → Don't use this skill
    ↓ YES
    ↓
Does user say "directly" or "in main context"? → YES → Run in main context (rare)
    ↓ NO
    ↓
Find appropriate agent or create one → Delegate to sub-agent (default)
```

## 🤖 Agent Selection Guide

### Step 1: Find the Right Agent

**When user requests Claudish task, follow this process:**

1. **Check for existing agents** that support proxy mode or external model delegation
2. **If no suitable agent exists:**
   - Suggest creating a new proxy-mode agent for this task type
   - Offer to proceed with generic `general-purpose` agent if user declines
3. **If user declines agent creation:**
   - Warn about context pollution
   - Ask if they want to proceed anyway

### Step 2: Agent Type Selection Matrix

| Task Type | Recommended Agent | Fallback | Notes |
|-----------|------------------|----------|-------|
| **Code implementation** | Create coding agent with proxy mode | `general-purpose` | Best: custom agent for project-specific patterns |
| **Code review** | Use existing code review agent + proxy | `general-purpose` | Check if plugin has review agent first |
| **Architecture planning** | Use existing architect agent + proxy | `general-purpose` | Look for `architect` or `planner` agents |
| **Testing** | Use existing test agent + proxy | `general-purpose` | Look for `test-architect` or `tester` agents |
| **Refactoring** | Create refactoring agent with proxy | `general-purpose` | Complex refactors benefit from specialized agent |
| **Documentation** | `general-purpose` | - | Simple task, generic agent OK |
| **Analysis** | Use existing analysis agent + proxy | `general-purpose` | Check for `analyzer` or `detective` agents |
| **Other** | `general-purpose` | - | Default for unknown task types |

### Step 3: Agent Creation Offer (When No Agent Exists)

**Template response:**
```
I notice you want to use [Model Name] for [task type].

RECOMMENDATION: Create a specialized [task type] agent with proxy mode support.

This would:
✅ Provide better task-specific guidance
✅ Reusable for future [task type] tasks
✅ Optimized prompting for [Model Name]

Options:
1. Create specialized agent (recommended) - takes 2-3 minutes
2. Use generic general-purpose agent - works but less optimized
3. Run directly in main context (NOT recommended - pollutes context)

Which would you prefer?
```

### Step 4: Common Agents by Plugin

**Frontend Plugin:**
- `typescript-frontend-dev` - Use for UI implementation with external models
- `frontend-architect` - Use for architecture planning with external models
- `senior-code-reviewer` - Use for code review (can delegate to external models)
- `test-architect` - Use for test planning/implementation

**Bun Backend Plugin:**
- `backend-developer` - Use for API implementation with external models
- `api-architect` - Use for API design with external models

**Code Analysis Plugin:**
- `codebase-detective` - Use for investigation tasks with external models

**No Plugin:**
- `general-purpose` - Default fallback for any task

### Step 5: Example Agent Selection

**Example 1: User says "use Grok to implement authentication"**
```
Task: Code implementation (authentication)
Plugin: Bun Backend (if backend) or Frontend (if UI)

Decision:
1. Check for backend-developer or typescript-frontend-dev agent
2. Found backend-developer? → Use it with Grok proxy
3. Not found? → Offer to create custom auth agent
4. User declines? → Use general-purpose with file-based pattern
```

**Example 2: User says "ask GPT-5 to review my API design"**
```
Task: Code review (API design)
Plugin: Bun Backend

Decision:
1. Check for api-architect or senior-code-reviewer agent
2. Found? → Use it with GPT-5 proxy
3. Not found? → Use general-purpose with review instructions
4. Never run directly in main context
```

**Example 3: User says "use Gemini to refactor this component"**
```
Task: Refactoring (component)
Plugin: Frontend

Decision:
1. No specialized refactoring agent exists
2. Offer to create component-refactoring agent
3. User declines? → Use typescript-frontend-dev with proxy
4. Still no agent? → Use general-purpose with file-based pattern
```

## Overview

**Claudish** is a CLI tool that allows running Claude Code with any OpenRouter model (Grok, GPT-5, MiniMax, Gemini, etc.) by proxying requests through a local Anthropic API-compatible server.

**Key Principle:** **ALWAYS** use Claudish through sub-agents with file-based instructions to avoid context window pollution.

## What is Claudish?

Claudish (Claude-ish) is a proxy tool that:
- ✅ Runs Claude Code with **any OpenRouter model** (not just Anthropic models)
- ✅ Uses local API-compatible proxy server
- ✅ Supports 100% of Claude Code features
- ✅ Provides cost tracking and model selection
- ✅ Enables multi-model workflows

**Use Cases:**
- Run tasks with different AI models (Grok for speed, GPT-5 for reasoning, Gemini for vision)
- Compare model performance on same task
- Reduce costs with cheaper models for simple tasks
- Access models with specialized capabilities

## Requirements

### System Requirements
- **OpenRouter API Key** - Required (set as `OPENROUTER_API_KEY` environment variable)
- **Claudish CLI** - Install with: `npm install -g claudish` or `bun install -g claudish`
- **Claude Code** - Must be installed

### Environment Variables

```bash
# Required
export OPENROUTER_API_KEY='sk-or-v1-...'  # Your OpenRouter API key

# Optional (but recommended)
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY='sk-ant-api03-placeholder'  # Prevents Claude Code dialog

# Optional - default model
export CLAUDISH_MODEL='x-ai/grok-code-fast-1'  # or ANTHROPIC_MODEL
```

**Get OpenRouter API Key:**
1. Visit https://openrouter.ai/keys
2. Sign up (free tier available)
3. Create API key
4. Set as environment variable

## Quick Start Guide

### Step 1: Install Claudish

```bash
# With npm (works everywhere)
npm install -g claudish

# With Bun (faster)
bun install -g claudish

# Verify installation
claudish --version
```

### Step 2: Get Available Models

```bash
# List ALL OpenRouter models grouped by provider
claudish --models

# Fuzzy search models by name, ID, or description
claudish --models gemini
claudish --models "grok code"

# Show top recommended programming models (curated list)
claudish --top-models

# JSON output for parsing
claudish --models --json
claudish --top-models --json

# Force update from OpenRouter API
claudish --models --force-update
```

### Step 3: Run Claudish

**Interactive Mode (default):**
```bash
# Shows model selector, persistent session
claudish
```

**Single-shot Mode:**
```bash
# One task and exit (requires --model)
claudish --model x-ai/grok-code-fast-1 "implement user authentication"
```

**With stdin for large prompts:**
```bash
# Read prompt from stdin (useful for git diffs, code review)
git diff | claud