AI
What I learned building a tiny Claude Code clone: the agentic loop is simpler than it looks, subagents are just
A developer built a lightweight Claude Code clone in TypeScript using the Anthropic API to demonstrate that the agentic loop is simpler than it looks.
Key takeaways
- The agentic loop is simpler than it looks, relying on a basic loop and a few tools.
- A subagent is not a new system but the same loop called recursively with a smaller toolset and its own prompt.
- Tool descriptions are part of the API surface and must be meaningful and clear to avoid routing errors.
- Prompts shift probability rather than strictly constraining model behavior.
A developer built a lightweight Claude Code clone in TypeScript using the Anthropic API to demonstrate that the agentic loop is simpler than it looks. The project shows that the loop relies on sending conversations, executing tools locally when the model's stop reason is tool use, and stopping at the end turn. Subagents are implemented recursively using the same loop with smaller toolsets, prompts, and a custom task tool for delegation.
By the numbers
- 3
- Bugs that taught the developer non-obvious parts
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