Claude Better Cli
Swap in a faster, lower-memory Claude-compatible CLI without rewriting scripts or aliases.
Overview
Claude Better CLI is an agent skill most often used in Build (also Operate, Ship) that describes a drop-in, faster Claude CLI replacement with cited startup and memory gains.
Install
npx skills add https://github.com/aradotso/trending-skills --skill claude-better-cliWhat is this skill?
- Claims up to 73% faster startup and up to 80% lower RSS for interactive sessions
- Drop-in compatibility: 100% primary command forms and exit-code match cited
- 98.7% byte-for-byte output parity versus original Claude CLI
- Trigger phrases include faster startup, memory optimization, and claude-better harness
- Source access is gated—onboarding from maintainer when not public
- --help latency cited 182ms → 49ms
- Chat bootstrap cited 311ms → 102ms
- Interactive RSS cited ~412MB → ~83MB
Adoption & trust: 693 installs on skills.sh; 31 GitHub stars; 0/3 security scanners passed (skills.sh audits).
What problem does it solve?
The stock Claude CLI feels slow to start and heavy in RAM, but you cannot afford to break scripts that assume identical commands and exit codes.
Who is it for?
Power users running long interactive Claude sessions on modest hardware who need alias-compatible performance tuning.
Skip if: Builders without maintainer access to claude-better binaries, or teams that require official Anthropic-only tooling policies.
When should I use this skill?
Triggers include use claude-better, faster claude cli, drop-in claude cli replacement, or claude-better compatibility checks.
What do I get? / Deliverables
You evaluate or adopt claude-better with documented parity targets and performance benchmarks while keeping existing CLI muscle memory.
- Performance-validated CLI alias migration plan
- Compatibility checklist against primary commands and exit codes
- Documented trigger phrases for agent routing to claude-better
Recommended Skills
Journey fit
Spans multiple journey phases - primary shelf plus alternate fits below.
Daily agent driving happens while building, but CLI performance also matters when operating long interactive sessions. Agent-tooling is primary because the skill targets harness startup, memory, and command parity for Claude-style workflows.
Where it fits
Alias `claude` to claude-better before a full-day feature branch so each new session cold-starts in ~100ms instead of ~300ms.
Keep release scripts that call `claude --help` unchanged while verifying exit codes still match for CI gates.
Run sustained interactive debugging on a laptop with tight RAM by relying on cited ~83MB RSS versus ~412MB baseline.
How it compares
A performance-focused CLI harness swap—not an MCP server, skill pack, or cloud deployment guide.
Common Questions / FAQ
Who is claude-better-cli for?
Solo builders and indie teams who depend on Claude-compatible terminal workflows and want faster cold starts and lower memory without rewriting automation.
When should I use claude-better-cli?
During Build for daily coding sessions, during Ship when CI or review scripts wrap the CLI, and during Operate when long-running terminal agents need stable RSS—especially after triggers like 'faster claude cli' or 'claude-better compatibility'.
Is claude-better-cli safe to install?
Treat third-party CLI reimplementations as high-trust decisions; read the Security Audits panel on this Prism page and verify maintainer-provided artifacts before replacing production aliases.
SKILL.md
READMESKILL.md - Claude Better Cli
# claude-better > Skill by [ara.so](https://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**: `--help` goes from 182ms → 49ms; `chat` session 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](https://github.com/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) ```bash # 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:$PATH" # Verify it's being picked up which claude claude --version ``` ```bash # Or alias it explicitly without touching PATH alias claude='/path/to/claude-better/bin/claude-better' ``` ## Key Commands `claude-better` mirrors the Claude CLI surface exactly. All commands you know work as-is: ```bash # Show help (cold start: ~49ms vs 182ms baseline) claude --help # Check auth status (warm start: ~58ms vs 146ms baseline) claude auth status # Start an interactive chat session (~102ms bootstrap vs 311ms baseline) claude chat # One-shot non-interactive command (~131ms vs 428ms baseline) claude -p "Summarize this file" < input.txt # All standard flags pass through unchanged claude --model claude-opus-4-5 chat claude --output-format json -p "List 3 facts about Rust" ``` ## Configuration `claude-better` reads the same configuration as the original Claude CLI. No new config format is required. ```bash # Standard Claude CLI env vars are respected export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=$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: ```bash #!/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' ``` ```bash #!/usr/bin/env bash # Long-lived interactive session — memory pressure is significantly reduced # Useful on memory-constrained machines (laptops