Claude CLI Integration

Why integrate Claude CLI with OpenClaw?

If you’re using both Claude CLI (claude code) and OpenClaw, they share the same Anthropic API quota. Knowing your usage across both tools helps you:

Avoid hitting rate limits unexpectedly
Plan heavy work sessions around remaining quota
Monitor the 4-hour rolling window and weekly limits

The challenge: Claude CLI is interactive. It needs a terminal (TTY) to run commands like /usage.

The solution: Use tmux to automate the interaction and capture output.

How it works

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  You ask OpenClaw: "check my Claude usage"          │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                         │
                         ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  OpenClaw runs a script that:                       │
│  1. Starts Claude CLI in a tmux session             │
│  2. Accepts workspace trust                         │
│  3. Sends /usage command                            │
│  4. Captures the output                             │
│  5. Kills the session and returns stats             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                         │
                         ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  OpenClaw sends you the formatted usage stats       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Prerequisites

Claude CLI installed:

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

tmux installed:
```
sudo apt install tmux
```
Claude CLI authenticated (first run completes OAuth flow)

The script

Create ~/.openclaw/scripts/claude-usage:

#!/bin/bash
# Get Claude CLI usage stats via tmux automation

# Kill any existing session
tmux kill-session -t claude_usage 2>/dev/null

# Start claude in tmux (detached)
tmux new-session -d -s claude_usage -c "$HOME/.openclaw/workspace" "$HOME/.local/bin/claude"
sleep 2

# Accept workspace trust prompt
tmux send-keys -t claude_usage Enter
sleep 2

# Send /usage command
tmux send-keys -t claude_usage "/usage" Enter
sleep 2

# Select Usage tab
tmux send-keys -t claude_usage Enter
sleep 2

# Capture output
OUTPUT=$(tmux capture-pane -t claude_usage -p | grep -A 20 "Current session" | head -20)

# Cleanup
tmux kill-session -t claude_usage 2>/dev/null

# Display
echo "📊 CLAUDE USAGE STATS"
echo "━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━"
echo "$OUTPUT"

Make it executable:

chmod +x ~/.openclaw/scripts/claude-usage

How the automation works

Step 1: Create a detached tmux session

tmux new-session -d -s claude_usage -c /path/to/workspace "claude"

-d = detached (runs in background)
-s claude_usage = session name
-c /path = working directory
Last argument = command to run

Step 2: Send keystrokes

tmux send-keys -t claude_usage Enter

This simulates pressing Enter to accept the workspace trust prompt.

Step 3: Capture terminal output

tmux capture-pane -t claude_usage -p

capture-pane = grabs visible terminal content
-p = print to stdout (instead of to a buffer)

Step 4: Clean up

tmux kill-session -t claude_usage

Always clean up to avoid orphaned sessions.

Usage stats explained

The /usage command in Claude CLI shows:

Metric	Description
Current session	4-hour rolling window (resets continuously)
Current week (all models)	Weekly quota across Opus, Sonnet, Haiku
Current week (Sonnet only)	Separate Sonnet-specific quota
Extra usage	Optional paid overflow (if enabled)

Example output:

Current session
████████████▌                                      25% used
Resets 3am (UTC)

Current week (all models)
███████                                            14% used
Resets Feb 15, 7pm (UTC)

Current week (Sonnet only)
██▌                                                5% used
Resets Feb 16, 4am (UTC)

Integrating with your CLI

If you have a personal CLI (like turtleand), add a command:

claude-usage|cu)
    echo "Fetching Claude CLI usage stats..."
    "$SCRIPTS_DIR/claude-usage"
    ;;

Now you can run:

turtleand claude-usage
# or
turtleand cu

Asking OpenClaw to check usage

Once the script exists, just tell your agent:

“Check my Claude usage”

OpenClaw will run the script and return the stats.

You can also set up a cron job to get usage reports at specific times:

{
  "name": "claude-usage-morning",
  "schedule": {
    "kind": "cron",
    "expr": "0 9 * * *",
    "tz": "America/Argentina/Buenos_Aires"
  },
  "payload": {
    "kind": "systemEvent",
    "text": "Run ~/.openclaw/scripts/claude-usage and send me the results."
  },
  "sessionTarget": "main"
}