What is claude-local-api?

claude-local-api is a tool that turns the Claude Code CLI into a local API server your scripts can talk to, without needing a separate Anthropic API key or dealing with HTTP networking. Instead of making web requests to Anthropic's servers with a paid API key, it reuses the login you already have from the Claude Code CLI and routes requests through a Unix socket, a fast, low-overhead connection method that only works on the same machine. Here is how it works: you run a small Python server that sits in the background and listens on a Unix socket file at /tmp/claude_api.sock. Any script on your machine can then send a prompt to that socket and get back Claude's reply. You paste a single helper function into your script, no package installs needed, just Python's built-in socket and json libraries, call ask_claude with your question, and get a response. You can pick which model tier to use: the fastest lightweight option for simple tasks like classification, a mid-range option for summaries and structured output, or the most capable tier for complex analysis. The server handles multiple requests at the same time by queuing them, so running concurrent tasks in a loop works automatically. You would use this when you want to add AI capabilities to local automation scripts, data processing pipelines, or personal tools, and you want to avoid managing an API key or paying per call beyond your existing subscription. The README notes it is local-only (the socket cannot be reached over a network), calls are stateless with no memory between requests, and the full README is longer than what was provided.