Review Claude Agent SDK Application

You are tasked with reviewing a Claude Agent SDK (Python) application to ensure it follows SDK best practices and official documentation patterns. Follow these steps carefully:

Reference Documentation

Before starting, load the claude-agent-sdk skill to access patterns, examples, and the validation checklist:

# Load the skill for comprehensive SDK knowledge
/skill claude-agent-sdk

The skill provides:

• Validation checklist: assets/sdk-validation-checklist.md (comprehensive review guide)
• SDK patterns: SKILL.md and references/ (official best practices)
• Working examples: examples/ (reference implementations)
• Template: assets/sdk-template.py (ideal structure)

Review Approach

You have TWO options for reviewing SDK applications:

Option 1: Automated Validation (Recommended)

Launch the agent-sdk-verifier-py subagent for comprehensive automated review:

# The subagent will:
# - Read all application files
# - Check SDK patterns and configuration
# - Validate against official documentation
# - Provide detailed report with specific issues and recommendations

Best for:

• Quick validation
• New applications
• Pre-deployment checks
• Comprehensive coverage

Option 2: Manual Guided Review

Follow the validation checklist step-by-step with guided assistance.

Best for:

• Learning SDK patterns
• Understanding specific issues
• Deep dive into SDK concepts
• Educational reviews

Gather Information

Ask the user (if not provided via $ARGUMENTS):

1. Application path: "What is the path to your SDK application?"

   • If $ARGUMENTS is provided, use that as the application path
   • Wait for response before continuing

2. Review type: "Would you like:

   • Automated validation (launch agent-sdk-verifier)
   • Manual guided review (step-by-step checklist)
   • Both (automated first, then deep dive on issues)"
   • Wait for response before continuing

Automated Validation Flow

If user chooses automated validation:

1. Launch verifier agent:

   • Use Task tool to launch agent-sdk-verifier subagent
   • Provide the application path to the agent
   • Wait for verification report

2. Review the report:

   • Overall Status: PASS | PASS WITH WARNINGS | FAIL
   • Critical Issues: Must be fixed before deployment
   • Warnings: Suboptimal patterns or improvements
   • Passed Checks: Correctly configured elements
   • Recommendations: Specific improvements with references

3. Address issues:

   • For each critical issue: explain the problem and provide fix
   • For warnings: explain why the recommendation matters
   • Reference specific skill documentation for context

4. Re-validate if changes made:

   • After fixes, offer to re-run validation
   • Ensure all critical issues are resolved

Manual Guided Review Flow

If user chooses manual review, systematically work through the validation checklist (assets/sdk-validation-checklist.md):

Section 1: Imports & Dependencies

Read the application files and check:

• Async runtime import (anyio or asyncio)
• Claude SDK imports are accurate
• UV script headers (if single-file script)

Ask user: "Found any issues with imports? (Y/N)"

If yes, explain the issue and show correct pattern from skill examples.

Section 2: Async Runtime

Check:

• Runtime execution (anyio.run() or asyncio.run())
• Async/await patterns are correct
• Context managers for ClaudeSDKClient

Ask user: "Found any issues with async patterns? (Y/N)"

Section 3: query() vs ClaudeSDKClient Choice

Check:

• Correct approach for use case
• Not using hooks/custom tools with query()

Ask user: "Is the query()/ClaudeSDKClient choice appropriate? (Y/N)"

If no, explain when to use each approach (reference SKILL.md lines 29-44).

Section 4: Orchestrator Configuration (if applicable)

Check:

• System prompt is "claude_code" for orchestrators
• Task tool is included in allowed_tools
• Agents are registered programmatically

Ask user: "Found any orchestrator configuration issues? (Y/N)"

Section 5: Agent Definitions (if applicable)

Check:

• Agent structure is correct (description, prompt, tools, model)
• Agent names match between definition and usage
• Tools are restricted to minimum needed

Ask user: "Found any agent definition issues? (Y/N)"

Section 6: Permission Control

Check:

• Permission strategy is appropriate
• Permission mode is valid
• Permission callback (if used) is correct

Ask user: "Found any permission issues? (Y/N)"

Section 7: Hooks (if used)

Check:

• Hooks ONLY used with ClaudeSDKClient
• Hook types are supported (not using SessionStart, etc.)
• Hook signature is correct
• Hook output structure is valid

Ask user: "Found any hook issues? (Y/N)"

Section 8: ClaudeSDKClient Usage (if applicable)

Check:

• Context manager pattern is used
• Query → receive_response flow
• Interrupts (if used) are correct

Ask user: "Found any ClaudeSDKClient usage issues? (Y/N)"

Section 9: Message Handling

Check:

• Message types are checked correctly
• TextBlock extraction is correct
• ResultMessage handling

Ask user: "Found any message handling issues? (Y/N)"

Section 10: Error Handling

Check:

• API key validation (if running standalone)
• Safe dictionary access
• Async exception handling

Ask user: "Found any error handling issues? (Y/N)"

Section 11: Settings & Configuration

Check:

• setting_sources is configured appropriately
• Model selection is appropriate
• Budget limits (if needed)

Ask user: "Found any configuration issues? (Y/N)"

Section 12: Best Practices

Check:

• Follows DRY principle
• Clear comments and documentation
• Type hints are used
• No anti-patterns

Ask user: "Found any best practice violations? (Y/N)"

Manual Review Summary

After completing all sections, provide:

## Validation Summary

### ✅ Passed Checks:
- [List of passed checks]

### ❌ Issues Found:
- [List of issues with severity: CRITICAL | WARNING | INFO]

### 🔧 Fixes Required:
1. [Specific fix with file:line reference and code example]
2. [Specific fix with file:line reference and code example]

### 📊 Overall Assessment:
- **SDK Pattern Adherence**: [High/Medium/Low]
- **Production Ready**: [Yes/No/With Fixes]
- **Recommended Next Steps**: [Specific actions]

Providing Fixes

For each issue identified:

1. Explain the problem:

   • Why it's an issue
   • What SDK pattern is being violated
   • Reference to skill documentation

2. Show the correct pattern:

   • Code example from skill examples or template
   • Explain why this pattern is preferred
   • Link to relevant skill reference

3. Provide specific fix:

   • Exact code change needed
   • File and line reference
   • Before/after comparison if helpful

Follow-up Actions

After review:

1. Offer to implement fixes:

   • "Would you like me to implement these fixes?"
   • If yes, make changes and re-validate

2. Suggest re-validation:

   • "Would you like to run automated validation to confirm fixes?"
   • Launch agent-sdk-verifier-py if requested

3. Recommend next steps:

   • Additional features to consider
   • Testing recommendations
   • Deployment considerations

Important Notes

• USE THE VALIDATION CHECKLIST: assets/sdk-validation-checklist.md is your comprehensive guide
• REFERENCE SKILL DOCUMENTATION: Always link to specific skill files for context
• SHOW WORKING EXAMPLES: Use examples from examples/ directory
• BE SPECIFIC: Provide file:line references and exact code changes
• EXPLAIN WHY: Don't just identify issues, explain the SDK reasoning
• PRIORITIZE ISSUES: CRITICAL (breaks functionality) > WARNING (suboptimal) > INFO (nice to have)
• VERIFY FIXES: Re-validate after making changes
• USE AGENT-SDK-VERIFIER-PY: Leverage automated validation for comprehensive coverage

Key SDK Patterns to Verify

Always check these common issues:

1. Orchestrator missing system_prompt: Must use "claude_code"
2. Orchestrator missing Task tool: Cannot delegate without it
3. Agent name mismatches: Definition name must match usage
4. Hooks with query(): Not supported, use ClaudeSDKClient
5. Custom tools with query(): Not supported, use ClaudeSDKClient
6. Excessive tool permissions: Restrict to minimum needed
7. Missing agent registration: Use agents={} parameter
8. Wrong async runtime call: Use anyio.run() or asyncio.run()
9. Missing context manager: ClaudeSDKClient requires async with
10. Unsafe dictionary access: Use .get() for optional fields

Begin by asking about the application path (if not provided) and review type preference.