From 309c54d31b51197d9e2f2801bfd21881eb88e2c9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: rope Date: Sat, 1 Aug 2026 17:34:50 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] qs-ask: answer via Claude Code on the subscription, not an API key MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit No API key and no separate billing: qs-ask now shells out to `claude -p`, which draws on the existing subscription already authenticated on this host. The trade is latency — Claude Code boots a Node process per question, ~6s measured against the raw API's ~1s — so the launcher now races Wikipedia and Claude instead of chaining them. Wikipedia fills the card in under a second and Claude supersedes it on arrival; chaining would have left the card blank for six seconds on every question. Isolation, verified: --safe-mode drops CLAUDE.md, skills, hooks, plugins and MCP while leaving auth working, which matters for correctness and not just speed — the global CLAUDE.md here asks for caveman-mode replies and that would have leaked into answers. --no-session-persistence writes no transcript, and a dedicated empty cwd keeps launcher questions out of any project's history or auto-memory. Confirmed no project namespace, no transcript and no memory write after a run. Not --bare, which looks right and is a trap: its auth is strictly ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, so it cannot use the subscription at all. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 --- hosts/FredOS-Mediaserver.nix | 112 +++++++++++++++++------------------ settings/quickshell.nix | 24 +++++--- 2 files changed, 72 insertions(+), 64 deletions(-) diff --git a/hosts/FredOS-Mediaserver.nix b/hosts/FredOS-Mediaserver.nix index 7a397f9..65da41a 100644 --- a/hosts/FredOS-Mediaserver.nix +++ b/hosts/FredOS-Mediaserver.nix @@ -61,77 +61,75 @@ done '') # Instant-answer backend for the quickshell launcher on the desktops: - # `printf '%s' "question" | ssh mediaserver qs-ask`. The Anthropic key - # lives here and nowhere else, so the desktops hold no credential and - # there's a single place to rotate it. + # `printf '%s' "question" | ssh mediaserver qs-ask`. + # + # Runs through Claude Code so it draws on fred's existing subscription — + # no API key, no separate billing. The trade is latency: Claude Code boots + # a Node process per question, so this takes ~6s against the raw API's + # ~1s. The launcher therefore shows its Wikipedia answer first and lets + # this one supersede it when it lands. # # Reads the question from stdin — passing it as an ssh argv element would # send it through the remote shell for a second round of word splitting. # - # Haiku 4.5 is the cheapest model and ample for a one-line factual - # answer: ~$0.0005 a query at $1/$5 per million input/output tokens. No - # `thinking` and no `effort` — `effort` errors on Haiku 4.5, and a - # one-sentence fact needs no reasoning tokens. + # Every flag here is either isolation or trimming the invocation: + # --safe-mode no CLAUDE.md, skills, hooks, plugins, MCP or + # custom agents. Critical for correctness, not + # just speed: fred's ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md tells + # Claude to answer in caveman mode, which would + # otherwise leak into launcher answers. Auth + # keeps working normally, which is what makes + # the subscription usable here. + # --no-session-persistence writes no transcript, so launcher questions + # never appear in /resume or any project history + # --tools "" no tools at all: nothing to load, and it + # cannot touch the filesystem or network + # --disable-slash-commands no skill resolution + # --strict-mcp-config ignore every MCP config (none supplied) + # --system-prompt replaces the full Claude Code system prompt + # with one line, rather than appending to it + # --permission-mode dontAsk never block waiting on a prompt nobody sees + # --model claude-haiku-4-5 smallest model — a one-line fact needs no more # - # Set the key up once (fred's own file, no sudo needed): - # mkdir -p ~/.config/anthropic - # printf '%s' sk-ant-... > ~/.config/anthropic/api-key - # chmod 600 ~/.config/anthropic/api-key + # NOT --bare, which looks like the right flag and is a trap: it skips even + # more, but its auth is "strictly ANTHROPIC_API_KEY or apiKeyHelper (OAuth + # and keychain are never read)" — i.e. it cannot use the subscription. # - # STDOUT is the launcher's channel: the answer, or nothing at all on a - # missing key, a failed call, or an UNKNOWN reply — silence is what the - # launcher reads as "fall back to Wikipedia", so it must stay clean. - # Every reason for that silence is reported on STDERR instead, which the - # launcher discards but a human running `qs-ask` by hand can read. + # STDOUT is the launcher's channel: the answer, or nothing at all if the + # call fails or the model doesn't know — silence is what the launcher + # reads as "keep the Wikipedia answer". Every reason for that silence goes + # to STDERR instead, which the launcher discards and a human running + # `qs-ask` by hand can read. (pkgs.writeShellScriptBin "qs-ask" '' q=$(${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/cat) [ -z "$q" ] && { echo "qs-ask: no question on stdin" >&2; exit 0; } - key_file="$HOME/.config/anthropic/api-key" - [ -r "$key_file" ] || { echo "qs-ask: no readable key at $key_file" >&2; exit 0; } - key=$(${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/tr -d '\n' < "$key_file") - [ -z "$key" ] && { echo "qs-ask: key file is empty" >&2; exit 0; } - # Catches the classic paste-the-placeholder-literally mistake, which - # otherwise only shows up as an opaque 401. - case "$key" in - sk-ant-...|*...) echo "qs-ask: key file holds a placeholder, not a real key" >&2; exit 0 ;; - esac - # jq builds the body, so a question containing quotes or backslashes - # can't break out of the JSON string. - body=$(${pkgs.jq}/bin/jq -n --arg q "$q" '{ - model: "claude-haiku-4-5", - max_tokens: 300, - system: "Answer the question in one or two short sentences, under 240 characters. Lead with the specific fact asked for, including units. No preamble, no caveats, no markdown, no follow-up offers. If you do not know, or the answer depends on live data you do not have, reply with exactly: UNKNOWN", - messages: [ { role: "user", content: $q } ] - }') + # Claude Code derives its project state (transcripts, auto-memory) from + # the working directory, so run from a dedicated empty one. Combined with + # --no-session-persistence and --safe-mode, a launcher question leaves no + # trace in the real projects' history or memory. + work="$HOME/.cache/qs-ask" + ${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/mkdir -p "$work" || { echo "qs-ask: cannot create $work" >&2; exit 0; } + cd "$work" || { echo "qs-ask: cannot enter $work" >&2; exit 0; } - # No -f here: a 4xx body carries the API's own error message, which is - # far more useful on stderr than curl's exit code. Status is appended on - # its own line so it can be split off the JSON. - resp=$(${pkgs.curl}/bin/curl -s -w '\n%{http_code}' --max-time 10 \ - https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages \ - -H 'content-type: application/json' \ - -H "x-api-key: $key" \ - -H 'anthropic-version: 2023-06-01' \ - --data-raw "$body") \ - || { echo "qs-ask: request failed (network or timeout)" >&2; exit 0; } + ans=$(printf '%s' "$q" | ${pkgs.claude-code}/bin/claude -p \ + --safe-mode \ + --no-session-persistence \ + --tools "" \ + --disable-slash-commands \ + --strict-mcp-config \ + --permission-mode dontAsk \ + --output-format text \ + --model claude-haiku-4-5 \ + --system-prompt 'Answer the question in one or two short sentences, under 240 characters. Lead with the specific fact asked for, including units. No preamble, no caveats, no markdown, no follow-up offers. If you do not know, or the answer depends on live data you do not have, reply with exactly: UNKNOWN' \ + 2>/dev/null) \ + || { echo "qs-ask: claude exited non-zero (auth expired? run 'claude' once to log in)" >&2; exit 0; } - code=''${resp##*$'\n'} - json=''${resp%$'\n'*} + ans=$(printf '%s' "$ans" | ${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/tr -d '\r' | ${pkgs.gnused}/bin/sed -e 's/^[[:space:]]*//' -e 's/[[:space:]]*$//') - if [ "$code" != 200 ]; then - printf 'qs-ask: HTTP %s — %s\n' "$code" \ - "$(printf '%s' "$json" | ${pkgs.jq}/bin/jq -r '.error.message // "no error message"')" >&2 - exit 0 - fi - - ans=$(printf '%s' "$json" | ${pkgs.jq}/bin/jq -r '[.content[]? | select(.type == "text") | .text] | join(" ")') - - # UNKNOWN or a refusal (empty content): stay quiet on stdout so the - # launcher's Wikipedia path answers instead. case "$ans" in - "" |null) echo "qs-ask: empty answer (refusal or no text block)" >&2; exit 0 ;; - UNKNOWN*) echo "qs-ask: model replied UNKNOWN" >&2; exit 0 ;; + "") echo "qs-ask: empty answer" >&2; exit 0 ;; + UNKNOWN*) echo "qs-ask: model replied UNKNOWN" >&2; exit 0 ;; esac printf '%s' "$ans" '') diff --git a/settings/quickshell.nix b/settings/quickshell.nix index fce0e7d..4cb6da2 100644 --- a/settings/quickshell.nix +++ b/settings/quickshell.nix @@ -1709,6 +1709,9 @@ in property string answerSource: "" property bool answerDropNext: false property bool askDropNext: false + // Claude answered the current query, so the slower-arriving + // Wikipedia result must not overwrite it. + property bool askWon: false property var answerCache: ({}) readonly property var answerStop: [ @@ -1798,6 +1801,7 @@ in answerTimer.stop(); killAnswer(); killAsk(); + askWon = false; answerFact = ""; answerLead = ""; answerTitle = ""; @@ -1817,12 +1821,16 @@ in showAnswer(hit); return; } - // Claude first — it answers the questions Wikipedia - // can't. Silence from it means "no key, unreachable, or - // doesn't know", and Wikipedia takes over. + // Both at once. Wikipedia fills the card in well under a + // second; Claude takes ~6s through Claude Code and + // supersedes it on arrival. Racing them beats chaining: + // Claude-then-fallback would leave the card blank for + // six seconds on every question. + askWon = false; killAsk(); askProc.command = [Commands.askFetch, q]; askProc.running = true; + startWiki(); } function startWiki() { @@ -1834,10 +1842,8 @@ in function takeAsk(raw) { if (askDropNext) { askDropNext = false; return; } const text = raw.trim(); - if (text === "") { - startWiki(); - return; - } + // Nothing to add — whatever Wikipedia found stands. + if (text === "") return; const res = { title: "", // no article behind it fact: text.slice(0, 400), @@ -1848,6 +1854,7 @@ in cacheAnswer(res); // Typing may have moved on while the call was out. if (answerQuery !== answerKey(searchInput.text)) return; + askWon = true; showAnswer(res); } @@ -1972,6 +1979,9 @@ in : "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/" + encodeURIComponent(title.replace(/ /g, "_")), source: "Wikipedia" }; + // Claude already answered this query — don't overwrite + // the better answer in the cache or on screen. + if (askWon) return; cacheAnswer(res); // Typing may have moved on while curl was out. if (answerQuery !== answerKey(searchInput.text)) return;