# Billing Context

## The June 15, 2026 Split

Anthropic's billing header field `cc_entrypoint` determines which pool a request draws from:

- `cc_entrypoint=cli` → interactive TUI → unlimited subscription
- `cc_entrypoint=sdk-cli` → `claude -p` / Agent SDK → monthly credit pool

Credit pool sizes: Pro $20/mo, Max 5x $100/mo, Max 20x $200/mo. No rollover.

`claude -p` is currently misclassified as `sdk-cli` even for subscription users (GitHub issue #59105 — acknowledged by Anthropic, not fixed). The June 15 change formalizes this split rather than fixing the classification.

## Why PTY Preserves `cli` Billing

Running `claude` under a real PTY (via `forkpty`) produces `cc_entrypoint=cli` because:
1. `claude` detects it has a real TTY on stdout
2. It enters interactive/TUI mode
3. The billing header is set at startup based on the entrypoint mode

Any wrapper that provides a PTY inherits the `cli` classification. Screen-scraping and hook-based approaches extract the response without changing the billing header.

## Prior Art Repos

| Repo | Approach | Billing |
|------|----------|---------|
| `smithersai/claude-p` | Zig + zmux PTY + Stop hook | cli ✓ |
| `hristo2612/jinn` | Node.js + node-pty + hook relay | cli ✓ |
| `halfwhey/claudraband` | Shell + tmux persistent sessions | cli ✓ |
| `npow/claude-relay` | Wraps `claude -p` | sdk-cli ✗ |

## NEEDLE Integration Context

The `jedarden/NEEDLE` repo has `plugins/claude-interactive/` — a Python PTY wrapper added 2026-05-16. It uses idle-timeout completion detection and `pyte` screen parsing. `claude-print` is the productionized, standalone version of that plugin with Stop hook completion and real token counting.

The NEEDLE agent config (`claude-print.yaml`) will replace `claude-anthropic-sonnet.yaml` for workers that should bill against the subscription.