Claude Code Integration

Overview

RTK integrates with Claude Code to automatically optimize command outputs, reducing token consumption by 60-90% across all your coding sessions. The integration uses a PreToolUse hook that transparently rewrites commands before execution.

What’s a hook? Claude Code hooks are scripts that run before/after tool execution. RTK’s hook intercepts Bash commands (like git status) and rewrites them to rtk git status before the shell sees them. This is completely transparent to Claude.

Why Hooks > CLAUDE.md Instructions

There are two ways to tell Claude Code about RTK:

Approach	Adoption Rate	Context Overhead	Works with Subagents
CLAUDE.md instructions	~60-70%	2000 tokens	❌ Often ignored
PreToolUse hook	100%	10 tokens	✅ Always active

The hook-first approach is superior because:

Guaranteed execution: Commands are rewritten automatically, regardless of whether Claude follows instructions
Minimal context: Only 10 lines in RTK.md vs 137 lines of instruction boilerplate
Subagent-proof: Works in nested conversations where CLAUDE.md may be ignored
Zero friction: Claude never needs to “remember” to use rtk

Hook-first mode (recommended)

rtk init --global

Installs:

Hook script at ~/.claude/hooks/rtk-rewrite.sh
Slim awareness doc at ~/.claude/RTK.md (10 lines)
Reference @RTK.md in ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md
Registration in ~/.claude/settings.json

Legacy mode (compatibility)

rtk init --global --claude-md

Injects 137-line instruction block into ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md. No hook, Claude must follow instructions manually.

Installation Walkthrough

Step 1: Check Prerequisites

Verify RTK is installed:

rtk --version  # Should show "rtk 0.23.0" or newer
rtk gain       # Should show token savings stats

Name collision: There are two different “rtk” packages. If rtk gain doesn’t work, you installed the wrong one (Rust Type Kit instead of Rust Token Killer). See Installation Guide.

Step 2: Run Global Init

The default mode installs the hook and minimal context:

rtk init --global

This will:

✅ Create ~/.claude/hooks/rtk-rewrite.sh (executable)
✅ Create ~/.claude/RTK.md (10 lines, meta command reference)
✅ Add @RTK.md to ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md (or create if missing)
⚙️ Prompt: “Patch existing settings.json? [y/N]“

Step 3: Settings.json Patching

Claude Code needs to know the hook exists. RTK can patch ~/.claude/settings.json automatically:

rtk init --global
# Prompts: Patch settings.json? [y/N]
# Type 'y' to approve

rtk init --global --auto-patch
# Patches immediately without prompting

rtk init --global --no-patch
# Prints JSON snippet for manual setup

What gets added to settings.json:

{
  "hooks": {
    "PreToolUse": [
      {
        "matcher": "Bash",
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "~/.claude/hooks/rtk-rewrite.sh"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

RTK creates a backup at ~/.claude/settings.json.bak before making changes.

Step 4: Restart Claude Code

Critical: The hook only activates after a restart.

Close Claude Code completely
Reopen Claude Code
Test in any conversation:

git status

You should see ultra-compact output instead of the raw git output. The command was transparently rewritten to rtk git status.

Step 5: Verify Installation

Check the hook is active:

rtk init --show

Expected output:

📋 rtk Configuration:

✅ Hook: ~/.claude/hooks/rtk-rewrite.sh (executable, with guards)
✅ RTK.md: ~/.claude/RTK.md (slim mode)
✅ Integrity: hook hash verified
✅ Global (~/.claude/CLAUDE.md): @RTK.md reference
✅ settings.json: RTK hook configured

Installation Modes Comparison

All modes support both global (--global) and local (no flag) scope. Global applies to all Claude Code sessions, local applies to the current project only.

Command	Scope	Hook	RTK.md	CLAUDE.md	Tokens in Context	Use Case
`rtk init -g`	Global	✅	✅ (10 lines)	@RTK.md	~10	Recommended: All projects
`rtk init -g --claude-md`	Global	❌	❌	Full (137 lines)	~2000	Legacy compatibility
`rtk init -g --hook-only`	Global	✅	❌	Nothing	0	Hook only, no docs
`rtk init`	Local	❌	❌	Full (137 lines)	~2000	Single project

Hook-first Mode (Default)

rtk init --global

✅ 100% command adoption
✅ 10 tokens in context
✅ Works with all subagents
⚠️ Requires Unix (macOS/Linux)

Legacy Mode

rtk init --global --claude-md

⚠️ 60-70% adoption (depends on Claude following instructions)
⚠️ 2000 tokens in context
❌ Subagents may ignore instructions
✅ Works on Windows

Hook-only Mode

rtk init --global --hook-only

✅ Zero context footprint
⚠️ Claude won’t know about meta commands (rtk gain, rtk discover, rtk proxy)
Use case: Minimal setup, hook-only automation

Local Project Mode

rtk init  # No --global flag

Injects full instructions into ./CLAUDE.md (current directory). No hook, no global config. Use for single-project setup or when you don’t have write access to ~/.claude/.

Restart Required

Claude Code must be restarted after installation for the hook to activate. Without a restart, commands will not be rewritten.

How to verify:

Close Claude Code completely (quit the application)
Reopen Claude Code
Open any conversation
Type: git status
Inspect output — should be ultra-compact (3-5 lines, not 20+ lines)

Verification Steps

1. Check Hook Status

rtk init --show

Look for:

✅ Hook exists and is executable
✅ RTK.md present (slim mode)
✅ settings.json configured

2. Test Command Rewriting

In a Claude Code conversation, type:

git status

Expected: Compact output like:

3 modified, 1 untracked ✓
  M src/main.rs
  M Cargo.toml
  ?? new_file.txt

Unexpected (hook not working): Full git output with 20+ lines.

3. Check Token Savings

After a session, verify tracking:

rtk gain

Should show commands like rtk git status, rtk cargo test, etc. with token savings percentages.

4. Audit Hook Activity (Optional)

Enable audit logging to see every rewrite:

export RTK_HOOK_AUDIT=1
rtk init --show  # or any Claude Code command

Check logs:

cat ~/.local/share/rtk/hook-audit.log

Format: timestamp | action | original | rewritten Example:

2026-03-05T14:23:45Z | rewrite | git status | rtk git status
2026-03-05T14:24:10Z | skip:already_rtk | rtk cargo test | -

Troubleshooting

Hook Not Working

Symptom: Commands still show raw output after restart. Checks:

Verify hook is registered:

cat ~/.claude/settings.json | grep rtk-rewrite

Should show the hook path.

Verify hook is executable:
ls -l ~/.claude/hooks/rtk-rewrite.sh
Should show -rwxr-xr-x (executable).
Verify dependencies:
command -v rtk && command -v jq
Both must be available.
Re-run setup:
rtk init --global --auto-patch

Settings.json Patching Failed

Symptom: rtk init --global reports error during settings.json patch. Solutions:

Check if settings.json is valid JSON:

cat ~/.claude/settings.json | python3 -m json.tool

Restore from backup:

cp ~/.claude/settings.json.bak ~/.claude/settings.json

Use manual patching:

rtk init --global --no-patch
# Follow printed instructions

Windows Users

Symptom: Hook installation fails on Windows. Solution: Use legacy mode instead:

rtk init --global --claude-md

Hooks require Unix (macOS/Linux). Windows users should use WSL or legacy CLAUDE.md injection.

Migration from Legacy Mode

If you previously used rtk init --global --claude-md, you can migrate to hook-first:

rtk init --global

This will:

✅ Install hook and RTK.md
✅ Remove 137-line RTK block from CLAUDE.md
✅ Replace with @RTK.md reference (10 lines)
✅ Patch settings.json

The migration is automatic and preserves any custom content in CLAUDE.md.

Uninstalling

To completely remove RTK integration:

rtk init --global --uninstall

Removes:

Hook script (~/.claude/hooks/rtk-rewrite.sh)
RTK.md (~/.claude/RTK.md)
@RTK.md reference from CLAUDE.md
Hook entry from settings.json

Restart Claude Code after uninstalling. To restore from backup if needed:

cp ~/.claude/settings.json.bak ~/.claude/settings.json

Get Started

Core Concepts

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Resources

Overview

Why Hooks > CLAUDE.md Instructions

Installation Walkthrough

Step 1: Check Prerequisites

Step 2: Run Global Init

Step 3: Settings.json Patching

Step 4: Restart Claude Code

Step 5: Verify Installation

Installation Modes Comparison

Hook-first Mode (Default)

Legacy Mode

Hook-only Mode

Local Project Mode

Restart Required

Verification Steps

1. Check Hook Status

2. Test Command Rewriting

3. Check Token Savings

4. Audit Hook Activity (Optional)

Troubleshooting

Hook Not Working

Settings.json Patching Failed

Windows Users

Migration from Legacy Mode

Uninstalling

Next Steps

Hook Architecture

Configuration

​Overview

​Why Hooks > CLAUDE.md Instructions

​Installation Walkthrough

​Step 1: Check Prerequisites

​Step 2: Run Global Init

​Step 3: Settings.json Patching

​Step 4: Restart Claude Code

​Step 5: Verify Installation

​Installation Modes Comparison

​Hook-first Mode (Default)

​Legacy Mode

​Hook-only Mode

​Local Project Mode

​Restart Required

​Verification Steps

​1. Check Hook Status

​2. Test Command Rewriting

​3. Check Token Savings

​4. Audit Hook Activity (Optional)

​Troubleshooting

​Hook Not Working

​Settings.json Patching Failed

​Windows Users

​Migration from Legacy Mode

​Uninstalling

​Next Steps

Hook Architecture

Configuration

Overview

Why Hooks > CLAUDE.md Instructions

Installation Walkthrough

Step 1: Check Prerequisites

Step 2: Run Global Init

Step 3: Settings.json Patching

Step 4: Restart Claude Code

Step 5: Verify Installation

Installation Modes Comparison

Hook-first Mode (Default)

Legacy Mode

Hook-only Mode

Local Project Mode

Restart Required

Verification Steps

1. Check Hook Status

2. Test Command Rewriting

3. Check Token Savings

4. Audit Hook Activity (Optional)

Troubleshooting

Hook Not Working

Settings.json Patching Failed

Windows Users

Migration from Legacy Mode

Uninstalling

Next Steps