Claude Agent Template

A Next.js template for building AI agents with Vercel AI SDK, Claude Agent SDK, and custom MCP tools.

Overview

This template provides a complete foundation for building AI agents powered by Claude Haiku 4.5. It demonstrates how to create custom tools, integrate with external services, and build interactive chat interfaces with real-time streaming.

Based on:

• Vercel AI SDK Reasoning Starter - Base Next.js + AI SDK setup
• Claude Agent SDK - Multi-turn agent workflows and MCP tools

Features

• Multi-turn Agent Workflows - Built on Claude Agent SDK for complex task execution
• Custom MCP Tools - Easy-to-extend tool system with type safety
• Real-time Streaming - Server-sent events for responsive user experience
• Modern Stack - Next.js 15, React 19, Tailwind CSS, TypeScript
• Built-in Tools - File operations, bash commands, web search, and more

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• pnpm (or npm/yarn)
• One of the following for authentication:
  • Anthropic API Key (Get one here), OR
  • Claude Code CLI (Install guide)

Setup

1. Clone and install dependencies

   git clone <your-repo-url>
   cd claude-agent-template
   pnpm install

2. Authentication Setup (choose one)

   Option A: Using API Key (Recommended for production)

   Copy .env.example to .env and add your API key:

   cp .env.example .env
   # Edit .env and add: ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

   Option B: Using Claude Code CLI

   If you have Claude Code CLI installed and authenticated:

   claude auth login
   # No .env file needed - SDK will use CLI authentication

3. Run development server

   pnpm dev

   Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser.

Architecture

System Overview

The agent system is built on three core components:

1. Agent API (app/api/agent/route.ts) - Handles requests, manages conversation state, and streams responses
2. MCP Tools (lib/mcp-tools/) - Custom tools that extend agent capabilities
3. Chat UI (components/agent-chat.tsx) - Interactive interface with real-time streaming

Message Flow

User Input
  ↓
POST /api/agent → query({ prompt, options })
  ↓
Agent executes tools across multiple turns
  ↓
Server-Sent Events stream to client
  ↓
UI displays tool usage and results

Agent Configuration

• Model: Claude Haiku 4.5 (claude-haiku-4-5)
• Built-in Tools: Read, Write, Bash, Grep, Glob, WebSearch
• Custom Tools: Defined via MCP (Model Context Protocol)
• Max Turns: 10 per conversation
• Streaming: Yes (Server-Sent Events)

Development Workflow

This template is designed to work seamlessly with Claude Code, leveraging custom slash commands and specialized sub-agents to streamline your development process.

Git Worktree Management

The included wt script simplifies creating isolated worktrees for feature branches, allowing you to work on multiple features simultaneously without switching contexts:

./wt feature/new-feature              # Create worktree for new branch
./wt feature/existing-branch          # Create worktree for existing branch

The script automatically:

• Creates a new git worktree in ../feature/new-feature
• Copies .env file to the new worktree
• Installs dependencies with pnpm install

Example workflow:

# Working on main branch
./wt feature/add-auth               # Create worktree for auth feature
cd ../feature/add-auth              # Switch to new worktree
pnpm dev                            # Start dev server for this branch

GitHub Issue Management with Sub-Agents

This template includes a custom slash command (/solve-github-issue) that demonstrates Claude Code's powerful sub-agent architecture:

Sub-Agents:

1. github-issue-planner - Analyzes GitHub issues and creates comprehensive implementation plans
2. github-issue-manager - Manages issue lifecycle (updates, test results, closing)

Usage with Claude Code:

/solve-github-issue 42              # Analyze and plan implementation for issue #42

Automated Workflow:

1. Planner sub-agent analyzes the issue and related context
2. Creates a detailed implementation plan with file locations and steps
3. You review and implement the solution
4. Manager sub-agent automatically updates the issue with test results and closes it

This workflow showcases how to build intelligent development automation using Claude Code's custom slash commands and specialized sub-agents.

See .claude/commands/solve-github-issue.md and .claude/agents/ for implementation details.

Documentation

• TOOLS.md - Complete guide to creating custom MCP tools
• TROUBLESHOOTING.md - Common issues and solutions
• CLAUDE.md - Development environment setup and workflow (includes project structure)

Resources

• Vercel AI SDK
• Claude Agent SDK
• Model Context Protocol
• Next.js Documentation

Contributing

Guidelines for contributions:

• Keep tools focused and simple
• Document parameters clearly
• Handle all error cases
• Write descriptive system prompts
• Test with various inputs

License

MIT