[
    {
        "role": "user",
        "content": "I%20love%20claude%20code%20cli%2C%20copilot%20cli%2C%20and%20codex%20cli.%20But%20they%20all%20suffer%20from%20the%20same%20problem%20which%20severely%20limits%20my%20productivity%20with%20them.%20I%20am%20blind%2C%20use%20a%20screen%20reader%2C%20and%20although%20most%20terminal%20programs%20work%20just%20fine%2C%20all%20the%20UI%2C%20special%20characters%2C%20dynamic%20text%2C%20cursor%20moving%20around%2C%20etc%20in%20these%20cli%20programs%20is%20super%20distracting%2C%20outputting%20unnecessary%20words%2C%20characters%2C%20terminal%20controls.%20I%20just%20want%20a%20plain%20prompt%20and%20response%20format%2C%20but%20with%20all%20of%20the%20same%20feasures%20as%20the%20cli.%20this%20does%20not%20really%20seem%20possible.%20I%27ve%20turned%20off%20all%20the%20animations%20and%20requested%20plain%20text%20output%20as%20much%20as%20possible%20with%20these%20programs%20but%20they%20still%20do%20cute%20tricks%20with%20the%20terminal%20far%20beyond%20a%20repl%20text%20interface.%20Is%20there%20a%20wrapper%20or%20alternate%20cli%20program%20more%20suitable%20to%20plain%20text%20interaction%2C%20such%20as%20might%20be%20useful%20when%20running%20in%20emacs%3F%20If%20not%2C%20perhaps%20we%20could%20create%20one%20with%20claude%20agent%20sdk%20or%20similar%3F"
    },
    {
        "role": "assistant",
        "content": "You\u2019re not alone in this. Lots of CLI tools aim to be flashy or dynamic\u2014but for blind users and for screen readers, simplicity, predictability, and plain text output are far more productive. Good news: both Claude Code and Codex (and to a somewhat lesser degree Copilot CLI) *already* offer modes and configuration options that help you strip back or disable most of the \u201cextra\u201d terminal UI: animations, cursor movement, special characters, status bars, etc. I'll walk through what\u2019s possible **right now**, what\u2019s missing, and some ideas for building a wrapper if nothing meets your needs yet.\n\n---\n\n## \u2705 What you *can* do with existing tools\n\nBelow are features you can use to turn off or reduce non-essential UI artifacts in Claude Code, Codex CLI, and GitHub Copilot CLI. This might already give you the clean, REPL-style experience you want.\n\n### Claude Code\n\n- **Print (non-interactive) / headless mode**: Use `claude -p \"your prompt\"` (also called `--print`) to run in non-interactive mode, skip the interactive UI, and just output the response. ([docs.claude.com](https://docs.claude.com/en/docs/claude-code/cli-reference?utm_source=openai))  \n- **Output formats**: Alongside `--print`, you can choose `--output-format` like `text`, `json`, or `stream-json`. The `text` format is plain text. ([docs.claude.com](https://docs.claude.com/en/docs/claude-code/headless?utm_source=openai))  \n- **Bare mode**: Pass `--bare` to skip loading hooks/plugins/custom config (such as spinner animations or extensions) to get a more consistent, minimal behavior. ([code.claude.com](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/headless?utm_source=openai))  \n\nSo with Claude Code: `claude --bare -p \"Your prompt here\" --output-format text` is probably your \u201cleast noisy\u201d mode.\n\n### Codex CLI (OpenAI\u2019s)\n\nCodex offers even more knobs to reduce dynamic output:\n\n- **Exec / non-interactive mode**: `codex exec \"prompt\"` or `codex exec < prompt from stdin` runs tasks without the full interactive TUI. This avoids much of the screen movement and special UI elements. ([mintlify.com](https://www.mintlify.com/openai/codex/concepts/non-interactive-mode?utm_source=openai))  \n- **Disable alternate-screen buffer**: Use `--no-alt-screen` to prevent switching to alternate screen modes, which help screen readers because they maintain scrollback. ([mintlify.com](https://www.mintlify.com/openai/codex/concepts/interactive-mode?utm_source=openai))  \n- **Color control**: `--color=never` disables syntax-highlighting colors (common source of strange characters). ([mintlify.com](https://www.mintlify.com/openai/codex/advanced/exec-mode?utm_source=openai))  \n- **JSON / human-readable output**: `--json` (or JSON Lines / structured output) mode gives output in a structured format. That may still include metadata, but it is regular text without dynamic TUI widgets. ([mintlify.com](https://www.mintlify.com/openai/codex/advanced/exec-mode?utm_source=openai))  \n- **Configurable TUI settings**: In Codex\u2019s `~/.codex/config.toml` you can toggle features like animation/spinners, status line, alternate screen behavior, etc. ([codex.danielvaughan.com](https://codex.danielvaughan.com/2026/03/28/codex-cli-feature-flags-tui-tuning/?utm_source=openai))  \n\n### GitHub Copilot CLI\n\nCopilot also has options aimed at reducing noise:\n\n- **Prompt frame on/off**: Environment variable `COPILOT_PROMPT_FRAME` 0/1 toggles decorative frame around the prompt. Turning off the frame removes extra characters. ([docs.github.com](https://docs.github.com/copilot/reference/cli-command-reference?utm_source=openai))  \n- **Disable colors, banners, mouse, etc.**: Flags like `--no-color`, `--no-banner`, `--no-mouse` remove visual flourishes. ([docs.github.com](https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/reference/cli-command-reference?utm_source=openai))  \n- **Plain diff**: `--plain-diff` turns off rich diff rendering. That helps if the diff output is using color or unusual characters. ([docs.github.com](https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/reference/cli-command-reference?utm_source=openai))  \n- **Screen reader mode**: There is a `--screen-reader` flag which suggests built-in optimizations for screen readers. Use that. ([docs.github.com](https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/reference/cli-command-reference?utm_source=openai))  \n\n---\n\n## \u26a0\ufe0f What limitations still remain\n\nEven with all these flags, a few UI elements may still be hard to suppress:\n\n- Some tools still draw \u201cstatus lines\u201d or \u201cfooters\u201d in interactive mode. Stray ANSI codes/spinners might leak in, especially if default interactive mode is used.  \n- Diff renderers might still include Unicode characters (such as box drawing, arrows) even in plain diff mode.  \n- If animations are disabled, progress indicators and spinners might still use carriage returns or control characters to update the same line; screen readers might interpret those poorly unless the tool completely avoids backtracking.  \n- Copilot CLI\u2019s screen reader mode is promising, but it might still lack some of the fine-grained control over cursor movement or updating portions of the line.\n\n---\n\n## \ud83c\udfaf A \u201cwrapper\u201d or alternate CLI interface\n\nIf none of the existing modes fully satisfy you (for example, you want absolutely no control characters, just prompt \u2192 response, with no decorations at all), then building a small wrapper is realistic. Here are two main paths:\n\n### Option A: Write a small wrapper script that filters output\n\n- Use one of the existing non-interactive exec/print modes from Claude Code, Codex, or Copilot CLI, with flags like `--plain`, `--no-color`, `--color=never`, `--output-format=text` or `--json`.  \n- Pipe the output through a tool like `sed`, `perl`, or `jq` to strip ANSI codes, control characters, banners. For example:\n\n  ```\n  codex exec --no-alt-screen --color=never \"Explain this\" | ansi-strip > clean.txt\n  ```\n\n  Where `ansi-strip` is something like `sed -r \"s/\\x1B\\[[0-9;]*[A-Za-z]//g\"`.\n\n- You can wrap this into a shell alias or script, e.g. `plaincodex \"prompt\"` or `ccp \"prompt\"`.\n\n### Option B: Build a minimal CLI using the Agent SDK\n\nIf you want something even more controlled, you could build a small interface on top of one of the SDKs (Claude Agent SDK, Codex SDK) that:\n\n- Accepts prompt via standard input or as argument.  \n- Sends it to the LLM.  \n- Returns only the \u201cassistant\u201d response (maybe optionally metadata).  \n- Ensures no ANSI, no status bars, no control characters at all (pure text).  \n\nThis might be a few hundred lines of code (depending on your language). You can also incorporate file reading or edits behind the scenes, and still get that prompt-\u2192-response workflow.  \n\n---\n\n## \ud83d\udca1 Practical suggestion based on you\n\nGiven your needs, here\u2019s a recommended setup you might try:\n\n1. Pick **one** tool that crudely already supports \u201cquiet, non-interactive, plain output\u201d (Codex or Claude Code are good choices).  \n2. Create shell aliases/scripts:\n\n   - e.g. `alias claude_plain='claude --bare -p --output-format text'`  \n   - e.g. `alias codex_plain='codex exec --no-alt-screen --color=never'`  \n\n3. If anything unwanted still appears\u2014such as status lines, control characters\u2014pipe through a cleaning filter (`ansi-strip`) or write a small filter script in Python (using `re` to drop `\\x1B[...` sequences).  \n\n4. Optionally, maintain your own lightweight wrapper that you call from Emacs (just a simple shell command) so you interact in very clean textual REPL style.\n\n---\n\nIf you like, I can map out a **fully-configured sample wrapper** for you\u2014say, in Python or shell\u2014that works with Claude, Codex, and Copilot, with flags that enforce \u201cminimal-noise mode,\u201d suitable for screen-readers. Would you prefer I build that for you?"
    },
    {
        "role": "user",
        "content": "what%20exactly%20does%20--bare%20do%20in%20claude%20code%20clii%3F"
    },
    {
        "role": "assistant",
        "content": "Here\u2019s what `--bare` does in **Claude Code CLI**, based on the official documentation and usage notes:\n\n---\n\n## What `--bare` means\n\n- `--bare` puts Claude Code into **minimal mode**. ([code.claude.com](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/cli-usage?utm_source=openai))  \n- In this mode, the CLI *skips* automatic discovery/loading of:\n  - hooks  \n  - skills  \n  - plugins  \n  - MCP servers  \n  - auto-memory  \n  - the `CLAUDE.md` file ([code.claude.com](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/cli-usage?utm_source=openai))\n\n---\n\n## What `--bare` *still* allows\n\nEven in bare mode, Claude Code retains certain capabilities:\n\n- Access to essential tools: Bash (running shell commands), file reading, and file editing. ([code.claude.com](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/cli-usage?utm_source=openai))  \n- All flags you explicitly pass still take effect (like `--output-format`, `--allowedTools`, `--settings`, and others) ([code.claude.com](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/headless?utm_source=openai))\n\n---\n\n## Why use `--bare`\n\n- **Faster startup**: skipping discovery and loading of plugins etc. makes scripted and non-interactive runs start more quickly. ([code.claude.com](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/headless?utm_source=openai))  \n- **More consistent behavior** across different machines and CI/CD setups. Since things like hooks, memory, or local config are skipped, there\u2019s less variation due to local environment. ([code.claude.com](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/headless?utm_source=openai))  \n- **Reduced overhead and complexity**: fewer external or local files to worry about, fewer unexpected prompts or context-related delays. ([claudelab.net](https://claudelab.net/en/articles/claude-code/claude-code-bare-mode-guide?utm_source=openai))\n\n---\n\n## What `--bare` *doesn\u2019t* do\n\nSome things `--bare` **won\u2019t** fix or remove:\n\n- It doesn\u2019t automatically turn off all visual/spinner UI elements in interactive mode. The main benefit is about skipping project-context and config discovery, not full UI suppression.  \n- It doesn\u2019t always prevent dialogue or confirmation prompts if tools you request require permissions\u2014though passing flags like `--allowedTools` or setting permission modes can help. ([code.claude.com](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/headless?utm_source=openai))  \n- It doesn\u2019t in itself enforce \u201cplain text only\u201d output. To accomplish that, you\u2019ll still want flags like `--output-format text` or similar. ([docs.claude.com](https://docs.claude.com/en/docs/claude-code/cli-usage?utm_source=openai))\n\n---\n\nIf you want, I can check *exactly* which ANSI/control-character sequences still appear in `--bare` + print + text output, to see if that\u2019s \u201cclean enough\u201d for your screen reader."
    }
]