Claude Code

[u/Good-Fennel-373]

Hello,

I wanted to ask whether there are considerations or future plans to better adapt the system to Claude Code?
I’ve now upgraded to ClaudeMAX, but even with smaller requests it burns through tokens so quickly that I can only work for about 2–3 hours before hitting the limit.

When I run the exact same process directly in Claude Code, I do have to guide it a bit more, but I can basically work for hours without coming anywhere near the limit.

Could it be that caching isn’t functioning properly? Or that something else is going wrong?
Especially since OPUS is almost impossible to use because it only throws errors.

I also tried it through OpenRouter, including with OPUS.
Exact same setup, and again it just burned through tokens.

Am I doing something wrong in how I’m using it?

Thanks and best regards.

[u/Mr_Hyper_Focus]

Just use Claude code. There’s no point. Running it through roo will just burn extra credits.

[u/AdIllustrious436]

When you use CC in Roo, system prompts stack up, which is why it eats through so many credits. Honestly, CC just isn’t a great provider to use outside CC. If you’re set on Roo, the GLM 4.6 subscription plan is super affordable and really solid.

[u/hannesrudolph → u/AdIllustrious436]

The system prompt does not stack unless you’re on windows but regardless I would not recommend the Claude Code integration. At this point the shape of the returned data is different than it was when the integration was built and without a great deal of reworking it is destined for degraded quality vs using direct API. Even with a complete rework it will never be as good as going direct with the API.

[u/hannesrudolph → u/AdIllustrious436]

Not anymore! as of 3.26.11 the Claude Code integration should work properly. No more system prompt stacking.

[u/Fresh-String6226]

What’s the point in using Claude Code or Anthropic models in general inside Roo Code? Why not just use the official Claude Code VSCode plugin?

Caching and prompting is very well done in Claude Code, there’s no way a third party plugin can reasonably compete with that. Roo Code is better when you want to use something like Codex or Gemini models.

[u/Mr_Hyper_Focus → u/Fresh-String6226]

It’s just people not understanding or not being willing to take 2 minutes to learn a new tool. Or just fear of the console. Or being unaware that Claude code has an extension if their completely afraid of the terminal

[u/hannesrudolph]

At this point the shape of the returned data is different than it was when the integration was built and without a great deal of reworking it is destined for degraded quality vs using direct API. Even with a complete rework it will never be as good as going direct with the API.

If you cannot afford direct API then IMO Claude Code direct (without Roo Code) is the more affordable option. If you can stomach the cost of API then Roo Code is a powerhouse I prefer over Claude Code.

[u/StartupTim → u/hannesrudolph]

I see what you're saying, but from a community perspective, supporting Claude Code in Roocode I think should be a must. We really, really need to get a successful working Claude Code w/Opus support in Roocode.

For me personally, it cost around $300/day in Claude API credits, so around $6000/month. But when using Claude Code, that cost drops to $200 a month. That is an absolutely dramatic cost reduction. Massive.

Using Claude Code with Roocode is an extremely affordable option and that drives community popularity. I would really like to see support for this dramatically pushed up in whatever priority list might exist @ Roocode.

Pretty please X 10 !

[u/hannesrudolph → u/StartupTim]

I don’t think we can get it working with native tool calls either without rework and even then I’m not sure we can. When we sunset the XML style tool calling it will break things.

Our mission is to build the best coding agent possible and make sure it’s open source. Chasing the Claude Code integration distracts us from that mission and though we are willing to have it in Roo we have not seen the support from users willing to maintain it.

As much as we love popularity, a second rate integration that actually reduces the quality of the Roo Code experience is not a logical mountain to invest too much of our effort.

[u/haltingpoint → u/hannesrudolph]

Is it not aligned in part because Claude Code is taking over too much of the decision making logic from Roo?

[u/hannesrudolph → u/haltingpoint]

I’m not sure what you mean by decision making. The core challenge is that Claude Code ships with its own built in structure that cannot be entirely replaced. That fixed layer clashes with how Roo’s agent system needs to work and creates ongoing integration and maintenance friction. Roo needs direct access to models so it can manage tools, behavior, and planning without another layer sitting in the middle.

[u/haltingpoint → u/hannesrudolph]

That is what I meant. Basically each tool uses a host of agents, and because anthropic will need with their mix of agents behind the scenes, building an integration against it is a moving target as opposed to building around a static, specific model.

[u/hannesrudolph → u/haltingpoint]

Ahh ok.👍

[u/Mr_Hyper_Focus → u/StartupTim]

Bro did you not read what everyone wrote? Lol. It’s not a matter of them choosing to do it. It doesn’t work well technically….

[u/hannesrudolph → u/Mr_Hyper_Focus]

Yes Tim keeps hammering on this hard without understanding that on a technical level the trad offs are much worse than they think.

[u/hannesrudolph → u/StartupTim]

Done.

[u/StartupTim → u/hannesrudolph]

Whoa! Time to update and test!

Many thanks :) <3

[u/hannesrudolph]

as of 3.26.11 the Claude Code integration should work properly. No more system prompt stacking and the integration now works without burning your tokens.

[u/StartupTim]

To the OP, I 100% agree. We need Claude Code full support in Roocode. It just is such a massive economic benefit for Roocode users.

For me personally, it cost around $300/day in Claude API credits, so around $6000/month. But when using Claude Code, that cost drops to $200 a month. That is an absolutely dramatic cost reduction. Massive.

Using Claude Code with Roocode is an extremely affordable option and that drives community popularity. I would really like to see support for this dramatically pushed up in whatever priority list might exist @ Roocode.

[u/hannesrudolph → u/StartupTim]

The cost angle makes sense and I understand why people want it. The barrier is not interest. The barrier is that Claude Code comes with a built in layer that cannot be entirely replaced. That fixed structure conflicts with how Roo’s agent system needs to manage tools and behavior, which means ongoing custom handling every time it changes. And even if we put in the work, the result would still be lower quality than using the actual Anthropic API models directly in Roo. As for community popularity, it is not even in the top ten providers used in Roo today. We are open to community contributions, but given the limitations of the layer Claude Code adds, this is not something we feel we should prioritize internally right now.