In late 2025 and early 2026, Anthropic sent takedown notices to several third-party Claude Code clients. We want to be transparent about how Yep Anywhere differs from those projects.

What Got Blocked

Projects like OpenCode, Crush (Charmbracelet), and Windsurf were blocked for spoofing the Claude Code client identity to access Claude Max subscription pricing ($200/month) instead of paying per-token API rates.

Claude Max subscriptions offer dramatically cheaper access than API pricing (users reported $1000+ monthly API costs reduced to $200). The blocked tools would:

  • Send fake HTTP headers pretending to be the official Claude Code CLI
  • Trick Anthropic's servers into granting subscription-tier pricing
  • Provide their own alternative UI while freeloading on pricing meant only for Anthropic's official tool

An Anthropic engineer confirmed:

"We tightened our safeguards against spoofing the Claude Code harness."

How Yep Anywhere Is Different

Yep Anywhere does none of the above. Here's what we actually do:

1. We use the official SDK. We depend on @anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk, Anthropic's official published SDK. We call the SDK's query() function directly without modification or header spoofing.

2. We don't replace or intercept authentication. Users provide their own authentication through either:

  • API Key: User sets ANTHROPIC_API_KEY environment variable (pays standard API rates)
  • OAuth: User runs claude CLI themselves to authenticate, which creates ~/.claude/.credentials.json

We do provide a /login convenience command that helps users re-authenticate remotely when their credentials expire. This works by automating the Claude CLI's own /login command via tmux - we parse the OAuth URL from CLI output and relay it to users, who then complete Anthropic's official OAuth flow in their browser. We're not bypassing or replacing the auth system, just making it accessible when you can't SSH to your machine.

3. We don't spoof client identity. Our code makes no attempt to impersonate Claude Code or any other client. We pass requests to the SDK as-is, which identifies itself appropriately.

4. We're a remote interface, not a replacement. Yep Anywhere is a mobile-friendly supervisor for Claude Code sessions running on your own machine. Think of it like SSH for AI agents—we provide remote access to sessions, not a replacement client.

Comparison

Aspect Blocked Tools Yep Anywhere
Client identity spoofing Yes No
Header manipulation Yes No
Pricing tier circumvention Yes No
Uses official SDK No (custom API calls) Yes
Handles user auth Yes (OAuth proxy/interception) Convenience only (relays CLI's official OAuth)

Our Stance

We believe our approach aligns with Anthropic's terms of service. Users pay for their own Claude access through legitimate channels, and we provide a remote interface to manage sessions. We're not trying to game pricing or impersonate official tools.

If Anthropic has concerns about our implementation, we welcome the conversation.

References