[BUG] 'claude-api' is consuming entire context

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

When attempting to ask a question in non-interactive mode (prompt was "Have the changes for 'non-interactive' usage rates gone into effect?"), the 'claude-api' skill is being loaded and consuming the entire context, resulting in the 'Prompt is too long' error.

Claude's summary of the issue:

Session metadata (anonymized):

sessionId: [REDACTED]
cwd: /home/[USER]/delete/tmp
version: 2.1.176

1. User prompt sent:

{"type":"user","message":{"role":"user","content":"Have the changes for 'non-interactive' usage rates gone into effect?"},"entrypoint":"sdk-cli"}

2. Skill listing loaded at session start (showing claude-api among active skills):

{"attachment":{"type":"skill_listing","names":["grill-me","lazydm-session","deep-research","skill-creator:skill-creator","update-config","keybindings-help","verify","code-review","simplify","fewer-permission-prompts","loop","schedule","claude-api","run","init","review","security-review"],"isInitial":true}}

3. Claude decides to invoke the claude-api skill:

{"message":{"content":[{"type":"tool_use","name":"Skill","input":{"skill":"claude-api"}}],"stop_reason":"tool_use"}}

4. Skill content loaded — the full contents of the bundled claude-api SKILL.md are injected as a tool result. The content includes complete API reference documentation for C#, Go, Java, PHP, Python, TypeScript, cURL, managed agents, model migration guides, and more. Total size is several hundred KB.

5. Immediate error:

{"message":{"content":[{"type":"text","text":"Prompt is too long"}],"error":"invalid_request","isApiErrorMessage":true}}

---

Summary for bug report: In -p (non-interactive) mode, a 10-word conversational prompt triggered the bundled claude-api skill, which loaded its entire documentation contents into the context. The resulting prompt exceeded the model's context limit, producing a "Prompt is too long" error on a fresh session. Running with --safe-mode (which disables skills) resolves the issue.

What Should Happen?

The skill shouldn't consume the entire context, blocking usage.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

While on Claude Code version 2.1.176: claude -p "Have the changes for 'non-interactive' usage rates gone into effect?
"

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.176

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Other Linux

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

I am using the Alacritty terminal on Manjaro Linux