ai-cli-bridge – Claude Max and ChatGPT Pro as a Team API

TL;DR

TL;DR: ai-cli-bridge wraps Claude Code CLI and OpenAI Codex CLI behind an Express API, letting teams share a single Claude Max or ChatGPT Pro subscription as a metered HTTP API with per-key auth and rate limits.

What Is ai-cli-bridge?

If you pay for Claude Max (~$100–200/mo) or OpenAI Pro (~$200/mo), that usage is locked to the vendor’s own CLI tools — they cannot be called from web apps, plugins, or arbitrary HTTP clients. ai-cli-bridge solves that by wrapping both CLIs behind a self-hosted REST API.

The core idea:

| Approach | Auth | Billing | |---|---|---| | SDK (Anthropic/OpenAI) | API key | Per-token | | CLI wrapper (this project) | OAuth subscription | Monthly flat rate |

Setup Workflow

Prerequisites

• Bun 1.2 or higher
• Claude Code CLI installed and authenticated, or Codex CLI installed and authenticated
• Node.js is NOT required — Bun runs everything

Step 1: Clone and Install

git clone https://github.com/Shreyas-Dayal/ai-cli-bridge.git
cd ai-cli-bridge
bun install
cp .env.example .env

Step 2: Configure the Admin Key

Edit the .env file and set BRIDGE_ADMIN_KEY to a strong random value. This key lets you access the admin dashboard and create per-user API keys.

BRIDGE_ADMIN_KEY=your-strong-random-key-here
PORT=3456

Step 3: Start the Server

bun dev

The server starts on http://localhost:3456. For a production deployment, the README includes a Docker Compose template and a systemd service with Cloudflare Tunnel support.

Step 4: Verify

curl http://localhost:3456/health
# → {"status":"ok"}

Step 5: Create an API Key

Open the admin dashboard at http://localhost:3456/admin and generate a per-user API key. Each key can have independent limits on requests per day, requests per month, tokens per month, cost per day, and cost per month.

Usage Examples

Generate with Claude Code

curl -X POST http://localhost:3456/generate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"systemPrompt":"Reply concisely.","userPrompt":"What is 2+2?"}'

Generate with Codex CLI

curl -X POST http://localhost:3456/generate-codex \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"systemPrompt":"Reply concisely.","userPrompt":"What is 2+2?"}'

Features

• Two AI providers — Claude Code CLI (/generate) and Codex CLI (/generate-codex) behind a single API
• Per-user API keys — SHA-256 hashed, shown once at creation, timing-safe authentication
• Per-key rate limits — granular controls over requests/day, requests/month, tokens/month, cost/day, cost/month
• Admin dashboard — manage keys, monitor usage, view request logs
• Usage tracking — in-memory with periodic disk flush and auto-pruning
• Security posture — execFile (no shell injection), CSP headers, HSTS, rate limiting, input validation
• Deploy anywhere — Docker Compose support, systemd service template, Cloudflare Tunnel configuration

Practical Evaluation Checklist

• Bun is the only runtime required (no Node.js, no Docker for local dev)
• API keys are one-way hashed — the raw key is shown only once at creation
• The /health endpoint requires no auth, useful for load balancer health checks
• Rate limits are enforced per API key, not per IP — useful for multi-user shared deployments
• Both Claude Code and Codex CLI must be installed and authenticated on the host; the bridge does not store credentials

Security Notes

ai-cli-bridge uses execFile rather than exec or spawn with shell interpretation, eliminating shell injection risk. The README explicitly recommends running the server on an isolated network segment and using a Cloudflare Tunnel or VPN for any production exposure.

The admin dashboard is protected by the BRIDGE_ADMIN_KEY but does not appear to support two-factor authentication. Treat the admin key as a high-privilege secret.

FAQ

Q: Does this work with the free Claude tier? A: No. Claude Code CLI requires a paid subscription (Claude Max or equivalent). The bridge simply exposes an already-authenticated CLI as an API.

Q: Can I use both Claude and Codex on the same server? A: Yes. The server handles both providers simultaneously. Call /generate for Claude Code CLI and /generate-codex for Codex CLI.

Q: Does the bridge support streaming responses? A: The README does not explicitly confirm streaming support. Check the package.json or the source for SSE capability before relying on it.

Q: How does billing tracking work? A: Usage is tracked in-memory with periodic flushes to disk. For high-throughput production use, you may want to add an external metrics sink.

Source and Accuracy Notes

• Project page: github.com/Shreyas-Dayal/ai-cli-bridge
• License: MIT (verified via LICENSE file in repository)
• HN launch thread: news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47191530
• Source last checked: 2026-07-17 (README, package.json, LICENSE verified via raw.githubusercontent.com)