Getting Started Simple
Pipe File to Claude
Feed file contents via stdin pipe for quick code review or analysis
Command
"color:#9CA3AF;font-style:italic"># Pipe a single file $ "color:#7C5CFC">cat src/auth.py | "color:#7C5CFC">claude -p "Review this ">for security issues" "color:#9CA3AF;font-style:italic"># Pipe filtered content (saves tokens) $ grep -n "TODO\|FIXME\|HACK" src/*.ts | "color:#7C5CFC">claude -p "Prioritize these" "color:#9CA3AF;font-style:italic"># Pipe with output format $ "color:#7C5CFC">cat package.json | "color:#7C5CFC">claude -p "List outdated patterns" "color:#d97757">--output-format text
Response
## Security Review: auth.py ### Critical - Line 42: SQL injection in `login()` — use parameterized queries - Line 89: Hardcoded secret in `verify_token()` ### Medium - Line 15: Missing rate limiting on auth endpoint
Parsing Code
059669">">const { execSync } = require(059669059669">">'child_process'); 059669">">// Pipe content programmatically 059669">">const content = fs.readFileSync(059669059669">">'src/auth.py', 059669059669">">'utf-8'); 059669">">const output = execSync( 059669">`echo ${JSON.stringify(content)} | claude -p "Review 059669">">for security" --output-format text`, { encoding: 059669059669">">'utf-8', env: { ...process.env, CLAUDECODE: 059669">'' } } );
Gotchas
! Piped content counts as part of the prompt — large files consume significant tokens
! Use grep or head to filter before piping to reduce token cost
! Stdin pipe + -p flag: piped content becomes part of the user message