Claude Code Proxies Fail: Why Protocol Translation Breaks AI Agent Intelligence

Why Proxying Claude Code Fails to Replicate the Native Experience: A Technical Deep Dive Snippet: The degraded experience of proxied Claude Code stems from “lossy translation” at the protocol layer. Unlike native Anthropic SSE streams, proxies (e.g., via Google Vertex) struggle with non-atomic structure conversion, leading to tool call failures, thinking block signature loss, and the absence of cloud-based WebSearch capabilities. Why Your Claude Code Keeps “Breaking” When using Claude Code through a proxy or middleware, many developers encounter frequent task interruptions, failed tool calls, or a noticeable drop in the agent’s “intelligence” during multi-turn conversations. This isn’t a random …