Tracking Crypto Prices
Contents
Overview | Prerequisites | Instructions | Output | Error Handling | Examples | Resources
Overview
Foundation skill providing real-time and historical cryptocurrency price data for 10,000+ coins. This is the data layer for the crypto plugin ecosystem -- 10+ other skills depend on it for price information.
Prerequisites
- Install dependencies:
pip install requests pandas yfinance - Optional:
pip install python-dotenvfor API key management - Optional: Get free API key from https://www.coingecko.com/en/api for higher rate limits
- Add API key to
${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/config/settings.yamlor setCOINGECKO_API_KEYenv var
Instructions
- Check current prices for one or more symbols:
python ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/price_tracker.py --symbol BTC python ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/price_tracker.py --symbols BTC,ETH,SOL - Use watchlists to scan predefined groups (available:
top10,defi,layer2,stablecoins,memecoins):python ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/price_tracker.py --watchlist top10 # Top 10 by market cap python ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/price_tracker.py --watchlist defi # DeFi tokens python ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/price_tracker.py --watchlist layer2 # Layer 2 tokens - Fetch historical data by period or custom date range:
python ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/price_tracker.py --symbol BTC --period 30d python ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/price_tracker.py --symbol BTC --period 90d --output csv python ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/price_tracker.py --symbol ETH --start 2024-01-01 --end 2024-12-31 # 2024 full year - Configure settings by editing
${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/config/settings.yamlto customize cache TTLs, default currency, and custom watchlists. Seereferences/implementation.mdfor the full configuration reference.
Output
- Table (default): Symbol, price, 24h change, volume, market cap in formatted columns
- JSON (
--format json): Machine-readable with prices array and metadata - CSV (
--output csv): OHLCV historical data export to${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/data/
See ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/implementation.md for detailed output format examples.
Error Handling
| Error | Cause | Solution |
|-------|-------|----------|
| Unknown symbol: XYZ | Invalid ticker | Check spelling, use --list to search |
| Rate limit exceeded | Too many API calls | Wait 60s, or add API key for higher limits |
| Network error | No internet | Check connection; cached data used automatically |
| Cache stale | Data older than TTL | Shown with warning, refreshes on next call |
The skill auto-manages rate limits: cache first, exponential backoff, yfinance fallback, stale cache as last resort.
Examples
Quick price check:
python ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/price_tracker.py --symbol BTC
# Output: BTC (Bitcoin) $97,234.56 USD +2.34% (24h) | Vol: $28.5B | MCap: $1.92T
Watchlist scan:
python ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/price_tracker.py --watchlist top10
Historical export:
python ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/price_tracker.py --symbol ETH --period 90d --output csv
# Creates: ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/data/ETH_90d_[date].csv
Resources
${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/implementation.md- Output formats, full config, integration guide, file map- CoinGecko API - Primary data source
- yfinance - Fallback for historical data