Claude Code third-party API setup

Set up in 1 minute

This is exactly the config the dashboard onboarding gives you.

1. 1

   Create an API key

   Sign in to the dashboard and create a key on the API Keys page. You can set daily, monthly or total spend caps on it.

2. 2

   Write settings.json

   macOS / Linux: ~/.claude/settings.json. Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.claude\settings.json. Create the file if it doesn't exist.

   ~/.claude/settings.json

   {
     "env": {
       "ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN": "YOUR_API_KEY",
       "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "",
       "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL": "https://api.aicodewith.ai"
     }
   }

3. 3

   Skip the first-run login

   Add hasCompletedOnboarding to ~/.claude.json so Claude Code doesn't ask you to sign in to an Anthropic account.

   ~/.claude.json

   {
     "hasCompletedOnboarding": true
   }

   If ~/.claude.json already exists, add this one field to the existing JSON instead of overwriting it.

4. 4

   Restart Claude Code

   Close every Claude Code session, run claude again and send a test message.

What each variable does

On startup Claude Code reads the env block in settings.json and uses it as environment variables.

ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL

The API endpoint. Use https://api.aicodewith.ai as the bare domain, with no /v1; Claude Code appends the path itself.

ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN

Your aicodewith API key, sent as Authorization: Bearer.

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY

Leave empty so it doesn't clash with an Anthropic key already set on your system.

Once an API key is set, Claude Code uses API billing instead of your Claude plan allowance. Usage is deducted per token from your aicodewith balance.

Choose a model

Type /model in Claude Code to switch. A common setup:

See the models page for available models and live prices. /models

Check that it worked

• •Run /status in Claude Code and confirm the API endpoint is api.aicodewith.ai.
• •After a message, the request and its charge show up in your dashboard usage records.
• •Run /cost to see the session's per-token cost.

Don't have Claude Code yet?

Claude Code needs Node.js 18 or later. Install it globally with npm:

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Follow Anthropic's docs for the current install method. Run claude in your project folder to start.

FAQ

Common errors

Most problems come from the base URL, the key, or a leftover environment variable.