Set up Claude Code

Two environment variables — Claude Code speaks the native Anthropic protocol.

This guide connects Claude Code to the platform so you can reach Claude, GPT, Gemini and others with a single token. Three values are all you need: endpoint, token, model name.

Create a token (starting with sk-) in the console first and make sure the account has credit. New here? Start with your first request in 5 minutes.

Configuration

Claude Code reads its endpoint from environment variables. Set them and start as usual.

Field	Value
ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL	`https://api.router.ai`
ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN	your `sk-` token
Model	`claude-sonnet-5`

export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://api.router.ai
export ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN=sk-your-token

claude --model claude-sonnet-5

Verify

Before running anything complex, just say hello and check you get a reply. To test the token on its own, call the API directly:

curl https://api.router.ai/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk-your-token" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model":"claude-sonnet-5","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"hello"}]}'

A JSON response containing choices means you are connected. The call shows up in your billing records shortly after.

Troubleshooting

Do not append /v1 to the base URL — Claude Code appends /v1/messages itself, so adding it yields /v1/v1/messages and a 404. Put both lines in ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc to make them permanent.

401

Wrong token, a stray space, or a copy that dropped the leading sk-. Copy it again in full.

404

Almost always the URL suffix. The OpenAI-compatible format needs a trailing /v1; the native Anthropic and Gemini formats must not have it. Check the table above.

402 / insufficient balance

The account is out of credit. See top-up methods.

Model not found

Model names must match the catalog exactly, including case and hyphens. Copy the exact name from the models page.

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