Claude Code

When to use this pageCopy Anchor Link

You use Claude Code and want its requests to go through EZAT Router and be paid from your EZAT balance. Two environment variables do it. Claude Code's own model names keep working, so nothing else changes.

What you needCopy Anchor Link

• An EZAT API key (ezat_sk_…). Create one on the dashboard's API keys page; see API keys.
• Credit on your balance (Billing).
• Claude Code, installed as usual.

Set it upCopy Anchor Link

export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="https://api.router.ezat.io"
export ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN="$EZAT_API_KEY"

To test the key and URL without Claude Code, send one request with the same header Claude Code uses:

curl --fail-with-body https://api.router.ezat.io/v1/messages \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $EZAT_API_KEY" \
  -H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-5-5", "max_tokens": 16, "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hi"}]}'

A JSON answer with "type": "message" means the key and URL are right. A 401 means the key is wrong.

Make it permanentCopy Anchor Link

Shell exports last for one terminal. To keep the setting, either add the two export lines to your shell profile (~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc, or PowerShell's $PROFILE), or put them in the env block of a Claude Code settings file:

{
  "env": {
    "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL": "https://api.router.ezat.io",
    "ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN": "ezat_sk_…"
  }
}

If the file already exists, add the env entries to it rather than replacing it. When a variable is set both in your shell and in a settings file, the settings file wins. A settings file also reaches Claude Code's background agents, which a shell export may not.

Claude Code applies a project's env block only after you trust the folder. If it asks you to log in on first start, put the key in your shell or in ~/.claude/settings.json instead.

Why ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKENCopy Anchor Link

EZAT accepts the key either way, but ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN is the simpler choice:

While the token is set, Claude Code doesn't use your claude.ai subscription: requests are billed to your EZAT balance, and the subscription's limits don't apply. Your login stays saved; unset the variable to go back to it. Setting only ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL is not enough, because Claude Code would then send your claude.ai credential, which EZAT rejects.

Choose a modelCopy Anchor Link

You don't need a model setting. Claude Code's aliases (opus, sonnet, haiku, fable) resolve to Anthropic model names such as claude-opus-5-5, and EZAT accepts those names as aliases of its own ids. Background tasks use the model the haiku alias points to.

• Switch for the current session: /model (opens the picker), or /model opus.
• Start on a model: claude --model sonnet, or set ANTHROPIC_MODEL.
• Pin an exact version: use Anthropic's full name, for example claude-opus-5-5, with /model, ANTHROPIC_MODEL or the model setting.

Use Anthropic's names (the aliases column on Models), not EZAT's anthropic/… ids. Claude Code sets the context window and features from the model name, so it needs a name it recognizes.

Prompt cachingCopy Anchor Link

Claude Code marks its own cache breakpoints, and EZAT keeps each conversation on one deployment so the cache is read back. There is nothing to set. Cache tokens show on the Usage page under Cache (write / read). See Prompt caching and sessions.

See usage and costCopy Anchor Link

Every request appears on the dashboard's Usage page, with tokens and cost per model and per key. Give Claude Code its own key to see its usage on its own (By key), and set a spend limit on that key if you want a cap (API keys).

Other ways to run Claude CodeCopy Anchor Link

VS Code extension. Set the variables in VS Code's user settings (Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON)). The extension checks credentials from this setting before it starts:

{
  "claudeCode.environmentVariables": [
    { "name": "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL", "value": "https://api.router.ezat.io" },
    { "name": "ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN", "value": "ezat_sk_…" }
  ]
}

GitHub Actions. Put the key in a repository secret and pass it as the action's anthropic_api_key input. The action sends it as x-api-key, which EZAT accepts:

env:
  ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL: https://api.router.ezat.io

steps:
  - uses: anthropics/claude-code-action@v1
    with:
      anthropic_api_key: ${{ secrets.EZAT_API_KEY }}

Not available through EZAT: Claude Code on the web (cloud sessions) and Claude Code in Slack don't apply these variables, so they can't run on EZAT. Remote Control and voice dictation need a claude.ai login, and Claude Code turns them off while ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN is set.

Common problemsCopy Anchor Link

More cases are on Common issues.

For AI agentsCopy Anchor Link

1. Never ask the user to paste the key into the chat. Read it from EZAT_API_KEY, or ask the user to set it themselves.
2. Set ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL to https://api.router.ezat.io (no /v1) and ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN to the key, in the env block of ~/.claude/settings.json (merge into the existing file, don't overwrite it) or in the shell profile.
3. Never write the key into a project's .claude/settings.json: it is committed.
4. Don't also set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY or apiKeyHelper. If ANTHROPIC_API_KEY holds another key, unset it.
5. Don't set a model. To pin one, use an Anthropic model name from the aliases on Models, not an anthropic/… id.
6. Verify with the curl request above, then have the user run /status and check Anthropic base URL and Auth token.