#Advice on Anthropic (again)

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

strong gyro
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Hi, @true portal -- I'm sorely confused over anthropic and what authorization I should be using...

I have Claude MAX ($100/month). what's the best way I should be authorizing and adding anthropic models to my openclaw?

true portalBOT
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Short version: use Claude CLI auth first if your goal is to use your Claude Max subscription. Use an Anthropic API key only if you explicitly want separate Anthropic Console / pay-as-you-go API billing. Anthropic notes that Claude Code can connect to Pro/Max subscriptions, but if ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is set, Claude Code will prefer the API key and charge API usage instead. (support.anthropic.com)

Recommended path:

# on the same machine where your OpenClaw gateway runs
claude --version
claude

# make sure Claude Code is logged into your Claude Max account

openclaw onboard
# choose: Claude CLI / Anthropic Claude CLI

openclaw models status
openclaw models list --provider anthropic
Using Claude Code with your Pro or Max plan | Claude Help Center
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Then set/switch models with:

openclaw models set anthropic/<model-from-list>

or in Discord:

/model
/model status

OpenClaw supports both Anthropic API keys and Claude CLI reuse; docs say API keys are the clearest production path, while Claude CLI reuse is supported and preferred over the old setup-token path when you already have Claude CLI on the host. (docs.openclaw.ai)

I’d not use setup-token unless someone specifically tells you to for a weird edge case. Happy to help verify your exact setup if you paste: