Claude Code Setup

Use TopRouter as the API provider for Claude Code CLI and the VS Code Claude Code extension.

Environment Variables

Set the following environment variables to route Claude Code through TopRouter:

export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="https://toprouter.cc"
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-your-toprouter-key"

Important

Do not add /v1 to the base URL for Claude Code. The client automatically appends the correct path.

Setup Methods

Method 1: Shell Profile (Persistent)

Add to your ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or ~/.profile:

# TopRouter for Claude Code
export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="https://toprouter.cc"
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-your-toprouter-key"

Then reload your shell:

source ~/.zshrc  # or ~/.bashrc

Method 2: Per-Session

Set variables before running Claude Code:

ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="https://toprouter.cc" \
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-your-toprouter-key" \
claude

Method 3: VS Code Settings

For the VS Code Claude Code extension:

1. Open VS Code Settings (Cmd+, / Ctrl+,)
2. Search for "Claude"
3. Set the API Base URL to https://toprouter.cc
4. Set your API Key

Or add to settings.json:

{
  "claude-code.apiBaseUrl": "https://toprouter.cc",
  "claude-code.apiKey": "sk-your-toprouter-key"
}

Verify Connection

After setup, test the connection:

claude "Hello, what model are you?"

You should see a response from the configured model.

Recommended Models

Model	Use Case
anthropic/claude-4.8-opus	Complex analysis, large codebases
anthropic/claude-4.6-sonnet	Daily coding, balanced performance

Troubleshooting

"API key invalid" error

• Verify the key is correct and active on the API Keys page
• Ensure ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is set (not OPENAI_API_KEY)

"Connection refused" error

• Check that ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL is set to https://toprouter.cc (no /v1)
• Verify your network connection

Model not found

• Use supported Claude model names like anthropic/claude-4.8-opus or anthropic/claude-4.6-sonnet

TIP

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