Setup Claude Intermediate

Authentication Options

Connect Claude via API key, AWS Bedrock, or Google Vertex AI

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Authentication methods

Claude Code supports multiple authentication backends. Choose based on your setup.

1. Personal login (simplest)

claude login

Uses your Anthropic account. Best for personal projects and exploration.

2. API key

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-api03-..."

Add to ~/.zshrc to persist. Best for developers with API billing.

3. AWS Bedrock

Route Claude through your AWS account. Useful for teams with existing AWS billing.

# Configure AWS credentials
aws configure

# Tell Claude Code to use Bedrock
export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK=1

# Optionally pin a model
export ANTHROPIC_MODEL="us.anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-20250514-v1:0"

# For cross-account access
export AWS_ROLE_ARN="arn:aws:iam::123456789:role/BedrockAccess"

Add all exports to ~/.zshrc to persist across sessions.

4. Google Vertex AI

Route through Google Cloud. Useful for teams with GCP billing.

# Authenticate
gcloud auth application-default login

# Set project and region
export CLOUD_ML_REGION="us-east5"
export ANTHROPIC_VERTEX_PROJECT_ID="your-gcp-project-id"

# Tell Claude Code to use Vertex
export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_VERTEX=1

Which should I use?

ScenarioMethod
Personal projectsclaude login
Solo developer, pay-per-useAPI key
Team with AWS billingBedrock
Team with GCP billingVertex AI

Working out which model to run this on? See The Codex. Packaging it as a reusable skill? See The Armory.