Connect Claude Code to an LLM gateway

Point Claude Code at your organization's LLM gateway. Check whether your admin already configured it, or set the base URL and credential yourself, then verify the connection and fix gateway errors.

An LLM gateway is a proxy your organization runs between Claude Code and the model provider. When your organization uses one, Claude Code authenticates to the gateway with a credential your organization issues instead of your personal claude.ai login.

This page is for developers running Claude Code through a gateway their organization operates. It covers two paths: checking whether your administrator already configured it for you, and configuring it yourself when they haven't.

To deploy a gateway for your organization, see Roll out an LLM gateway
For what Claude Code sends to a gateway, see the gateway compatibility guide

Check for an existing configuration

Administrators can distribute the gateway address and credential through managed settings, device management, or an apiKeyHelper, so Claude Code picks them up at startup with nothing for you to set. To check whether your organization already did this:

Run `claude`. If it opens to the login screen instead of a session, no gateway credential was distributed; [configure it yourself](#configure-claude-code-yourself) below.

If Claude Code started a session without showing the login screen, run `/status`, which opens on the **Status** tab, and check two lines:

* `Anthropic base URL`: this line only appears when a gateway address is set. If it isn't there, Claude Code isn't pointed at the gateway; [configure it yourself](#configure-claude-code-yourself) below.
* `Auth token` or `API key`: a line naming `ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN`, `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`, or an `apiKeyHelper` confirms a gateway credential is active. A `Login method` line naming a claude.ai account instead means the credential wasn't distributed; [set it yourself](#set-the-credential-variable).

Close the `/status` menu and send any prompt in Claude Code. A normal response from Claude, with no error, confirms the gateway connection works.

If both lines in the /status menu look right but the message to Claude fails, see the troubleshooting table.

Configure Claude Code yourself

To configure Claude Code for the gateway yourself, you need from your gateway team:

The gateway's base URL
A credential: a key or token string, or a command that fetches one
- If your gateway team didn't say which kind of credential it is, the credential variable section below covers what to try

The sections below cover the configuration in order:

Set the credential variable and set the base URL: the two variables every gateway connection needs
Verify the connection: confirm it works before persisting anything
Configure each surface: if you are using a surface besides the Claude Code CLI, such as VS Code, see how to configure it with your gateway credentials
Additional configuration: variables some gateways need beyond the base URL and credential, such as a custom header, a credential helper, model discovery, a provider-format base URL, or turning off traffic outside the gateway path. Set these only if your administrator named them or your network restricts egress

Set the credential variable

To authenticate Claude Code to the gateway, set your credential in an environment variable. Which variable depends on what your gateway team told you:

Set the credential in	Use when
`ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN`	Your gateway team said "bearer token" or "Authorization header"
`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`	Your gateway team said "API key" or "x-api-key"
`apiKeyHelper`	The credential rotates or comes from a vault

If you weren't told which kind, use ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN; the verification request below shows how to tell if you need to switch.

Set the base URL and credential

Set the gateway's base URL and the credential variable you picked above as environment variables. The examples use ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN; swap it for ANTHROPIC_API_KEY if that's the variable you picked. You can set them in your shell, which lasts for one terminal session, or in a Claude Code settings file, which persists everywhere Claude Code runs.

For your first connection, start with shell exports and run the verification request before moving the values to a settings file.

Set as shell environment variables

Replace the values with the ones your gateway team gave you:

```bash theme=\{null\}
export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://llm-gateway.example.com
export ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN=sk-gateway-key
```

```powershell theme=\{null\}
$env:ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL = "https://llm-gateway.example.com"
$env:ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN = "sk-gateway-key"
```

Shell exports apply only to that terminal session and programs started from it. An editor launched from the dock or Start menu won't see them. To make the values persist across new terminals, add the same lines to your shell profile, such as ~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc, or your PowerShell $PROFILE.

If you export the gateway only in your shell, it doesn't reliably reach background agents hosted by the supervisor; see how each background session sources its gateway. Use a settings file for any gateway that background agents must always route through.

Set in a settings file

To make the configuration apply everywhere Claude Code runs, including background agents, set the variables in the env block of a settings file instead of relying on your shell. Settings files have different scopes:

~/.claude/settings.json applies to all your projects. On Windows the path is %USERPROFILE%\.claude\settings.json
.claude/settings.local.json applies to one project. Claude Code adds it to your global gitignore when it saves a setting there; if you create it by hand or have Claude write it, add it to your gitignore yourself first so you don't accidentally commit your credential
Don't put the credential in a project's .claude/settings.json. That file is committed and shared with everyone who clones the repository.

The env block looks the same in either file:

json

{
  "env": {
    "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL": "https://llm-gateway.example.com",
    "ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN": "sk-gateway-key"
  }
}

When both a shell export and a settings-file env block set the same variable, the settings-file value applies. Run /status to see which base URL and credential source Claude Code is using.

Verify the connection

With the variables exported in your shell, send a one-token request to the gateway directly. This confirms the URL and credential work before you open Claude Code, so a failure points at the gateway rather than your configuration. The commands below read the shell variables, so they need the shell exports even if you also put the values in a settings file.

```bash theme=\{null\}
curl -X POST "$ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL/v1/messages" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN" \
  -H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '\{"model": "claude-sonnet-4-6", "max_tokens": 1, "messages": [\{"role": "user", "content": "."\}]\}'
```

```powershell theme=\{null\}
Invoke-RestMethod -Method Post -Uri "$env:ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL/v1/messages" `
  -Headers @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $env:ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN"; "anthropic-version" = "2023-06-01" \} `
  -ContentType "application/json" `
  -Body '\{"model": "claude-sonnet-4-6", "max_tokens": 1, "messages": [\{"role": "user", "content": "."\}]\}'
```

If your gateway expects keys in the x-api-key header, replace the Authorization header with x-api-key: $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY in the Bash command, or the "Authorization" hashtable entry with "x-api-key" = "$env:ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" in the PowerShell command.

A JSON response that starts with \{"id":"msg_ and includes a "content":[...] field means the gateway is reachable and the credential works. An error naming an unknown model still proves the URL and credential work, since the gateway authenticated the request before rejecting the model name; you don't need to find a model your gateway serves for this test. A 401 means the credential was rejected: if you guessed the variable, switch to the other one and re-export.

Confirm in Claude Code

Start claude from the same shell so it inherits the exports, send a message, and run /status.

On the Status tab, the Anthropic base URL line should show your gateway address, which confirms requests are routing there; if the line isn't there, the variable didn't reach the session. An Auth token or API key line naming the variable you set confirms the gateway credential is active rather than a saved claude.ai login.

If the message fails, or /status doesn't show the gateway URL, see the troubleshooting table below.

How the credential variable maps to a header

Each variable sends the credential in a different HTTP header: ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN in Authorization: Bearer, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY in x-api-key, and apiKeyHelper in both. A credential in the wrong variable reaches the gateway in a header it doesn't read, and the request fails with 401. If the verification request returned 401, switch to the other variable and try again.

A gateway credential variable takes precedence over a saved claude.ai login or Console key. Your claude.ai login stays saved and unused while the variable is set; unset the variable and Claude Code goes back to it. With ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN, the variable takes precedence immediately. With ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, you are prompted once in interactive mode to approve the key before it takes over.

Run /status to confirm which credential source is active. If startup shows an auth-conflict warning naming two sources, see the first row of the troubleshooting table for which one to drop. To clear a saved login so only the gateway credential remains, run /logout.

Configure each surface

The CLI reads the environment variables and settings files above. The other surfaces are the VS Code extension, the desktop app, GitHub Actions, the Agent SDK, and the cloud surfaces such as Slack and the web; the sections below cover whether those settings reach each one.

VS Code extension

Set the gateway variables for the VS Code extension in claudeCode.environmentVariables, in VS Code's own user settings opened with the Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON) command. The extension checks credentials from this setting before launching, so it's the reliable place for the gateway credential; values in ~/.claude/settings.json reach the spawned process but not the extension's own login check.

json

{
  "claudeCode.environmentVariables": [
    { "name": "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL", "value": "https://llm-gateway.example.com" },
    { "name": "ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN", "value": "sk-gateway-key" }
  ]
}

Desktop app

The desktop app reads gateway routing from its third-party inference configuration, not from ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL or settings.json. That configuration can come from your organization or from a form in the app itself:

Distributed by an administrator: if your organization has deployed the configuration, the desktop app routes through the gateway with no setup on your part
Configured locally: for devices without an administrator-distributed configuration, open Help → Troubleshooting → Enable Developer Mode, which restarts the app with a Developer menu. Then open Developer → Configure Third-Party Inference and enter your gateway base URL. An administrator-distributed configuration takes precedence and makes this form read-only

With the gateway configuration active, the desktop app runs sessions on your local machine only: the environment picker doesn't offer SSH sessions or Anthropic-hosted cloud environments, and Remote Control is unavailable. To use Claude Code on a remote host through the gateway, run the CLI on that host with ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL and the gateway credential set there.

If the desktop app shows Gateway was unreachable, the app couldn't reach the configured base URL at startup; check the URL and network path with the curl test above.

GitHub Actions

Claude Code GitHub Actions reads ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL and ANTHROPIC_CUSTOM_HEADERS from the workflow's env block. Pass the credential as the action's anthropic_api_key input; the action sets it as ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, so it reaches the gateway in the x-api-key header.

For an x-api-key gateway, set the base URL in env and pass the gateway key as the input:

yaml

env:
  ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL: https://llm-gateway.example.com

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

For a bearer-token gateway, pass the same secret twice: as the anthropic_api_key input and as ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN in the workflow env block. The action requires anthropic_api_key, CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN, or workload identity federation before it launches Claude Code, and it doesn't read ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN, so the input is there only to satisfy that launch check. The env variable is what puts the key in the Authorization header the gateway reads; the copy in x-api-key is ignored:

yaml

env:
  ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL: https://llm-gateway.example.com
  ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GATEWAY_API_KEY }}

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

For the action's other authentication options, including CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN and workload identity federation, see Claude Code GitHub Actions and the action's README.

Agent SDK

The Agent SDK has no gateway-specific options; it passes environment variables to the Claude Code process it spawns. Each SDK accepts an env option that sets the spawned process's environment, and the TypeScript and Python SDKs treat it differently:

TypeScript: the spawned process inherits the parent environment by default, but setting options.env replaces the environment entirely. Spread process.env into it to keep your gateway variables.

Python: ClaudeAgentOptions(env=...) merges on top of the inherited environment, so gateway variables set in the parent process carry through without spreading.

const result = query({
  prompt: "...",
  options: {
    env: {
      ...process.env,
      ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL: "https://llm-gateway.example.com",
      ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN: process.env.GATEWAY_KEY,
    },
  },
})

python

options = ClaudeAgentOptions(
    env={
        "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL": "https://llm-gateway.example.com",
        "ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN": os.environ["GATEWAY_KEY"],
    }
)

Slack, web, and Remote Control

Claude Code in Slack and Claude Code on the web are Anthropic-hosted products that always use Anthropic's API; they aren't part of a gateway deployment. Gateway variables set in a cloud session's environment configuration are not applied. If your traffic must stay on the gateway, don't enable these surfaces for those users.

Remote Control and voice dictation both rely on a claude.ai identity: Remote Control to pair a live session with your account, and voice dictation to reach the claude.ai transcription endpoint. They are unavailable while ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN, or an apiKeyHelper is active. Remote Control is also disabled while ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL points at a non-Anthropic host, so signing in with claude.ai isn't enough on its own. Before v2.1.196, a non-Anthropic base URL didn't block Remote Control.

To restore either feature, log in with claude.ai and unset the gateway variables that feature checks. The Remote Control section of claude doctor names what is currently blocking Remote Control.

Voice dictation: unset the gateway credential
Remote Control: unset the gateway credential and ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL

Additional configuration

These settings cover cases beyond the base URL and credential. Set them only if your administrator's instructions, your network's egress rules, or the troubleshooting table call for one.

Send additional headers

Some gateways route or tag requests using a custom header in addition to the credential, for example a tenant identifier or a routing key. To send one, set ANTHROPIC_CUSTOM_HEADERS with one Name: Value pair per line. The example below adds a routing header named X-Org-Route:

```bash theme=\{null\}
export ANTHROPIC_CUSTOM_HEADERS="X-Org-Route: prod"
```

```powershell theme=\{null\}
$env:ANTHROPIC_CUSTOM_HEADERS = "X-Org-Route: prod"
```

You can also set ANTHROPIC_CUSTOM_HEADERS in the env block of a settings file. Use \n between pairs there, since JSON strings can't span multiple lines:

json

{
  "env": {
    "ANTHROPIC_CUSTOM_HEADERS": "X-Org-Route: prod\nX-Tenant: example"
  }
}

Routing and tenant header names like these count as headers that need approval. When the headers come from a project settings file, Claude Code applies them under the rules for when it applies env values.

Add gateway models to the model picker

With model discovery enabled, Claude Code queries the gateway for its model list at startup and adds those names to the /model picker alongside the built-in entries. If you or your administrator set replaceBuiltInOptions in a modelPicker lineup, Claude Code hides the discovered names too. It keeps a row for the model the session is already using.

Enable it if your gateway serves model names that aren't in Claude Code's built-in list and you want to select them from the picker. If the built-in models are what you use, you don't need discovery; your administrator may also have already enabled it through managed settings.

To enable it, set CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_GATEWAY_MODEL_DISCOVERY=1 in your shell or in the env block of ~/.claude/settings.json.

Discovered models appear as additional /model entries. Each entry shows the description your gateway supplies for the model, or From gateway when it doesn't supply one.

Connect Claude Code to an LLM gateway ​

Check for an existing configuration ​

Configure Claude Code yourself ​

Set the credential variable ​

Set the base URL and credential ​

Set as shell environment variables ​

Set in a settings file ​

Verify the connection ​

Confirm in Claude Code ​

How the credential variable maps to a header ​

Conflicts with an existing login ​

Configure each surface ​

VS Code extension ​

Desktop app ​

GitHub Actions ​

Agent SDK ​

Slack, web, and Remote Control ​

Additional configuration ​

Send additional headers ​

Add gateway models to the model picker ​

Connect Claude Code to an LLM gateway

Check for an existing configuration

Configure Claude Code yourself

Set the credential variable

Set the base URL and credential

Set as shell environment variables

Set in a settings file

Verify the connection

Confirm in Claude Code

How the credential variable maps to a header

Conflicts with an existing login

Configure each surface

VS Code extension

Desktop app

GitHub Actions

Agent SDK

Slack, web, and Remote Control

Additional configuration

Send additional headers

Add gateway models to the model picker