Claude Code API Setup with APIClaw for Unlimited Coding Sessions

How Claude Code uses an API endpoint

Claude Code connects to Anthropic's API to run the underlying model. It respects environment variables that let you override the API base URL and provide a custom key. APIClaw exposes an OpenAI-compatible endpoint that accepts Anthropic-format requests and translates them to the correct provider call behind the scenes.

By pointing Claude Code at APIClaw, every request your coding session makes is billed against your flat monthly plan rather than directly at Anthropic's per-token rates. A session that reads twenty files, proposes a refactoring, writes tests, and iterates on feedback costs exactly as much as any other request on your plan—nothing more.

Setting ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL

Claude Code respects the ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL environment variable. Set it to APIClaw's endpoint and provide your APIClaw key as ANTHROPIC_API_KEY:

# Set these in your shell profile or before running claude
export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="https://apiclaw.biz/v1"
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-your-apiclaw-key"

# Then launch Claude Code as normal
claude

With these two variables set in your shell, every model call Claude Code makes routes through APIClaw. If you want the configuration to persist across sessions, add the export lines to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc.

Verifying the connection

Run a simple task to confirm the routing works before relying on it for real work:

# Verify the connection with a simple task
claude "What files are in the root of this project?"

# Or check the logs in your APIClaw dashboard:
# https://apiclaw.biz/ui/logs/

If you see a response based on your codebase, the endpoint is configured correctly. You can also open the APIClaw dashboard under Logs to see the incoming request with its model, latency, and token count. This is useful for understanding how much of your daily allowance a typical session consumes.

Using the Anthropic SDK directly

If you are building a custom tool on top of the Anthropic Python SDK rather than the Claude Code CLI, you can point the SDK at APIClaw the same way:

import anthropic

client = anthropic.Anthropic(
    base_url="https://apiclaw.biz/v1",
    api_key="sk-your-apiclaw-key",
)

message = client.messages.create(
    model="claude",
    max_tokens=1024,
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Review this function for bugs."}],
)

print(message.content[0].text)

The base_url parameter is accepted by both the Anthropic and OpenAI Python SDKs. Either works against APIClaw because the gateway speaks both formats.

Managing daily request limits for coding sessions

Claude Code sessions make many API calls per conversation—sometimes dozens for a complex refactoring task. Each back-and-forth turn in a session counts as one or more requests depending on how the agent chunks its work. For light use of Claude Code alongside other tools, the entry-level plan handles daily workloads comfortably. For developers who run Claude Code as their primary coding interface throughout the day, a higher tier gives more headroom.

The APIClaw dashboard shows your current day's usage in real time, broken down by model and key. You can set up usage alerts if you want to be notified when you are approaching the daily ceiling. Limits reset at 00:00 UTC each day, and there are no overage charges if you reach the ceiling mid-session—requests simply fail until the reset, at which point Claude Code resumes normally.

Switching models mid-project

Because APIClaw is a unified gateway, you are not locked into one provider when using Claude Code. You can configure model fallbacks so that if Claude is temporarily unavailable or rate-limited at the provider level, APIClaw automatically routes to another model. Your Claude Code session sees a successful response and continues working without interruption.

For experimental or draft tasks you can also point Claude Code at a faster, cheaper model alias and reserve Claude for the final review pass. APIClaw's routing configuration lets you define these policies centrally without changing any environment variables in your local setup.

Why not use the Anthropic API directly?

Direct Anthropic API usage charges per input and output token. A typical Claude Code session—reading source files, reasoning through a fix, writing code, running verification steps, and iterating—can consume a significant number of tokens in a single afternoon. At direct Anthropic rates, heavy daily users see costs that make sustained use expensive.

APIClaw's daily request limit model is predictable. You pay the same monthly amount regardless of token count per session. For developers who use Claude Code as a daily driver, this difference is meaningful both financially and psychologically: you stop second-guessing which tasks are "worth" using the AI for and simply use it.

Getting started

Sign up at apiclaw.com/ui/signup/ and pick a plan that matches your expected daily coding session volume. Copy your API key from the dashboard, set the two environment variables above, and launch Claude Code. The setup takes under two minutes. Your first 50 requests are free, so you can verify the integration and get a feel for the routing before committing to a plan.