Claude Code CLI Setup Guide

Configure Claude Code CLI to use Router One as a proxy for unified routing, cost controls, and full observability.

Before you start, create your API Key on the Dashboard API Keys page (format: sk-xxx).

Install Node.js via Homebrew

Claude Code CLI requires Node.js 18 or later.

bash

brew install node

bash

node --version

Install Claude Code CLI globally

bash

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Configure environment variables

Point Claude Code at Router One as its API endpoint.

If you previously used the official Claude CLI, clear the old config first to avoid conflicts: rm -rf ~/.claude

Temporary (current terminal session only):

bash

export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://api.router.one
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-your-api-key
export ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN=sk-your-api-key

Permanent (write to shell config):

bash

echo 'export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://api.router.one' >> ~/.zshrc
echo 'export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-your-api-key' >> ~/.zshrc
echo 'export ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN=sk-your-api-key' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN is used for Claude Code authentication — set it to the same value as ANTHROPIC_API_KEY.

Launch Claude Code

Run this to start the CLI:

bash

claude