Last verified: 8 September 2026. Official: console.anthropic.com · API docs · Help Center.
Direct Answer (8 September 2026): The Anthropic Console at console.anthropic.com is where you create the API key, add prepaid credits, set spend caps, and read burn by model. claude.ai chat seats do not include API credits. Sign-in is email code or Google — same account family as platform.claude.com. There is no Microsoft or Apple login on the console. Chat lives at claude.ai; keys live here.
After the key exists, rates and current model names are on the pricing hub and the model tracker.
What the console is for
| Section | Job |
|---|---|
| API Keys | Create, name, revoke. Optional per-key spend cap. |
| Billing / Credits | Add a card, buy prepaid credits, read invoices. |
| Usage | Tokens by model, cache hits, batch jobs. |
| Workbench | Test a prompt before you put it in code. |
| Limits | Tier (deposit-linked), requests and tokens per minute / day. |
Create an API key — 8 steps
- Open console.anthropic.com. Sign in or create the account.
- Open Billing. Add a payment method. The API is pay-as-you-go. A Pro seat on claude.ai does not unlock this.
- Buy prepaid credits if the workspace is new. Empty balance returns 400-class billing errors, not a model error.
- Open API Keys → Create Key.
- Name it for the environment (
dev,prod,ci). Do not reuse one key across all three. - Set a spend limit on the key if the UI offers it. Workspace cap plus key cap.
- Copy the secret once. It is not shown again. Store it as
ANTHROPIC_API_KEYin the environment or a vault. Never commit it. - Smoke-test with a cheap model (Haiku 4.5) before you point production at Sonnet 5 or Opus 5.
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."
python - <<'PY'
import anthropic
client = anthropic.Anthropic()
msg = client.messages.create(
model="claude-haiku-4-5",
max_tokens=64,
messages=[{"role":"user","content":"ping"}],
)
print(msg.content[0].text)
PY
Use the live alias from the console Models page. Do not hardcode retired date-stamped IDs (the June 15, 2026 Claude 4 / 4.0 class).
Billing pitfalls that burn credits
- Seat ≠ credit. Paying for Pro, Max, or Team does not add console credits.
- Empty prepaid balance looks like an API outage. Check Billing first.
- No spend cap on a shared key is how a loop empties the workspace overnight.
- Wrong model string — Sonnet 4.6 is still billed at $3 / $15. Sonnet 5 is $2 / $10. Opus 5 is the current Opus at $5 / $25. Fable 5.1 is $10 / $50.
- Prompt cache is not free by default. You set
cache_control. 5-minute writes are 1.25× input; 1-hour writes are 2×; reads are 0.1× (0.025× on Fable 5.1). - Batch is 50% off and can take up to 24 hours. Do not use it for interactive chat.
- Rate-limit tier follows deposited spend, not the chat plan. A new workspace starts tight. Raising the prepaid total is what moves the tier.
- Workspaces are not interchangeable with claude.ai orgs. Admin on one is not admin on the other.
Current model strings to try first
| Use | Start with | List price |
|---|---|---|
| Smoke test / volume | Haiku 4.5 | $1 / $5 |
| Default production | Sonnet 5 | $2 / $10 |
| Hard agent / coding | Opus 5 | $5 / $25 |
| Only if the job is worth it | Fable 5.1 | $10 / $50 |
Confirm the exact ID in the console before deploy. Tracker: current Claude model version.
FAQ
Where do I create an Anthropic API key?
console.anthropic.com → API Keys → Create Key. Copy it immediately.
Does Claude Pro include API credits?
No. Pro is a chat / Claude Code seat. API credits are a console balance.
Why is my first API call failing?
Usually a missing payment method, a $0 credit balance, or a retired model ID. Fix Billing, then retry on Haiku 4.5.
Console vs claude.ai?
claude.ai is the chat product. console.anthropic.com is keys, credits, and the Workbench.
Related: Claude pricing · models · API model IDs.
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