Claude Code

Claude Code works with any endpoint that speaks the Anthropic Messages API. Set three things: the base URL (https://api.abliteratedllm.dev), your API key, and which of our models each Claude Code alias should use.

Placeholders: $API_BASE is https://api.abliteratedllm.dev/v1, $API_ORIGIN is https://api.abliteratedllm.dev, and $YOUR_KEY is your API key.

Set the variables in your shell

Bash or Zsh:

export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="$API_ORIGIN"
export ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN="$YOUR_KEY"
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL="glm-5.3-flash-abliterated"
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL="glm-5.3-flash-abliterated"
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL="glm-5.3-flash-abliterated"
claude

PowerShell:

$env:ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL = "$API_ORIGIN"
$env:ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN = "$YOUR_KEY"
$env:ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL = "glm-5.3-flash-abliterated"
$env:ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL = "glm-5.3-flash-abliterated"
$env:ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL = "glm-5.3-flash-abliterated"
claude

Shell variables last for that terminal session only.

Or set them in a settings file

To apply them everywhere Claude Code runs, put them in the env block of ~/.claude/settings.json (on Windows, %USERPROFILE%\.claude\settings.json):

{
  "env": {
    "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL": "$API_ORIGIN",
    "ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN": "$YOUR_KEY",
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL": "glm-5.3-flash-abliterated",
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL": "glm-5.3-flash-abliterated",
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL": "glm-5.3-flash-abliterated"
  }
}

Don't put your key in a project's .claude/settings.json: that file is usually committed to the repository.

What each variable does

Variable	Value
`ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL`	Our origin, without `/v1`. Claude Code appends `/v1/messages` itself.
`ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN`	Your API key, sent as `Authorization: Bearer`. `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` works too; it is sent as `x-api-key`, and Claude Code asks you once to approve it.
`ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL`	The model behind the `opus` alias.
`ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL`	The model behind the `sonnet` alias.
`ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL`	The model behind the `haiku` alias. Claude Code also uses it for background tasks such as session titles.

The example puts glm-5.3-flash-abliterated behind all three aliases. Any enabled model works behind any alias, so when GET /v1/models lists several, you can put a cheaper one behind haiku for the frequent background calls.

Check the connection

Before starting Claude Code, send one request with the same variables:

curl "$ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL/v1/messages" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model": "glm-5.3-flash-abliterated", "max_tokens": 16, "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Say hi"}]}'

Then start claude from the same shell and run /status. The Anthropic base URL line should show our origin, and the auth line should name ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN. A 401 means the key is wrong or revoked.

Good to know

Text only. Pasted screenshots and images fail with 400 unsupported_content.
Trial accounts allow 1 concurrent request and 4096 output tokens. Claude Code sends requests in parallel (background tasks, subagents), so on a trial account expect 429 rate_limit_exceeded. Paid accounts allow 64 concurrent requests. See Rate limits and trial.
Thinking. Claude Code's thinking settings reach the model through the thinking parameter, described on POST /v1/messages.
Unrecognized fields. If requests fail with 400 errors that name context_management or other unknown fields, set CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_BETAS=1.
Other traffic. Claude Code also sends version checks and telemetry directly to Anthropic. CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC=1 turns that off (it also disables auto-updates).
Support. Anthropic doesn't support Claude Code with non-Claude models. Features that depend on Anthropic-only APIs, such as Remote Control and voice dictation, are unavailable while a gateway credential is set.

Verified against Claude Code docs on 2026-11-03: Connect Claude Code to an LLM gateway and Environment variables.