Skip to main content
Claude Code is Anthropic’s official command-line coding assistant. It hits api.anthropic.com by default — set ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL to point it at RuAPI instead, no proxy layer required.
This page covers direct setup. If you’d rather manage multiple providers in a GUI, see CC Switch.

​
Prerequisites

1

RuAPI account + API key

If you haven’t yet: register at www.ruapi.ai, top up with USDT, then Console → Tokens → Create token to get a sk-... string. See Top-up and API keys & security.
2

Node.js ≥ 18

Claude Code needs Node.js 18+. Check with:
If missing, grab the LTS from nodejs.org, or on macOS:

​
Install Claude Code

Confirm:

​
Point Claude Code at RuAPI

Three configuration methods, in order of preference: Edit ~/.claude/settings.json (macOS / Linux) or %USERPROFILE%\.claude\settings.json (Windows). Create it if missing:
Do not append /v1 to ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL. The Anthropic SDK adds /v1/messages itself, and an extra /v1 causes 404s.

​
Method 2: shell env vars

For a quick trial:
Add the same lines to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc to make them permanent.

​
Method 3: use CC Switch

If you bounce between RuAPI and your official account, install CC Switch and manage providers from a GUI.

​
First call

Open a new terminal (so env vars are loaded), cd into any project:
In the interactive prompt, ask the simplest possible thing:
You should get an immediate Claude reply, and the RuAPI Console → Logs should show the request with a token-level cost line.
To double-check the call really went through RuAPI, open RuAPI Console → Logs and look at the newest entry — the model name should match claude-sonnet-5 (or whatever you configured).

​
Switch models on the fly

Inside a session:
Full model list at the pricing page.

​
Troubleshooting

  • ANTHROPIC_API_KEY must be your RuAPI token (sk-...), not Anthropic’s sk-ant-....
  • Watch for trailing whitespace or line breaks when copying.
  • In RuAPI Console → Tokens, confirm the key is enabled and that the model allowlist (if any) doesn’t exclude the model you’re calling.
  • Typo in the model ID. Claude model families on RuAPI are Claude Sonnet, Claude Opus, and Claude Haiku — see the pricing page for exact names.
  • Don’t add /v1 to ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL.
Check USD balance on the Console home page and top up more USDT. Long-context conversations and tool calls burn tokens fast — 5–10 USD is a reasonable starting buffer.
  • Verify reachability: curl -I https://www.ruapi.ai
  • If you’re behind a corporate proxy, make sure HTTPS_PROXY isn’t routing to a dead endpoint.
  • No VPN required.
Use CC Switch for one-click toggling, or direnv to bind different env vars per project directory.

​
Advanced

  • MCP servers: independent of which backend API you use — configure as usual.
  • Tool calls / function calling: RuAPI forwards Anthropic’s tool calls unchanged.
  • Streaming / SSE: on by default, nothing extra to configure.
For more Claude Code tips, see the official documentation.