Anthropic Install & Auth

Overview

Set up the official Anthropic SDK for Python or TypeScript and configure API key authentication. The SDK wraps the Claude Messages API at https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ or Python 3.8+
• Package manager (npm, pnpm, yarn, or pip)
• Anthropic account with API access at console.anthropic.com
• API key from Console > API Keys

Instructions

Step 1: Install SDK

# Python
pip install anthropic

# TypeScript / Node.js
npm install @anthropic-ai/sdk

# With pnpm
pnpm add @anthropic-ai/sdk

Step 2: Configure API Key

# Set environment variable (recommended)
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-api03-..."

# Or add to .env file
echo 'ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-api03-your-key-here' >> .env

# Verify it's set
echo $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY | head -c 15
# Expected: sk-ant-api03-...

Step 3: Verify Connection (Python)

import anthropic

client = anthropic.Anthropic()  # reads ANTHROPIC_API_KEY from env

message = client.messages.create(
    model="claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
    max_tokens=64,
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Say hello in exactly 5 words."}]
)
print(message.content[0].text)
print(f"Model: {message.model}, Tokens: {message.usage.input_tokens}+{message.usage.output_tokens}")

Step 4: Verify Connection (TypeScript)

import Anthropic from '@anthropic-ai/sdk';

const client = new Anthropic();  // reads ANTHROPIC_API_KEY from env

const message = await client.messages.create({
  model: 'claude-sonnet-4-20250514',
  max_tokens: 64,
  messages: [{ role: 'user', content: 'Say hello in exactly 5 words.' }],
});

if (message.content[0].type === 'text') {
  console.log(message.content[0].text);
}
console.log(`Stop reason: ${message.stop_reason}`);

Output

• Installed SDK package (anthropic for Python, @anthropic-ai/sdk for TS)
• Environment variable ANTHROPIC_API_KEY configured
• Successful API response confirming authentication works

Examples

For local Python development, install anthropic in the project virtual environment, export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY only in the current shell, then run the Step 3 script. Its successful text response confirms both package resolution and authentication without adding a secret to the repository. For a Node service, set the same variable in the deployment platform's secret manager and run the TypeScript check once in a non-production environment; keep the key out of source, logs, and client-side bundles.

Error Handling

Enterprise Configuration

# Custom base URL (for proxied environments)
client = anthropic.Anthropic(
    api_key="sk-ant-...",
    base_url="https://your-proxy.internal.com/v1",
    timeout=60.0,
    max_retries=3
)

# With explicit headers
client = anthropic.Anthropic(
    default_headers={"anthropic-beta": "messages-2024-12-19"}
)

Security Considerations

• Never commit API keys to source control
• Use .env files with .gitignore exclusion
• Rotate keys periodically via Console > API Keys
• Use separate keys per environment (dev/staging/prod)
• Consider Anthropic's Workspace feature for team key isolation

Resources

• Anthropic API Getting Started
• Python SDK
• TypeScript SDK
• Console

Next Steps

After successful auth, proceed to anth-hello-world for your first Messages API call.