Claude Code Quick Start

This guide connects Claude Code to Modelflare and sends the first successful request. Use Option A for automated setup. Use Option B to install Claude Code first, then create the user settings yourself.

1. Create an API key

Create a Modelflare API key whose non-default group can access claude-opus-4-8 and claude-sonnet-5. Keep the complete key ready; the installer asks for it once.

2. Choose a setup method

Option A: run the installer

macOS or Linux

Run this command as your normal user:

curl -fsSL https://modelflare.dev/install/claude.sh | sh

When you are already logged in as root on a VPS or container, use:

curl -fsSL https://modelflare.dev/install/claude.sh | MODELFLARE_ALLOW_ROOT=1 sh

Do not add sudo on a personal computer.

Windows PowerShell

Open PowerShell as your normal Windows user and run:

irm https://modelflare.dev/install/claude.ps1 | iex

The installer asks you to choose Simplified Chinese, Japanese, or English, installs the official Claude Code CLI when needed, asks for the Modelflare API key once, backs up and merges the existing user settings, and verifies both configured models. It does not start Claude Code automatically.

Option B: configure Claude Code manually

Follow each step in order and run only the command for your operating system.

Step 1: install Claude Code

Windows PowerShell

irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex
claude --version

Linux

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash
claude --version

macOS

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash
claude --version

Step 2: create and enter the user settings directory

Windows PowerShell

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force "$HOME\.claude" | Out-Null
Set-Location "$HOME\.claude"

Linux

mkdir -p ~/.claude
cd ~/.claude

macOS

mkdir -p ~/.claude
cd ~/.claude

Step 3: create settings.json

Before running the command for your system, replace YOUR_MODELFLARE_API_KEY with your complete Modelflare API key.

Windows PowerShell

$settings = @'
{
  "env": {
    "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL": "https://modelflare.dev",
    "ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN": "YOUR_MODELFLARE_API_KEY",
    "ANTHROPIC_MODEL": "claude-opus-4-8",
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL": "claude-opus-4-8",
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL": "claude-sonnet-5",
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL": "claude-sonnet-5"
  }
}
'@
$utf8NoBom = New-Object System.Text.UTF8Encoding -ArgumentList $false
[System.IO.File]::WriteAllText(
  (Join-Path (Get-Location) "settings.json"),
  $settings,
  $utf8NoBom
)

Linux

cat > settings.json << 'EOF'
{
  "env": {
    "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL": "https://modelflare.dev",
    "ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN": "YOUR_MODELFLARE_API_KEY",
    "ANTHROPIC_MODEL": "claude-opus-4-8",
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL": "claude-opus-4-8",
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL": "claude-sonnet-5",
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL": "claude-sonnet-5"
  }
}
EOF
chmod 600 settings.json

macOS

cat > settings.json << 'EOF'
{
  "env": {
    "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL": "https://modelflare.dev",
    "ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN": "YOUR_MODELFLARE_API_KEY",
    "ANTHROPIC_MODEL": "claude-opus-4-8",
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL": "claude-opus-4-8",
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL": "claude-sonnet-5",
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL": "claude-sonnet-5"
  }
}
EOF
chmod 600 settings.json

Step 4: start Claude Code

Windows PowerShell

Set-Location $HOME
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force "my-claude-project" | Out-Null
Set-Location "my-claude-project"
claude

Linux

cd ~
mkdir -p my-claude-project
cd my-claude-project
claude

macOS

cd ~
mkdir -p my-claude-project
cd my-claude-project
claude

3. Send the first request

After Option A finishes, enter a project directory you trust and start Claude Code yourself:

claude

With either method, send:

Reply with one sentence confirming the active model.

A normal reply means setup is complete.