Anthropic (Claude)
Claude is Anthropic's family of AI models. Claude Sonnet is widely regarded as one of the most capable coding agents available, with strong reasoning, long context windows, and excellent instruction-following.
Step-by-Step Setup
1. Create an Anthropic Account
- Go to console.anthropic.com.
- Click Sign up.
- You can sign up with Google or with an email (Anthropic uses passwordless magic links — they email you a login link each time).
2. Complete Onboarding
After signing up, Anthropic will ask you a few questions:
- Your name
- Age confirmation (must be 18+)
- An organization name (you can use your own name or any label — this is just for your account)
3. Verify Your Phone Number
- You will be prompted to verify a phone number.
- Enter your mobile number and submit the verification code you receive via SMS.
- After verification, Anthropic grants $5 in free credits that expire in 14 days.
The $5 in free credits is a great way to test Claude with OpenClaw before committing any money. The credits expire 14 days after account creation, so make sure to try things out promptly.
Some VoIP and virtual numbers may not work. US-based mobile numbers have the highest success rate. If verification fails, try a different number.
4. Add Billing (Optional but Recommended)
If you want to continue using Claude after the free credits run out, or if you need higher rate limits:
- Go to Settings > Billing in the Anthropic Console.
- Click Add payment method and enter your credit card.
- Buy credits — the minimum purchase is $5.
5. Create an API Key
- In the Anthropic Console, go to API Keys (in the left sidebar).
- Click "+ Create Key".
- Give your key a descriptive name (e.g.,
openclaw-host). - Click Create Key.
- Copy the key immediately — it is only shown once.
The API key starts with sk-ant-api03- and is only displayed once at creation. If you lose it, you will need to create a new one. Store it somewhere safe.
6. Connect to OpenClaw Host
- Open your OpenClaw Dashboard.
- Go to Instance > Integrations tab.
- Find the Claude Code card and click Connect.
- Paste your API key into the field.
- Click Save.
Your instance will now use Claude as its AI provider.
Pricing
Claude uses a per-token pricing model. Costs depend on which model your agent uses:
| Model | Input (per 1M tokens) | Output (per 1M tokens) | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku | $1 | $5 | Fast, lightweight tasks |
| Claude Sonnet | $3 | $15 | Best balance of speed and quality |
| Claude Opus | $15 | $75 | Most capable, complex reasoning |
A token is roughly 3/4 of a word in English. A typical coding session with back-and-forth conversation might use 10,000-50,000 tokens. At Sonnet pricing, that is about $0.03-$0.15 per session.
Usage Tiers
Anthropic increases your rate limits as you spend more:
| Tier | Credit Purchase | Requests per Minute | Max Tokens per Minute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | $5 | 50 RPM | 40,000 |
| Tier 2 | $40 | 1,000 RPM | 80,000 |
| Tier 3 | $200 | 2,000 RPM | 160,000 |
| Tier 4 | $400+ | 4,000 RPM | 400,000 |
You start at Tier 1 after your first credit purchase. Tier upgrades happen automatically as your total spend increases.
Optional: Claude Code CLI
If you want to use Claude Code directly on your local machine (outside of OpenClaw Host), you can install the CLI:
Installation
macOS / Linux:
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash
Windows (requires WSL2 or Git Bash):
winget install Anthropic.ClaudeCode
Homebrew:
brew install --cask claude-code
Authentication
You can authenticate the CLI in two ways:
Option A — Environment variable (recommended for scripts):
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-api03-your-key-here"
Option B — Interactive login:
claude
This opens a browser-based login flow on first run.
You do not need to install Claude Code locally to use it through OpenClaw Host. The CLI section is here for users who also want Claude on their own machine.