Claude Code with AICredits

Route Claude Code through AICredits to pay in INR, set per-key budget caps, and see every agentic request in your usage dashboard — all in a two-minute setup.

Prerequisites

• An AICredits account with credits — top up here
• Claude Code installed (npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code)
• Node.js 18+

Setup

1. Create an API Key

Go to Dashboard → API Keys and create a new key. Optionally set a budget limit (e.g. ₹500) to cap what a single Claude Code session can spend.

2. Configure via ~/.claude/settings.json (recommended)

The most reliable method is to set the env vars inside Claude Code's own settings file. They apply to every session automatically — no shell restarts required.

{
  "env": {
    "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL": "https://api.aicredits.in",
    "ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN": "sk-your-aicredits-key-here",
    "ANTHROPIC_MODEL": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.6"
  }
}

3. Verify there are no conflicting variables

If you've ever set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY in your shell profile, it will conflict:

grep -n "ANTHROPIC" ~/.zshrc ~/.bashrc 2>/dev/null

If you see ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, remove or comment it out, then open a new terminal before running claude.

Shell Export Method (alternative)

If you prefer shell env vars instead of settings.json:

export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://api.aicredits.in
export ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN=sk-your-aicredits-key-here
export ANTHROPIC_MODEL=anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.6

source ~/.zshrc

Verify It Works

Before starting a session, confirm the env is clean:

echo $ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL    # → https://api.aicredits.in
echo $ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN  # → sk-your-key
echo $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY     # → (should be empty)

Then launch Claude Code and run /status inside the session to confirm the auth method and endpoint.

After your first prompt, check Dashboard → Usage — the request and INR cost should appear within a few seconds.

Supported Models

Override the model for a single session:

ANTHROPIC_MODEL=anthropic/claude-opus-4.5 claude

Troubleshooting

401 Unauthorized Your ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN is missing or invalid. Confirm it's set and that it's an AICredits key (from Dashboard → API Keys), not an Anthropic key.

402 Payment Required Wallet balance is zero or the key has hit its budget cap. Add credits at Dashboard → Billing or raise the key's budget limit.

Requests seem to hit the API twice / usage counts double You have both ANTHROPIC_API_KEY and ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN set. Claude Code tries both. Remove ANTHROPIC_API_KEY entirely:

grep -n "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" ~/.zshrc ~/.bashrc 2>/dev/null
# unset or delete any lines found, then open a new terminal

ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL looks right but billing still goes to Anthropic The env var was set after Claude Code started. Env vars are frozen at process startup — open a new terminal and relaunch claude.

Check balance via API

curl https://api.aicredits.in/v1/credits \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk-your-key"

{
  "balance": 842.50,
  "currency": "INR"
}