"Anthropic API key" and "Claude API key" are the same thing — Anthropic is the company, Claude is the model, and the key format `sk-ant-api03-...` is generated from one central place: console.anthropic.com. This guide is for anyone landing here from a Zapier or Pilotran or n8n integration screen that asked for one, or a coding tutorial that assumed you already had it. Here's the full flow.
The console lives at console.anthropic.com
There is one Anthropic API console, at console.anthropic.com. It's separate from claude.ai (the consumer chat product) even though signing in uses the same account. If your first search result sends you to claude.ai looking for an API keys page, you're in the wrong app — claude.ai's Settings shows subscription info, not API keys.
The five steps
- Sign up at console.anthropic.com. Google, GitHub, or email — pick what your team already uses.
- Verify your phone number via SMS. Anthropic requires this on every API account; there's no way around it.
- Add a payment method in Settings → Billing, and top up (minimum $5). Or claim any free trial credit Anthropic is currently offering to new accounts — check the Billing tab for the current promo.
- Open Settings → API keys, click Create Key, name it something meaningful. Copy the full key immediately — it's shown once.
- Set `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-api03-...` in your environment or paste it into whatever tool is asking for it.
Where the key actually goes
If a third-party tool (Cursor, Claude Desktop, an automation platform, an internal script) is asking for the key, paste it into their integration screen. If you're writing code, the Anthropic SDKs read `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` from the environment automatically — nothing to configure, just set the env var.
Common first-time gotchas
- Console shows the key only at creation. If you missed the copy step, delete the key and create a new one — there is no way to retrieve a masked key. Every SDK and integration only needs the plaintext once (they store it themselves after that).
- The account balance can be positive and your key can still get `insufficient_quota` — this happens when your workspace has a spending cap set below the request cost. Check Settings → Workspaces → limits.
- Rate limits scale with usage tier. New accounts start at Tier 1, which is fine for exploration but tight for real production. Every month of consistent usage moves you up a tier automatically; you can also request a tier bump in the console.
- The key works for Claude, Haiku, Sonnet, Opus, and Fable — one key, all models. Model choice is per-request, not per-key.
Rotating and deleting keys
In the console, each key has a Rotate and Delete action. Delete a key the moment you no longer need it — orphaned keys are a common source of unauthorized usage. Rotating a key issues a new plaintext value and immediately invalidates the old one, so plan for a brief cutover if the key is in production use.