Configure Claude Code with BytePass

Claude Code is Anthropic's official CLI coding assistant. This guide walks you through connecting it to BytePass so you can use Claude models without a direct Anthropic account.

Estimated time: 5–10 minutes (or under 2 minutes with CC-Switch)

Prerequisites

  • Node.js 18+ — Check with node --version. If not installed, download from nodejs.org.
  • A BytePass API key — Create one at bytepass.ai/keys. See Quick Start if you haven't registered.

Install Claude Code

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

If you see permission errors on macOS/Linux, use sudo npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code or fix your npm prefix.

Configuration

Method 1: Import from BytePass dashboard (recommended)

If you have CC-Switch installed, go to bytepass.ai/keys and click the "Import to CCS" button next to your key. Done — no manual config needed.

See the full CC-Switch guide for installation and details.

Method 2: Environment variables

Set these two variables in your shell profile (~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc, or ~/.bash_profile):

export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="https://api.bytepass.ai"
export ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN="sk-your-bytepass-key"

Then reload your shell:

source ~/.zshrc

Important: The base URL is https://api.bytepass.ai — do NOT add /v1 at the end. Claude Code adds the path automatically.

Method 3: Config file

Edit ~/.claude/settings.json:

{
  "env": {
    "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL": "https://api.bytepass.ai",
    "ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN": "sk-your-bytepass-key"
  }
}

This is the same file that CC-Switch writes to. If you already have other settings in this file, just add/update the env keys.

Verify

Open a new terminal and run:

claude

Type any message. If you get a response from Claude, the setup is complete.

Troubleshooting

"Please log in" or login page keeps opening

Claude Code may try to open a browser login on first run. Once you've configured the API key via env vars or settings.json, this should not happen. If it persists, make sure you opened a new terminal after setting the variables.

401 Unauthorized

  • Check that your API key is correct and starts with sk-
  • Make sure you have credits in your BytePass account

400 Bad Request or "invalid URL"

You likely added /v1 to the base URL. Use https://api.bytepass.ai — no trailing path.

"Connection refused" or timeout

  • Check your network connection
  • Test API reachability: curl https://api.bytepass.ai/v1/models -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY"

Environment variable not taking effect

  • Make sure you opened a new terminal after editing your shell profile
  • Check for conflicting variables: env | grep ANTHROPIC
  • If using settings.json, make sure the JSON is valid

What's next?

  • CC-Switch — Simplify config management
  • Tips & tricks — Save tokens, manage context, and work more efficiently
  • FAQ — Common questions and error fixes
← PreviousCC-SwitchNext →Codex CLI