The short version
- Make the key on the API keys page of the Claude Console, and copy it when it appears: Anthropic shows it once.
- Buy credits on Billing, then set your own spend limit there, so a busy month stops where you chose.
- In Runner, an owner or admin pastes it under Settings, then LLM providers, presses Test, then Connect.
- Rather skip all of it? With AI included there is nothing to set up, and you can change your choice later.
Make a Claude Console account, and buy credits
Keys for Claude live in the Claude Console, Anthropic's site for building with its models, at platform.claude.com. You pay Anthropic for what the key uses from credits you buy there.
Sign in to the Claude Console
Go to platform.claude.com and sign in, or create an account if you don't have one yet.
Buy credits
With an Admin or Billing role, open Billing, press Buy credits, enter the amount you want and confirm.
When the credits run out
Anthropic stops answering the key until you add more. Billing also offers auto-reload, which buys credits when your balance falls to an amount you choose, and Manage auto-reload turns it off again.
Create the key, and copy it while Anthropic shows it
A key is made on the API keys page. When you create it you choose who it belongs to and how long it lasts, and both matter for a key a whole team relies on.
Open API keys
In the Claude Console, open the API keys page, at platform.claude.com/settings/keys.
Press Create key
Name it Runner, choose an expiration, and set Linked account to yourself or to a service account.
Copy it now
The Console shows the full key, which starts with sk-ant-, only once. Copy it somewhere safe, such as a secrets manager or a password manager. A lost key is replaced with a new one, never recovered.
Who the key belongs to
Anthropic suggests a personal key for your own work and a service account key for anything shared, because a personal key stops working when its owner leaves your organization. An expiring key stops on its date, and Anthropic emails whoever made it beforehand if it lasts a week or more. If Create key is greyed out, your role may not allow it: ask an organization admin.
Set your own spend limit at Anthropic
Anthropic's Start, Build and Scale tiers each carry a monthly spend cap. You can set your own limit below it, so spending stops at the amount you chose rather than the tier's.
Open Billing
In the Claude Console, open Billing, at platform.claude.com/settings/billing.
Find Spend limits
In the Spend limits section, press Set limit, or Adjust limit if one is already set.
Enter your amount
Type the most you want to spend. It can be as high as your tier's cap and no higher.
When the limit is reached
Anthropic refuses requests and says when access resumes. Raising or removing the limit restores it sooner.
Paste the key into Runner, under Settings, then LLM providers
The key belongs to your Runner organization, so every product in it can use the key, and only an owner or admin can connect one. Runner encrypts it before storing it and never shows it again.
A key you connect is used before credits, even on AI included.
Open LLM providers
In Runner, open Settings, then LLM providers, under What the AI uses.
Find the Anthropic card
If it's folded under More providers, open it. Paste the key into Anthropic API key.
Press Test, then Connect
Test asks Anthropic whether it accepts the key, without using any credit. When it says Anthropic accepted it, press Connect.
Keep the key secret
Anthropic's rule is the one you use for a password: don't share your API key. Anyone who needs access gets a key of their own.
- Keep it out of emails, chats and support tickets, even ones to Anthropic.
- If you think it has leaked, delete it at once and make a new one.
- Anthropic deactivates a key it finds in a public GitHub repository, and emails you about it.
- Paste it only into Runner's key box, never into a chat, an email or a support ticket.
Swap the key for a new one, or switch it off
Anthropic suggests rotating keys on a schedule, every 90 days for example: make a new key, move to it, then switch the old one off.
Make the new key
On API keys, press Create key and copy the new one, as above.
Swap it in Runner
On the Anthropic card in LLM providers, press Disconnect, then Confirm disconnect, and paste the new key, Test it and Connect. Disconnecting stops your team using the old key at once.
Delete the old key
Back on API keys, open the menu beside the old key and choose Delete API key. Disable is the reversible version; Delete is permanent.
Rather not make a key at all?
With AI included, your team runs on the AI credits your plan includes, with nothing to set up: no API keys, no vendor accounts, no billing with an AI company.
Every plan comes two ways, AI included or your own key, and you can change your choice later in Settings.
AI included or your own key: help me chooseGive your business a growth team.
Create your account and pick a plan. Your team is built once the plan is paid.