Connecting Claude
This article covers obtaining an Anthropic (Claude) API key, fixing common errors, and keeping keys safe. Paste the key in Limb under Chatbot → AI Settings (see your AI Settings documentation for that flow).
Before you start: Create an Anthropic account at the console below. API access normally requires billing or prepaid usage—have a payment method ready per Anthropic’s current requirements.
Getting your Claude API key
Work in the Anthropic console:
- Open the console — https://console.anthropic.com/ and sign in.
- Billing — complete organization setup and add a payment method if the console requires it before keys work.
- Create a key — under API keys (or Settings → API keys), create a new secret key and give it a recognizable label.
- Copy once — keys often start with
sk-ant-. Store the value securely; if you lose it, create a new key and retire the old one.
Important: Until billing and organization checks pass, requests return auth or quota errors even with a key present.
Troubleshooting
Invalid API key
- Confirm the full key was pasted with no spaces or line breaks.
- Ensure the key is still active in the Anthropic console and belongs to the workspace you expect.
- Verify billing and organization status are healthy.
Insufficient quota / rate limit
- You may have hit spend caps, org limits, or per-minute rate limits.
- Raise limits or add credit in Anthropic billing settings, or wait for windows to reset.
Was working, then stopped
- Check for rotated keys, revoked access, or failed payments.
- See Anthropic status for service issues.
Security best practices
- Never publish keys, paste them in public tickets, or commit them to Git.
- Use clear key names and separate keys for production and experiments when Anthropic allows multiple keys.
- Set spend limits or alerts in Anthropic; review usage regularly.
- Revoke any key you believe is exposed and replace it in Limb.