May 16, 2026 · 5 min · Dev Guides

Getting Started with Claude API in 5 Minutes

Getting Started with Claude API in 5 Minutes

This is the fastest path from “I want to use the Claude API” to “I’m calling Claude Opus 4.7 from my own code.” Five minutes start to finish. No technical background required beyond knowing how to run a command in a terminal.

Step 1 — Sign up (60 seconds)

Go to aiprimetech.io/register. Enter your email and a password. Confirm via email. Done — you’re in the dashboard.

Step 2 — Add credit (90 seconds)

Click Add Credit in the dashboard. You have several options:

$5 is enough for tens of thousands of Sonnet calls or hundreds of Opus calls. Credit never expires.

Step 3 — Generate your API key (30 seconds)

  1. Click API Keys in the dashboard sidebar
  2. Click Create New Key
  3. Give it a name (e.g., “dev-laptop”)
  4. Copy the key — it starts with apt- and you’ll only see it once

Step 4 — Make your first call (2 minutes)

Pick your language. All three work identically — same models, same response format, same pricing.

Python (Anthropic SDK)

pip install anthropic
import os
from anthropic import Anthropic

client = Anthropic(
    api_key="apt-your-key-here",
    base_url="https://aiprimetech.io",
)

response = client.messages.create(
    model="claude-opus-4-7",
    max_tokens=1024,
    messages=[
        {"role": "user", "content": "What's the capital of Nepal?"}
    ],
)

print(response.content[0].text)

TypeScript / Node.js (Anthropic SDK)

npm install @anthropic-ai/sdk
import Anthropic from "@anthropic-ai/sdk";

const client = new Anthropic({
  apiKey: "apt-your-key-here",
  baseURL: "https://aiprimetech.io",
});

const response = await client.messages.create({
  model: "claude-opus-4-7",
  max_tokens: 1024,
  messages: [{ role: "user", content: "What's the capital of Nepal?" }],
});

console.log(response.content[0].text);

Plain curl

curl https://aiprimetech.io/v1/messages \
  -H "x-api-key: apt-your-key-here" \
  -H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "claude-opus-4-7",
    "max_tokens": 1024,
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "What is the capital of Nepal?"}]
  }'

Step 5 — Pick the right model

AI Prime Tech supports all current Claude models. Pick based on the task:

That’s it

You’re now using Claude API at 60-80% off official pricing, with the exact same Anthropic SDK you’d use otherwise. Want to plug it into specific tools next? See our other guides:

Ready to start? Free signup, no card required.

Make your first Claude API call in under 5 minutes.

Get Your API Key →

AC
Alex Chen · Systems & Inference Engineer

Alex builds high-throughput LLM serving and agent infrastructure, and ships production systems on the Claude API daily. He writes about latency, token economics, rate-limit engineering, and what actually happens when Claude models run at scale.

Get cheaper Claude API access

One API key for Claude Opus 4.8, Sonnet 4.6, Haiku 4.5, Fable 5, plus GPT & Gemini — up to 80% off official pricing, pay-as-you-go.

Get Your API Key →
AI Prime Tech is an independent third-party API gateway. Claude™ and Anthropic® are trademarks of Anthropic, PBC. No affiliation or endorsement is implied.