Claude Code

Use LemonData with Anthropic’s Claude Code CLI

Overview

Type: Coding Tool

Primary Path: Anthropic-native

Support Confidence: Strong native path

Claude Code is Anthropic’s official CLI tool for AI-assisted coding. You can configure it to use LemonData as the API provider.

Installation

Anthropic now recommends the native installer. npm installation still exists for compatibility, but it is deprecated upstream.

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

If you specifically need the npm package, use:

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

Do not use sudo npm install -g for Claude Code.

Configuration

Environment Variables

Set the following environment variables:

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-your-lemondata-key"
export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="https://api.lemondata.cc"

Add these to your shell profile (~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, etc.) for persistence.

For LemonData, keep ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL at https://api.lemondata.cc without a /v1 suffix. This matches the Anthropic-style endpoint shape and the unified gateway pattern documented by Claude Code.

Configuration File

Alternatively, create or edit ~/.claude/settings.json:

{
  "env": {
    "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "sk-your-lemondata-key",
    "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL": "https://api.lemondata.cc"
  }
}

Usage

After configuration, use Claude Code normally:

# Start an interactive session
claude

# Run a single command
claude "Explain this code" < main.py

# Chat mode
claude chat

Verify the installation if needed:

claude --version
claude doctor

Available Models

LemonData supports all Claude models:

Model	Description
claude-opus-4-6	Most capable, complex reasoning
claude-sonnet-4-6	Balanced performance, excellent for coding
claude-haiku-4-5	Fastest, cost-effective

Model Selection

Specify a model with the --model flag:

claude --model claude-sonnet-4-6 "Review this PR"

Or set a default in your configuration:

{
  "env": {
    "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "sk-your-lemondata-key",
    "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL": "https://api.lemondata.cc"
  },
  "model": "claude-sonnet-4-6"
}

Extended Thinking

For complex reasoning tasks, use models with extended thinking:

claude --model claude-opus-4-6 "Design a microservices architecture for..."

Troubleshooting

Connection errors

Verify the base URL is exactly https://api.lemondata.cc (no /v1 suffix for Anthropic-style requests).

Invalid API key

Ensure your LemonData API key starts with sk- and has sufficient balance.

Gateway requires Authorization bearer token

Claude Code’s gateway mode also supports ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN. Keep using ANTHROPIC_API_KEY for the standard LemonData setup unless you intentionally switched your gateway auth behavior.

Model not found

Check the model name is correct. Use claude-sonnet-4-6 format.