Claude API Key: Get, Configure & Test

01Create an OmniaKey API key

Sign in, open API Keys and create a key for your application. Review its quota, expiry and model restrictions. Add balance before running generation requests.

02Set the key and API URL

Run the commands in your own terminal and replace the placeholder with your key. Keep the key on your server or in a secret manager. Never put it in browser code or a public repository.

export OMNIAKEY_API_KEY="YOUR_OMNIAKEY_API_KEY"
export OMNIAKEY_BASE_URL="https://api.omniakey.com/v1"

03Check authentication

Request the model list without starting a generation job. A successful response is JSON with a data array. This checks key access; it does not prove every model is enabled for your account.

curl --fail-with-body "$OMNIAKEY_BASE_URL/models" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OMNIAKEY_API_KEY"

04Use the model’s request format

Select a model from the family page, copy its API ID and follow the matching API documentation. Authentication alone does not check your generation parameters.

Your client must support the protocol used by the selected model. Check the model documentation before switching between Chat Completions, Responses or a provider-native endpoint.

Example generation request (billed)

This request uses your account balance. Check the selected model’s price first. The example follows the documented request format; your account still needs access to the model.

curl --fail-with-body 'https://api.omniakey.com/v1/messages' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OMNIAKEY_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
  -d '{
  "model": "claude-sonnet-5-5",
  "max_tokens": 256,
  "messages": [
    {
      "role": "user",
      "content": "Explain what an API key does in one sentence."
    }
  ]
}'