Claude Platform Docs
MessagesFirst steps

Get started with Claude

Make your first API call to Claude and build a simple web search assistant.

Before you begin

  1. Create a Claude Console account

    Sign up for a Claude Console account, or sign in to the one you have.

  2. Choose how to authenticate

    Signing in with the CLI is recommended for local development.

    CLIAPI key

  1. Install the CLI

    brew install anthropics/tap/ant

  2. Sign in

    ant auth login

    Once login is completed, the SDKs and CLI will pick up your credentials automatically.

Call the API

  1. Create a project and install the SDK

    mkdir claude-quickstart && cd claude-quickstart
python3 -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
pip install anthropic

  2. Create your code

    Create a file called quickstart.py:

    Python
    import anthropic

client = anthropic.Anthropic()

message = client.messages.create(
    model="claude-opus-5-5",
    max_tokens=1000,
    messages=[
        {
            "role": "user",
            "content": "What should I search for to find the latest developments in renewable energy?",
        }
    ],
)

for block in message.content:
    if block.type == "text":
        print(block.text)

  3. Run your code

    python quickstart.py
    Output
    Here are some effective search strategies to find the latest developments in renewable energy:

## General Search Terms
- "Renewable energy news 2025"
- ...

Next steps

You made your first API call. Next, learn the Messages API patterns you’ll use in every Claude integration.

Working with the Messages API

Learn multi-turn conversations, system prompts, stop reasons, and other core patterns.

Once you’re comfortable with the basics, explore further:

Models overview

Compare Claude models by capability and cost.

Features overview

Browse all Claude capabilities: tools, context management, structured outputs, and more.

Client SDKs

Reference documentation for Python, TypeScript, C#, and other client libraries.

Authentication

Compare API keys and Workload Identity Federation, and set key expiration.

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