Get an Anthropic API Key

Create an Anthropic API key, fund the account, and wire it into m18t encrypted in the Vault. One key serves every brand in the workspace.

What you'll learn

  • How to create an API key in the Anthropic Console.
  • How to wire it into m18t through the connection wizard, encrypted in the Vault.
  • How to confirm it works.

Why Anthropic

m18t supports Anthropic's Claude models for tasks where long-context reasoning and disciplined, structured output matter — drafting against detailed instructions, parsing structured data. As with every AI provider here, it's BYOK: you bring the key and Anthropic bills you directly, no markup.

Step 1 — Create the key in the Anthropic Console

Anthropic's console changes over time, so follow the intent:

  1. Sign in at console.anthropic.com.
  2. Make sure the account has billing set up — Anthropic's API is paid, and calls fail without credit. Set a spending limit while you're there; m18t does not cap usage for you.
  3. Open the API keys area and create a new key. Name it something recognisable like m18t-studio.
  4. Copy the key immediately. The console shows the full value once — if you lose it, generate a new one.

Step 2 — Add it to m18t

Add the key through the connection wizard, which encrypts it in the Vault and ties it to a brand in one pass.

  1. Go to Business Settings → Connections (/studio/business/connections).
  2. Click Add Connection.
  3. Pick a brand. The connection record is filed under a brand, which is how it appears in that brand's connection list and health checks.
  4. Pick a provider — under AI Providers, choose Anthropic.
  5. On the setup step, confirm the Label and leave the Base URL at its default. Read the Purpose note below before setting one.
  6. On the Authentication step, choose + Add new vault key. The wizard suggests ANTHROPIC_API_KEY; paste your value. It's encrypted before storage and saved as vault:ANTHROPIC_API_KEY.
  7. Finish with Create connection.

One key serves the whole workspace. Unlike a Facebook Page or a CMS, which really are wired per brand, m18t's AI features read a single workspace-level ANTHROPIC_API_KEY from the Vault. Whichever brand you file the connection under, every brand uses that same key, so you do not need to repeat this for your other brands.

Careful with Purpose. If you set a connection's Purpose to a single kind of task, features needing a different kind stop seeing it. Leave Purpose unset unless you are deliberately splitting work across providers.

Step 3 — Confirm it works

On the Connections tab, find the Anthropic card and run its test action.

Read the result carefully. The test asks Anthropic to list the models your key can see, which proves the key is real and accepted. It is not proof that your account can actually generate, since listing models and generating are billed differently. If the test passes but AI features still fail, check your Anthropic balance before touching the key. The honest end-to-end check is to use one real AI feature and see it return something.

Variations

  • Key already stored? On the Authentication step, pick the existing ANTHROPIC_API_KEY rather than adding a new one.
  • Claude for some tasks, another provider for others? Wire OpenAI or Gemini as additional connections and choose per use case.
  • Several brands? Nothing extra to do. The AI key is workspace-wide, so one setup covers all of them.

FAQ

My key isn't working — the test fails. Usually no billing/credit on the Anthropic account, or a truncated paste. Add credit, regenerate the key if needed, rotate it on the Vault tab, and test again.

The AI buttons are still greyed out. The AI gate is workspace-wide, so filing another connection under a different brand will not change it. Check that the connection exists and shows as healthy, and that its Purpose isn't restricting it to a kind of task the feature doesn't want.

Is Claude available everywhere in m18t? Anthropic is wired as a supported text provider. Which model runs a given feature depends on that feature's prompt configuration — m18t doesn't pin you to one provider for everything.

Can I retrieve the raw key later? No. The Vault stores only the reference name; the value is encrypted and never shown again.

What's next

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