🤖 Set Up Anthropic Console

Session 3, Topic 3 | Get Your API Key ($5 Budget)

← Back to Course Dashboard / Session 3 / Topic 3
⏱️ 30 minutes

Your Gateway to AI-Powered Development

The Anthropic Console is where you manage your Claude API access and budget. You'll add $5 in credits - more than enough for dozens of projects!

🎯 Learning Objectives

  • Create an Anthropic Console account
  • Understand API pricing and costs
  • Add $5 in credits with spending controls
  • Generate and secure your API key
  • Set up usage alerts and limits

💰 Understanding the Costs

Your $5 budget will get you approximately:

  • ✅ 500+ complete website builds
  • ✅ 1,000+ code generations
  • ✅ 2,000+ debugging sessions
  • ✅ 5,000+ simple queries

Typical costs:

  • Simple task: $0.01 - $0.03 (1-3 cents)
  • Full project: $0.05 - $0.15 (5-15 cents)
  • Complex application: $0.20 - $0.50 (20-50 cents)

📊 Pricing Breakdown

Claude API pricing is based on tokens (roughly 4 characters = 1 token):

Model Input (per 1M tokens) Output (per 1M tokens) Best For
Claude Sonnet 4 $3.00 $15.00 Complex projects, best quality
Claude Sonnet 3.5 $3.00 $15.00 Balanced performance
Claude Haiku $0.25 $1.25 Quick, simple tasks

Translation: With $5, you can generate about 300,000 words of code/content using Claude Sonnet!

🚀 Step-by-Step Setup

Create Your Account

  1. Open your browser and go to: console.anthropic.com
  2. Click the "Sign Up" button
  3. Enter your work email (or personal email if preferred)
  4. Create a strong password (save it in your password manager)
  5. Click "Create Account"
  6. Check your email for verification link
  7. Click the verification link to activate your account
  8. Log in to the Anthropic Console

Add Payment Method

  1. In the Console, click "Billing" in the left sidebar
  2. Click "Add Payment Method"
  3. Enter your credit/debit card information
  4. Enter billing address
  5. Click "Save"
💳 Note: Your card won't be charged yet - you'll manually add credits in the next step.

Add $5 in Credits

  1. Still in the Billing section, click "Add Credits"
  2. Enter amount: $5.00
  3. Review the charge
  4. Click "Add Credits" to confirm
  5. Wait for confirmation (should be instant)
  6. Verify your balance shows $5.00

Disable Auto-Recharge (Important!)

  1. In Billing settings, find "Auto-Recharge"
  2. Make sure the toggle is OFF
  3. This prevents spending more than your $5 budget
💡 Pro Tip: Set up email alerts when you reach $2.50 and $4.00 spent so you know when you're running low.

Create Your API Key

  1. Click "API Keys" in the left sidebar
  2. Click "Create Key" button
  3. Name your key: "Claude Code Development"
  4. Leave permissions as default (full access)
  5. Click "Create Key"

Save Your API Key (Critical!)

🔐 IMPORTANT: The API key will only be shown ONCE. You cannot view it again!
  1. The key will appear (starts with sk-ant-api03-...)
  2. Click the "Copy" button
  3. Immediately paste it into a safe place:
    • Create a text file on your desktop called "ClaudeAPIKey.txt"
    • Or save in your password manager
    • Or paste into a secure note app
  4. Keep this file secure and backed up
⚠️ Security Rules:
  • Never share your API key with anyone
  • Never post it on forums, GitHub, or social media
  • Never email it or send it via chat
  • Treat it like a password or credit card number

Test Your API Key (Optional)

You can verify your key works by checking the Console:

  1. Go to "API Keys" section
  2. You should see your key listed with name and creation date
  3. Status should show as "Active"

📈 Monitoring Your Usage

Check Your Balance:

  1. Go to "Billing" in Console
  2. View current balance and usage statistics
  3. See breakdown by model and date

Set Up Alerts:

  1. In Billing, find "Usage Alerts"
  2. Add alert at $2.50 (50% used)
  3. Add alert at $4.00 (80% used)
  4. You'll receive emails when thresholds are reached

View Detailed Usage:

💡 Budget Management Tips

  • Start Small: Test with simple projects first to understand costs
  • Use Haiku for Simple Tasks: It's much cheaper for basic operations
  • Be Specific in Prompts: Clear requests = less back-and-forth = lower costs
  • Monitor Daily: Check your usage every few days
  • Cache Responses: Don't regenerate the same thing twice
  • Set Hard Limits: Disable auto-recharge to prevent overspending

🔧 Troubleshooting

Problem: Payment Failed

Problem: Can't See API Key After Creation

Problem: Want to Add More Credits Later

✅ Topic Completion Checklist

🚀 What's Next?

With your API key ready, you're now prepared to install Claude Code CLI and start building AI-powered projects! Keep your API key file handy - you'll need it in the next topic.

Next Topic: Install Claude Code →