# Claude Code

Use Claude Code with LM Studio

Claude Code can talk to LM Studio via the Anthropic-compatible `POST /v1/messages` endpoint.
See: [Anthropic-compatible Messages endpoint](/content/docs/developer/anthropic-compat/messages/index.html).

Pro Tip

Have a powerful LLM rig? Use [LM Link](/content/docs/integrations/lmlink/index.html) to run Claude Code from your laptop while the model runs on your rig.

## Setup

### Start LM Studio's local server

Make sure LM Studio is running as a server (default port `1234`).

You can start it from the app, or from the terminal with `lms`:

```
lms server start --port 1234
```

### Configure Claude Code

Set these environment variables so the `claude` CLI points to your local LM Studio:

```
export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=http://localhost:1234
export ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN=lmstudio
```

Notes:

- If Require Authentication is enabled, set `ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN` to your LM Studio API token. To learn more, see: [Authentication](/content/docs/developer/core/authentication/index.html).

### Run Claude Code against a local model

```
claude --model openai/gpt-oss-20b
```

Pro Tip

Use a model (and server/model settings) with more than ~25k context length. Tools like Claude Code can consume a lot of context.

### If Require Authentication is enabled, use your LM Studio API token

If you turned on "Require Authentication" in LM Studio, create an API token and set:

```
export LM_API_TOKEN=<LMSTUDIO_TOKEN>
export ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN=$LM_API_TOKEN
```

When Require Authentication is enabled, LM Studio accepts both `x-api-key` and `Authorization: Bearer <token>`.

If you're running into trouble, hop onto our [Discord](https://discord.gg/lmstudio)

### On this page

[Setup](/content/docs/integrations/claude-code#setup/index.html)