# Get started with Claude¶
¶
Make your first API call to Claude and build a simple web search assistant.¶
¶
---¶
¶
## Prerequisites¶
¶
- An Anthropic [Console account](/)¶
- An [API key](/settings/keys)¶
¶
## Call the API¶
¶
<Tabs>¶
<Tab title="cURL">¶
<Steps>¶
<Step title="Set your API key">¶
Get your API key from the [Claude Console](/settings/keys) and set it as an environment variable:¶
¶
```bash¶
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY='your-api-key-here'¶
```¶
</Step>¶
¶
<Step title="Make your first API call">¶
Run this command to create a simple web search assistant:¶
¶
```bash¶
curl https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages \¶
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \¶
-H "x-api-key: $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" \¶
-H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \¶
-d '{¶
"model": "claude-opus-4-6",¶
"max_tokens": 1000,¶
"messages": [¶
{¶
"role": "user",¶
"content": "What should I search for to find the latest developments in renewable energy?"¶
}¶
]¶
}'¶
```¶
¶
**Example output:**¶
```json¶
{¶
"id": "msg_01HCDu5LRGeP2o7s2xGmxyx8",¶
"type": "message",¶
"role": "assistant",¶
"content": [¶
{¶
"type": "text",¶
"text": "Here are some effective search strategies to find the latest renewable energy developments:\n\n## Search Terms to Use:\n- \"renewable energy news 2024\"\n- \"clean energy breakthrough\"\n- \"solar/wind/battery technology advances\"\n- \"green energy innovations\"\n- \"climate tech developments\"\n- \"energy storage solutions\"\n\n## Best Sources to Check:\n\n**News & Industry Sites:**\n- Renewable Energy World\n- GreenTech Media (now Wood Mackenzie)\n- Energy Storage News\n- CleanTechnica\n- PV Magazine (for solar)\n- WindPower Engineering & Development..."¶
}¶
],¶
"model": "claude-opus-4-6",¶
"stop_reason": "end_turn",¶
"usage": {¶
"input_tokens": 21,¶
"output_tokens": 305¶
}¶
}¶
```¶
</Step>¶
</Steps>¶
</Tab>¶
¶
<Tab title="Python">¶
<Steps>¶
<Step title="Set your API key">¶
Get your API key from the [Claude Console](/settings/keys) and set it as an environment variable:¶
¶
```bash¶
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY='your-api-key-here'¶
```¶
</Step>¶
¶
<Step title="Install the SDK">¶
Install the Anthropic Python SDK:¶
¶
```bash¶
pip install anthropic¶
```¶
</Step>¶
¶
<Step title="Create your code">¶
Save this as `quickstart.py`:¶
¶
```python¶
import anthropic¶
¶
client = anthropic.Anthropic()¶
¶
message = client.messages.create(¶
model="claude-opus-4-6",¶
max_tokens=1000,¶
messages=[¶
{¶
"role": "user",¶
"content": "What should I search for to find the latest developments in renewable energy?",¶
}¶
],¶
)¶
print(message.content)¶
```¶
</Step>¶
¶
<Step title="Run your code">¶
```bash¶
python quickstart.py¶
```¶
¶
**Example output:**¶
```python¶
[¶
TextBlock(¶
text='Here are some effective search strategies for finding the latest renewable energy developments:\n\n**Search Terms to Use:**\n- "renewable energy news 2024"\n- "clean energy breakthroughs"\n- "solar/wind/battery technology advances"\n- "energy storage innovations"\n- "green hydrogen developments"\n- "renewable energy policy updates"\n\n**Reliable Sources to Check:**\n- **News & Analysis:** Reuters Energy, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Greentech Media, Energy Storage News\n- **Industry Publications:** Renewable Energy World, PV Magazine, Wind Power Engineering\n- **Research Organizations:** International Energy Agency (IEA), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)\n- **Government Sources:** Department of Energy websites, EPA clean energy updates\n\n**Specific Topics to Explore:**\n- Perovskite and next-gen solar cells\n- Offshore wind expansion\n- Grid-scale battery storage\n- Green hydrogen production\n- Carbon capture technologies\n- Smart grid innovations\n- Energy policy changes and incentives...',¶
type="text",¶
)¶
]¶
```¶
</Step>¶
</Steps>¶
</Tab>¶
¶
<Tab title="TypeScript">¶
<Steps>¶
<Step title="Set your API key">¶
Get your API key from the [Claude Console](/settings/keys) and set it as an environment variable:¶
¶
```bash¶
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY='your-api-key-here'¶
```¶
</Step>¶
¶
<Step title="Install the SDK">¶
Install the Anthropic TypeScript SDK:¶
¶
```bash¶
npm install @anthropic-ai/sdk¶
```¶
</Step>¶
¶
<Step title="Create your code">¶
Save this as `quickstart.ts`:¶
¶
```typescript¶
import Anthropic from "@anthropic-ai/sdk";¶
¶
async function main() {¶
const anthropic = new Anthropic();¶
¶
const msg = await anthropic.messages.create({¶
model: "claude-opus-4-6",¶
max_tokens: 1000,¶
messages: [¶
{¶
role: "user",¶
content:¶
"What should I search for to find the latest developments in renewable energy?"¶
}¶
]¶
});¶
console.log(msg);¶
}¶
¶
main().catch(console.error);¶
```¶
</Step>¶
¶
<Step title="Run your code">¶
```bash¶
npx tsx quickstart.ts¶
```¶
¶
**Example output:**¶
```javascript hidelines={1..2}¶
const _ =¶
// output¶
{¶
id: "msg_01ThFHzad6Bh4TpQ6cHux9t8",¶
type: "message",¶
role: "assistant",¶
model: "claude-opus-4-6",¶
content: [¶
{¶
type: "text",¶
text:¶
"Here are some effective search strategies to find the latest renewable energy developments:\n\n" +¶
"## Search Terms to Use:\n" +¶
'- "renewable energy news 2024"\n' +¶
'- "clean energy breakthroughs"\n' +¶
'- "solar wind technology advances"\n' +¶
'- "energy storage innovations"\n' +¶
'- "green hydrogen developments"\n' +¶
'- "offshore wind projects"\n' +¶
'- "battery technology renewable"\n\n' +¶
"## Best Sources to Check:\n\n" +¶
"**News & Industry Sites:**\n" +¶
"- Renewable Energy World\n" +¶
"- CleanTechnica\n" +¶
"- GreenTech Media (now Wood Mackenzie)\n" +¶
"- Energy Storage News\n" +¶
"- PV Magazine (for solar)..."¶
}¶
],¶
stop_reason: "end_turn",¶
usage: {¶
input_tokens: 21,¶
output_tokens: 302¶
}¶
}¶
```¶
</Step>¶
</Steps>¶
</Tab>¶
¶
<Tab title="Java">¶
<Steps>¶
<Step title="Set your API key">¶
Get your API key from the [Claude Console](/settings/keys) and set it as an environment variable:¶
¶
```bash¶
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY='your-api-key-here'¶
```¶
</Step>¶
¶
<Step title="Install the SDK">¶
Add the Anthropic Java SDK to your project. First find the current version on [Maven Central](https://central.sonatype.com/artifact/com.anthropic/anthropic-java).¶
¶
**Gradle:**¶
```groovy¶
implementation("com.anthropic:anthropic-java:2.158.0")¶
```¶
¶
**Maven:**¶
```xml¶
<dependency>¶
<groupId>com.anthropic</groupId>¶
<artifactId>anthropic-java</artifactId>¶
<version>2.158.0</version>¶
</dependency>¶
```¶
</Step>¶
¶
<Step title="Create your code">¶
Save this as `QuickStart.java`:¶
¶
```java¶
import com.anthropic.client.AnthropicClient;¶
import com.anthropic.client.okhttp.AnthropicOkHttpClient;¶
import com.anthropic.models.messages.Message;¶
import com.anthropic.models.messages.MessageCreateParams;¶
¶
public class QuickStart {¶
¶
public static void main(String[] args) {¶
AnthropicClient client = AnthropicOkHttpClient.fromEnv();¶
¶
MessageCreateParams params = MessageCreateParams.builder()¶
.model("claude-opus-4-6")¶
.maxTokens(1000)¶
.addUserMessage(¶
"What should I search for to find the latest developments in renewable energy?"¶
)¶
.build();¶
¶
Message message = client.messages().create(params);¶
System.out.println(message.content());¶
}¶
}¶
```¶
</Step>¶
¶
<Step title="Run your code">¶
```bash¶
javac QuickStart.java¶
java QuickStart¶
```¶
¶
**Example output:**¶
¶
```java nocheck¶
[ContentBlock{text=TextBlock{text=Here are some effective search strategies to find the latest renewable energy developments:¶
¶
## Search Terms to Use:¶
- "renewable energy news 2024"¶
- "clean energy breakthroughs"¶
- "solar/wind/battery technology advances"¶
- "energy storage innovations"¶
- "green hydrogen developments"¶
- "renewable energy policy updates"¶
¶
## Best Sources to Check:¶
- **News & Analysis:** Reuters Energy, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Greentech Media¶
- **Industry Publications:** Renewable Energy World, PV Magazine, Wind Power Engineering¶
- **Research Organizations:** International Energy Agency (IEA), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)¶
- **Government Sources:** Department of Energy websites, EPA clean energy updates¶
¶
## Specific Topics to Explore:¶
- Perovskite and next-gen solar cells¶
- Offshore wind expansion¶
- Grid-scale battery storage¶
- Green hydrogen production..., type=text}}]¶
```¶
</Step>¶
</Steps>¶
</Tab>¶
</Tabs>¶
¶
## Next steps¶
¶
You made your first API call. Next, learn the Messages API patterns you'll use in every Claude integration.¶
¶
<Card title="Working with the Messages API" icon="messages" href="/docs/en/build-with-claude/working-with-messages">¶
Learn multi-turn conversations, system prompts, stop reasons, and other core patterns.¶
</Card>¶
¶
Once you're comfortable with the basics, explore further:¶
¶
<CardGroup cols={3}>¶
<Card title="Models overview" icon="brain" href="/docs/en/about-claude/models/overview">¶
Compare Claude models by capability and cost.¶
</Card>¶
<Card title="Features overview" icon="list" href="/docs/en/build-with-claude/overview">¶
Browse all Claude capabilities: tools, context management, structured outputs, and more.¶
</Card>¶
<Card title="Client SDKs" icon="code-brackets" href="/docs/en/api/client-sdks">¶
Reference documentation for Python, TypeScript, Java, and other client libraries.¶
</Card>¶
</CardGroup>