API Tutorial — Claude4Less

1 Getting Started

Claude4Less provides affordable access to Claude API (Sonnet 4.6 and Opus 4.6) through a 3-tier performance system. All tiers share the same balance pool — you choose between speed and cost when creating API keys.

💡 How It Works

You purchase credits (e.g., $100 for $30). When you create an API key in the dashboard, you select which tier it uses. The tier determines how fast your credits are consumed: Mix Channel (1x), Office8 (1.98x), or Office3 (2.98x).

Performance Tiers

🌊 Mix Channel

Rate Multiplier: 1x (baseline)

Budget tier. May experience slower response times during peak weekday hours in mainland China timezone. Best for non-urgent tasks and development.

Group ID: 3

⚡ Office8

Rate Multiplier: 1.98x

Standard tier. Balanced performance and reliability. Good for most production workloads. Credits consumed 2x faster than Mix Channel.

Group ID: 4

🚀 Office3

Rate Multiplier: 2.98x

Premium tier. Always reliable with best performance. Recommended for critical production workloads. Credits consumed 3x faster than Mix Channel.

Group ID: 5

⚠️ Important

The tier you select affects how quickly your balance is consumed, not the API pricing itself. A request that costs $0.10 on Mix Channel will cost $0.20 on Office8 and $0.30 on Office3.

2 API Basics

Base URL

url

https://claude4less.xyz/v1

Authentication

Claude4Less uses the standard Anthropic API authentication format. Include your API key in the x-api-key header:

          http
          
        
x-api-key: sk-your-api-key-here
anthropic-version: 2023-06-01
content-type: application/json

Getting Your API Key

🔑 Dashboard Access

1. Log in to your dashboard: https://claude4less.xyz/login

2. Navigate to the API Keys section

3. Click "Create New Key" and select your desired tier (Mix Channel, Office8, or Office3)

4. Copy your key — it starts with sk-

3 Using with Claude Code

Claude Code is Anthropic's official coding assistant. Configure it to use Claude4Less by setting environment variables.

Environment Variables (Linux/macOS)

          bash
          
        
# Add to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc
export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="https://claude4less.xyz/v1"
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-your-api-key-here"

# Reload your shell
source ~/.bashrc  # or source ~/.zshrc

Environment Variables (Windows PowerShell)

          powershell
          
        
# Temporary (current session only)
$env:ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL = "https://claude4less.xyz/v1"
$env:ANTHROPIC_API_KEY = "sk-your-api-key-here"

# Permanent (all sessions)
[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL', 'https://claude4less.xyz/v1', 'User')
[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('ANTHROPIC_API_KEY', 'sk-your-api-key-here', 'User')

Configuration File

Alternatively, create a configuration file for Claude Code:

          ~/.config/claude/config.json
          
        
{
  "api_base_url": "https://claude4less.xyz/v1",
  "api_key": "sk-your-api-key-here",
  "default_model": "claude-sonnet-4-6"
}

✅ Verification

After configuration, run Claude Code normally. It will automatically use your Claude4Less endpoint. Check your dashboard to confirm requests are being logged.

4 Using with OpenClaw

OpenClaw is an AI automation framework. Configure it to use Claude4Less through environment variables or configuration files.

Environment Variables

          bash
          
        
# Add to your shell profile
export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="https://claude4less.xyz/v1"
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-your-api-key-here"

OpenClaw Configuration File

Edit your OpenClaw configuration (usually at ~/.openclaw/config.yml or ~/.config/openclaw/config.yml):

          yaml
          
        
anthropic:
  base_url: https://claude4less.xyz/v1
  api_key: sk-your-api-key-here
  default_model: claude-sonnet-4-6
  max_tokens: 4096

Docker Environment

If running OpenClaw in Docker, pass environment variables:

          bash
          
        
docker run -d \
  -e ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="https://claude4less.xyz/v1" \
  -e ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-your-api-key-here" \
  openclaw/openclaw:latest

5 Python SDK

Installation

bash

pip install anthropic

Basic Usage

          python
          
        
from anthropic import Anthropic

# Initialize client with Claude4Less
client = Anthropic(
    api_key="sk-your-api-key-here",
    base_url="https://claude4less.xyz/v1"
)

# Create a message
message = client.messages.create(
    model="claude-sonnet-4-6",
    max_tokens=1024,
    messages=[
        {"role": "user", "content": "Hello, Claude!"}
    ]
)

print(message.content[0].text)

Using Environment Variables

          python
          
        
import os
from anthropic import Anthropic

# Set environment variables first
os.environ["ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL"] = "https://claude4less.xyz/v1"
os.environ["ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"] = "sk-your-api-key-here"

# Client will automatically use environment variables
client = Anthropic()

message = client.messages.create(
    model="claude-sonnet-4-6",
    max_tokens=1024,
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}]
)

print(message.content[0].text)

Streaming Responses

          python
          
        
from anthropic import Anthropic

client = Anthropic(
    api_key="sk-your-api-key-here",
    base_url="https://claude4less.xyz/v1"
)

with client.messages.stream(
    model="claude-sonnet-4-6",
    max_tokens=1024,
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Tell me a story"}]
) as stream:
    for text in stream.text_stream:
        print(text, end="", flush=True)

6 JavaScript/TypeScript

Installation

bash

npm install @anthropic-ai/sdk

Basic Usage

          javascript
          
        
import Anthropic from '@anthropic-ai/sdk';

// Initialize client with Claude4Less
const client = new Anthropic({
  apiKey: 'sk-your-api-key-here',
  baseURL: 'https://claude4less.xyz/v1'
});

// Create a message
const message = await client.messages.create({
  model: 'claude-sonnet-4-6',
  max_tokens: 1024,
  messages: [
    { role: 'user', content: 'Hello, Claude!' }
  ]
});

console.log(message.content[0].text);

Using Environment Variables

          javascript
          
        
// Set in your .env file:
// ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://claude4less.xyz/v1
// ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-your-api-key-here

import Anthropic from '@anthropic-ai/sdk';

// Client will automatically use environment variables
const client = new Anthropic();

const message = await client.messages.create({
  model: 'claude-sonnet-4-6',
  max_tokens: 1024,
  messages: [{ role: 'user', content: 'Hello!' }]
});

console.log(message.content[0].text);

Streaming Responses

          javascript
          
        
import Anthropic from '@anthropic-ai/sdk';

const client = new Anthropic({
  apiKey: 'sk-your-api-key-here',
  baseURL: 'https://claude4less.xyz/v1'
});

const stream = await client.messages.stream({
  model: 'claude-sonnet-4-6',
  max_tokens: 1024,
  messages: [{ role: 'user', content: 'Tell me a story' }]
});

for await (const chunk of stream) {
  if (chunk.type === 'content_block_delta') {
    process.stdout.write(chunk.delta.text);
  }
}

7 Using curl

Test your API key with curl for quick debugging and testing.

Basic Request

          bash
          
        
curl -X POST "https://claude4less.xyz/v1/messages" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: sk-your-api-key-here" \
  -H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
  -d '{
    "model": "claude-sonnet-4-6",
    "max_tokens": 1024,
    "messages": [
      {"role": "user", "content": "Hello, Claude!"}
    ]
  }'

With System Prompt

          bash
          
        
curl -X POST "https://claude4less.xyz/v1/messages" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: sk-your-api-key-here" \
  -H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
  -d '{
    "model": "claude-sonnet-4-6",
    "max_tokens": 2048,
    "system": "You are a helpful coding assistant.",
    "messages": [
      {"role": "user", "content": "Write a Python function to calculate fibonacci"}
    ]
  }'

Streaming Response

          bash
          
        
curl -X POST "https://claude4less.xyz/v1/messages" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: sk-your-api-key-here" \
  -H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
  -d '{
    "model": "claude-sonnet-4-6",
    "max_tokens": 1024,
    "stream": true,
    "messages": [
      {"role": "user", "content": "Tell me a short story"}
    ]
  }'

8 Supported Models

Claude4Less supports the latest Claude models from Anthropic.

🧠 claude-sonnet-4-6

Balanced intelligence and speed. Best for most tasks including coding, analysis, writing, and general conversation.

Context window: 200K tokens
Best for: Development, content creation, data analysis, customer support

💎 claude-opus-4-6

Maximum intelligence. Best for complex reasoning, advanced analysis, and tasks requiring deep understanding.

Context window: 200K tokens
Best for: Research, complex problem-solving, advanced coding, strategic planning

💡 Model Selection Tips

Start with claude-sonnet-4-6 for most tasks. It offers excellent performance at a lower cost. Use claude-opus-4-6 when you need maximum reasoning capability for complex problems.

9 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

❌ Authentication Failed (401)

Cause: Invalid or missing API key.

Solution:

Verify your API key starts with sk-
Check for extra spaces or line breaks when copying
Ensure the key hasn't expired (check dashboard)
Confirm you're using the x-api-key header, not Authorization

💰 Insufficient Balance

Cause: Your account balance is too low for the request.

Solution:

Check your balance in the dashboard
Purchase more credits via the payment bot
Remember: higher tiers (Office8, Office3) consume credits faster

🔌 Connection Timeout

Cause: Network issues or incorrect base URL.

Solution:

Verify base URL is exactly: https://claude4less.xyz/v1
Check your internet connection
Try a simple curl test to verify connectivity
If using Mix Channel during peak hours, try Office8 or Office3

⚠️ Rate Limit Exceeded

Cause: Too many requests in a short time.

Solution:

Implement exponential backoff in your code
Check your concurrency limit in the dashboard
Spread requests over time
Consider upgrading to a higher tier for better performance

🐛 Invalid Request Format

Cause: Malformed JSON or missing required fields.

Solution:

Ensure model, max_tokens, and messages are included
Validate your JSON syntax
Check that anthropic-version header is set to 2023-06-01
Verify message format: [{"role": "user", "content": "..."}]

Testing Your Setup

Use this simple test to verify everything is working:

          bash
          
        
# Quick test
curl -X POST "https://claude4less.xyz/v1/messages" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_KEY_HERE" \
  -H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
  -d '{
    "model": "claude-sonnet-4-6",
    "max_tokens": 50,
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Say OK"}]
  }'

# Expected response:
# {"id":"msg_...","type":"message","role":"assistant","content":[{"type":"text","text":"OK"}],...}

Getting Help

💬 Support Channels

Telegram: @Claude4less

Twitter: @Claude4less

Dashboard: Check your usage and balance

Complete API Tutorial

1 Getting Started

Performance Tiers

2 API Basics

Base URL

Authentication

Getting Your API Key

3 Using with Claude Code

Environment Variables (Linux/macOS)

Environment Variables (Windows PowerShell)

Configuration File

4 Using with OpenClaw

Environment Variables

OpenClaw Configuration File

Docker Environment

5 Python SDK

Installation

Basic Usage

Using Environment Variables

Streaming Responses

6 JavaScript/TypeScript

Installation

Basic Usage

Using Environment Variables

Streaming Responses

7 Using curl

Basic Request

With System Prompt

Streaming Response

8 Supported Models

9 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Testing Your Setup

Getting Help