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PolyglotPolyglot

First run with Claude

1. Get an API key

Section titled “1. Get an API key”

Create one at console.anthropic.com. It looks like sk-ant-….

2. Configure

Section titled “2. Configure”
Terminal window
export POLYGLOT_PROVIDER=anthropic
export POLYGLOT_MODEL=claude-sonnet-4-5
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is the standard Anthropic variable - if it’s already set in your shell, you only need the first two lines. To keep the key out of your shell history, put it in ~/.polyglot/settings.json instead - see Configuration.

3. Run it

Section titled “3. Run it”
Terminal window
polyglot

With Anthropic, native tool use is reliable, so structured output has no effect and is ignored. Everything else - permission modes, plan mode, MCP, /model switching - works identically to the local-model path.

Mixing Claude and local models

Section titled “Mixing Claude and local models”

You can list both under models and switch mid-session with /model - e.g. plan with Claude, execute with a local model, or vice versa. See Multiple models.