Anthropic Compatible API

The Poe API provides access to Claude models through an Anthropic-compatible endpoint. Use your Poe API key to access Claude without needing a separate Anthropic API key.

Claude Code

You can use the Poe API with Claude Code by setting two environment variables:

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=$POE_API_KEY
export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="https://api.poe.com"

You can then restart Claude Code and verify you're using the Poe API with the /status command.

Key benefits:

• Use your existing Poe subscription points with no additional setup
• Drop-in replacement for the Anthropic API - works with existing Anthropic SDK code
• Requests are proxied directly to the provider with minimal transformation

If you're already using the Anthropic SDK, you can switch to using Poe by simply changing the base URL and API key. For full API reference, see Anthropic's official documentation.

Differences from our other APIs

Only official Anthropic bots are supported through this API. You cannot call custom bots, or bots from other providers from this endpoint. If you would like to call other bots, please see our external applications guide or our OpenAI Compatible API.

For the full API reference including request/response formats, message types, and tool use, see Anthropic's official documentation.

Getting Started

# pip install anthropic
import os
import anthropic

client = anthropic.Anthropic(
    api_key=os.getenv("POE_API_KEY"),  # https://poe.com/api_key
    base_url="https://api.poe.com",
)

message = client.messages.create(
    model="claude-sonnet-4",  # or claude-opus-4, claude-3-5-haiku, etc.
    max_tokens=1024,
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "What are the top 3 things to do in NYC?"}],
)
print(message.content[0].text)

// npm install @anthropic-ai/sdk
import Anthropic from "@anthropic-ai/sdk";

const client = new Anthropic({
    apiKey: process.env.POE_API_KEY,  // https://poe.com/api_key
    baseURL: "https://api.poe.com",
});

const message = await client.messages.create({
    model: "claude-sonnet-4",  // or claude-opus-4, claude-3-5-haiku, etc.
    max_tokens: 1024,
    messages: [{ role: "user", content: "What are the top 3 things to do in NYC?" }],
});

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

curl "https://api.poe.com/v1/messages" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "x-api-key: $POE_API_KEY" \
    -H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
    -d '{
        "model": "claude-sonnet-4",
        "max_tokens": 1024,
        "messages": [
            {
                "role": "user",
                "content": "What are the top 3 things to do in NYC?"
            }
        ]
    }'

Authentication

The Poe Anthropic-compatible API supports two authentication methods:

x-api-key header (recommended)

This is Anthropic's standard authentication method:

curl "https://api.poe.com/v1/messages" \
    -H "x-api-key: $POE_API_KEY" \
    -H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
    ...

Authorization: Bearer header

For compatibility with tools that use Bearer token authentication:

curl "https://api.poe.com/v1/messages" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $POE_API_KEY" \
    -H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
    ...

If both headers are provided, x-api-key takes precedence.

Get your API key at poe.com/api_key.

Streaming

You can stream responses by setting stream: true:

import os
import anthropic

client = anthropic.Anthropic(
    api_key=os.getenv("POE_API_KEY"),
    base_url="https://api.poe.com",
)

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

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

const client = new Anthropic({
    apiKey: process.env.POE_API_KEY,
    baseURL: "https://api.poe.com",
});

const stream = await client.messages.stream({
    model: "claude-sonnet-4",
    max_tokens: 1024,
    messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Tell me about San Francisco" }],
});

for await (const event of stream) {
    if (event.type === "content_block_delta" && event.delta.type === "text_delta") {
        process.stdout.write(event.delta.text);
    }
}

curl "https://api.poe.com/v1/messages" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "x-api-key: $POE_API_KEY" \
    -H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
    -d '{
        "model": "claude-sonnet-4",
        "max_tokens": 1024,
        "stream": true,
        "messages": [
            {
                "role": "user",
                "content": "Tell me about San Francisco"
            }
        ]
    }' \
    --no-buffer

Supported Models

You can use any Claude model available on Poe. You can use the bot name from poe or the Anthropic API model name.

Rate Limits

Our rate limit is 500 requests per minute (rpm).

Rate Limit Headers

The following headers are included in responses:

When rate limited, you'll receive an HTTP 429 response with an error of type rate_limit_error.

Retry tips:

• Use exponential back-off (starting at 250ms) with jitter
• Check the rate limit headers to avoid hitting limits

Error Handling

Errors follow the Anthropic error format. All errors return:

{
    "type": "error",
    "error": {
        "type": "authentication_error",
        "message": "Invalid API key"
    }
}

Streaming Errors

If an error occurs during streaming, an SSE error event is sent before the stream closes:

event: error
data: {"type": "error", "error": {"type": "api_error", "message": "An error occurred"}}

Migration Checklist (Anthropic → Poe)

1. Swap base URL: https://api.anthropic.com → https://api.poe.com
2. Replace API key: ANTHROPIC_API_KEY → POE_API_KEY
3. Run your code - Everything else should work the same!

Pricing & Availability

All Poe subscribers can use their existing subscription points with the API at no additional cost.

This means you can seamlessly transition between the web interface and API without worrying about separate billing structures or additional fees. Your regular monthly point allocation works exactly the same way whether you're chatting directly on Poe or accessing Claude programmatically through the API.

If your Poe subscription is not enough, you can purchase add-on points to get as much access as your application requires. Any add-on points you purchase can be used with any model or bot on Poe.

Support

Feel free to reach out to support if you come across unexpected behavior or have suggestions for improvements.