Using Claude Code with Sail

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Quickstart (terminal)

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code            # once
curl -fsSL https://cli.sailresearch.com/install.sh | sh   # once
sail auth login                                     # once
sail claude

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Three commands, three scopes

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Trusted workspaces (no permission prompts)

sail claude --trusted

sail claude -- --resume

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VS Code extension

sail claude on    # writes ~/.claude/settings.json
sail claude off   # removes exactly what `sail claude on` added

"claudeCode.disableLoginPrompt": true,
"claudeCode.environmentVariables": [
  { "name": "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL", "value": "https://api.sailresearch.com" },
  { "name": "ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN", "value": "<your SAIL_API_KEY>" }
]

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Choosing models

• Mid-session: open /model and pick a row, or type /model <id> for any id in the table. The choice lasts for this session only: Sail pins the startup model, so the next launch starts on the configured main model again. Use the two options below to persist a different one.
• At launch: --model <id> starts on that model. Any id from the model catalog works, not only the five rows. A model outside the lineup is added to the picker for that session.
• Persistently: sail claude on --model <id> pins it for every Claude Code that reads your settings.

sail claude --model moonshotai/Kimi-K3

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Choosing a completion window

sail claude --completion-window balanced

• Accepts asap or balanced.
• Covers every request the session sends: the main model, background work, and subagents.
• sail claude on --completion-window balanced persists the window for every Claude Code that reads your settings, such as a bare claude or the VS Code extension. Run sail claude on without the flag to return to the default.
• sail claude sets each session up from its own flags, so a window saved with on does not carry over. Pass --completion-window to sail claude as well.
• balanced suits long agentic sessions: turns can take longer, at lower token prices. See Pricing.
• The /model picker lists asap prices whichever window you choose.

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Commit attribution

Co-Authored-By: GLM-5.3 via Sail <noreply@sailresearch.com>

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Manual configuration

export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="https://api.sailresearch.com"   # bare host: Claude Code appends /v1/messages
export ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN="$SAIL_API_KEY"                # bearer auth (recommended); ANTHROPIC_API_KEY also works
export ANTHROPIC_MODEL="zai-org/GLM-5.3"               # pins startup over a saved /model choice
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL="zai-org/GLM-5.3"                    # one Sail model per alias row
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL="deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4-Pro-0813"
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL="zai-org/GLM-5.3-Flash"             # haiku = background work
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_FABLE_MODEL="moonshotai/Kimi-K3"
export ANTHROPIC_CUSTOM_MODEL_OPTION="deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash"
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL_NAME="GLM-5.3 via Sail"              # picker labels; _DESCRIPTION too
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL_NAME="DeepSeek V4 Pro via Sail"
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL_NAME="GLM-5.3-Flash via Sail"
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_FABLE_MODEL_NAME="Kimi K3 via Sail"
export ANTHROPIC_CUSTOM_MODEL_OPTION_NAME="DeepSeek V4.1 Flash via Sail"
export CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL="zai-org/GLM-5.3"     # pins subagents too; overrides frontmatter + any inherited value
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL_SUPPORTED_CAPABILITIES="effort,thinking"                  # custom model IDs match no known
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL_SUPPORTED_CAPABILITIES="effort,thinking,xhigh_effort"   # pattern, so effort + extended
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL_SUPPORTED_CAPABILITIES="effort,thinking"                 # thinking would be silently
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_FABLE_MODEL_SUPPORTED_CAPABILITIES="effort,thinking,xhigh_effort"    # disabled without these
export ANTHROPIC_CUSTOM_MODEL_OPTION_SUPPORTED_CAPABILITIES="effort,thinking,xhigh_effort"
export API_TIMEOUT_MS="3000000"
export API_FORCE_IDLE_TIMEOUT="0"                          # off: else a 5-min stream-idle watchdog (on for custom base URLs) aborts long-queued turns
export ENABLE_TOOL_SEARCH="false"                          # tool search needs tool_reference expansion Sail doesn't serve
# Clear leftovers from other provider setups. Selectors outrank
# ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN, and stale custom headers would be sent to Sail:
unset CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK CLAUDE_CODE_USE_VERTEX CLAUDE_CODE_USE_FOUNDRY \
  CLAUDE_CODE_USE_MANTLE CLAUDE_CODE_USE_ANTHROPIC_AWS ANTHROPIC_CUSTOM_HEADERS
# Optional: choose a completion window (the default is asap).
# export ANTHROPIC_CUSTOM_HEADERS="X-Sail-Completion-Window: balanced"
claude

• Use the bare host. Claude Code appends /v1/messages itself. A /v1 base URL would resolve to /v1/v1/messages and return a 404.
• ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN is what Sail expects. Sail also accepts ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, which Claude Code sends through x-api-key. Set only one credential variable to avoid ambiguous client precedence.
• Pin ANTHROPIC_MODEL and remap every alias. A saved /model choice (or a --resumed session) can otherwise start on an unmapped claude-* model ID that Sail cannot serve. Each alias row can point at a different Sail model, which is how the five-row picker above is built: Claude Code offers four alias rows plus one custom row, and the _NAME companions label them.
• Pin CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL. It’s the highest-priority subagent model source, so a value inherited from your shell or a settings file (e.g. a claude-* ID left over from a prior Anthropic/Bedrock setup) would send every subagent to an unmapped model. Setting it to a Sail model routes all subagents onto GLM.
• Declare _SUPPORTED_CAPABILITIES. Claude Code enables effort levels and extended thinking by matching the model ID against known patterns. A custom ID like zai-org/GLM-5.3 matches none, so /effort and thinking are silently disabled without the declaration. Sail maps both onto each model’s reasoning controls. The DeepSeek and Kimi rows also declare xhigh_effort.
• Unset other providers’ variables. A provider selector such as CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK comes before ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN in Claude Code’s credential precedence, so a leftover export would silently keep routing to that provider instead of Sail. ANTHROPIC_CUSTOM_HEADERS from a prior gateway setup would be sent to Sail on every request. sail claude strips these automatically, and sets ANTHROPIC_CUSTOM_HEADERS only to the Sail completion window header when you pass --completion-window. By hand, the unset line above does the same.

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Limitations

• The native Claude Code desktop app reads endpoint routing only from managed (administrator-distributed) configuration. It cannot be pointed at Sail with environment variables or settings.json. Use the terminal or the VS Code extension.
• A signed-in Claude apps gateway session (an enterprise/corporate-SSO deployment) is not part of the normal credential precedence and overrides ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN, so claude keeps using the gateway and never sends requests to Sail. This only affects orgs running that gateway. Ordinary Pro/Max users don’t have one. If you do, run /logout first, or launch that session with CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR pointed at an empty directory (note: an isolated config dir won’t see your normal Claude Code settings/MCP servers).
• An administrator-managed (MDM / policy) availableModels allowlist that excludes the Sail model takes precedence. Claude Code replaces the model at startup (with a warning), and a managed allowlist cannot be overridden because managed settings take precedence over the per-session settings sail claude uses. That’s an enterprise policy. Raise it with your admin. (If you set availableModels yourself in your own settings.json, just include the Sail model id, e.g. zai-org/GLM-5.3, or drop the restriction.)
• Sail is throughput-optimized. Long agentic turns can take longer than the Anthropic API. sail claude raises Claude Code’s request timeout and disables its 5-minute stream-idle watchdog (on by default for custom base URLs) so a turn that queues before streaming isn’t aborted mid-flight.
• Subagents run on the main Sail model by default: sail claude pins CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL, which overrides a subagent’s frontmatter model: field. That makes custom subagents with a claude-* frontmatter ID work (they route to the main model instead of failing), but it also means per-subagent model choices and --background-model don’t apply to subagents: they all use the main model. Override it yourself if you need a specific Sail model for subagents.
• Background (haiku-tier) work runs on GLM-5.3-Flash by default rather than the main model. Pass --background-model zai-org/GLM-5.3 to keep everything on one model.

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Next steps