Claude Code × Byoky

Run Claude Code — on your Pro/Max plan or a free gift.

Claude Code

Point Anthropic's official CLI at the Byoky bridge.
Zero API credits. Keys stay in your wallet.

Requires Byoky extension v0.9.1+ and @byoky/bridge@0.9.4+ (for byoky-bridge connect). Firefox is live on AMO; Chrome Web Store is still on 0.7.4 in review, so load the v0.9.1 unpacked build for now.

Two ways to run Claude Code for free

Token gift from the token pool

Anyone can gift Anthropic token access on the Byoky token pool. Claude Code runs entirely on the gifter's budget — capped, revocable, and proxied through their wallet so their key never leaves their machine.

No card, no signup, no Anthropic account.

Your Claude Pro/Max subscription

Already paying for Claude Pro or Max? Connect it to Byoky with a setup token and Claude Code runs on the same subscription credits you already use in claude.ai. No API credits, no per-token billing.

Uses your existing plan.

Install the Byoky wallet

The wallet holds the Anthropic credential (yours, gifted, or a Claude Pro/Max setup token) and proxies every request. Claude Code runs on your desktop, so the wallet needs to live in a desktop browser on the same machine.

Pick your browser:

Chrome — v0.9.1 unpacked Firefox

Version 0.9.1+ is required for Claude Code. The Chrome Web Store is still serving 0.7.4 — download the unpacked zip above and load it via chrome://extensions → enable Developer mode → "Load unpacked" on the extracted folder. Firefox is already on the required version.

iOS and Android wallets exist but can't host Claude Code — the claude CLI and the Byoky Bridge need a desktop OS. (The mobile wallets are for gift senders or browsing the token pool on the go.)

Add an Anthropic credential

Three options — pick whichever fits.

Free token gift — grab one from the Token Pool. Filter for Anthropic. The gifter's key runs the calls; you just burn their budget.

Claude Pro/Max setup token — run claude setup-token in your terminal and paste the result into Byoky. Claude Code runs on your existing plan, no API credits needed.

Your own API key — add an Anthropic API key directly. Only do this if you already pay for the API tier (otherwise Claude Code won't classify as first-party and will fail with a billing error).

Install Claude Code and the Byoky Bridge

Claude Code is Anthropic's CLI. The Bridge is the tiny local proxy that sits between Claude Code and your wallet.

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
npm install -g @byoky/bridge
byoky-bridge install

byoky-bridge install writes a native messaging host manifest that whitelists the Byoky extension. Restart your browser once so Chrome picks up the manifest. You only ever do this once per machine.

Connect the wallet

One command that opens the browser, approves a session, and starts the bridge proxy on :19280.

byoky-bridge connect

A browser tab opens on http://127.0.0.1:<ephemeral>. Click Connect wallet, approve the session in the Byoky popup, and the tab reports success. The bridge is now listening on 127.0.0.1:19280 and stays up as long as your browser is running. Re-run the command after a browser restart.

Verify it:

curl http://127.0.0.1:19280/health
# → {"status":"ok","providers":["anthropic",...]}

If anthropic is missing, the wallet doesn't have an Anthropic credential loaded yet — go back to step 2.

Point Claude Code at the bridge and run

Two env vars and you're done.

export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=http://127.0.0.1:19280/anthropic
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=byoky
claude

Add the two export lines to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc so new terminals pick them up. Use ANTHROPIC_API_KEY (not AUTH_TOKEN) — it's what Claude Code's first-run wizard checks to skip the OAuth login prompt. The value doesn't matter; the bridge strips the auth header and injects the real credential from your wallet. Token usage shows up in the wallet's Sessions view. If you're using a gifted credential, the gifter's budget ticks down in real time and the session stops cleanly when it hits zero.

Fresh Claude Code install? The wizard may still show a brief theme picker — arrow-key through it and it'll land you in chat once it sees ANTHROPIC_API_KEY. If it still shows an OAuth URL to platform.claude.com, you have a stale ~/.claude.json — delete it and re-run claude.

Pro tip: run claude --model claude-sonnet-4-5 (or whichever model the gifter's plan covers) if you hit a model access error.

If something doesn't work

"Third-party apps now draw from your extra usage..."

Anthropic classified your request as non-Claude-Code. Almost always this means the wallet is using an API key instead of an OAuth setup token. Run claude setup-token in your terminal, paste the result into the wallet as a fresh Anthropic credential, and retry. Gifted Anthropic credentials already handle the classification on the gifter's side.

ECONNREFUSED 127.0.0.1:19280

The bridge proxy isn't listening yet. Run byoky-bridge connect — it opens a tab, waits for you to approve the session in the wallet, and starts the proxy on :19280. After a browser restart the proxy stops (the extension's service worker holds it open), so re-run the command to bring it back.

"invalid x-api-key" or "Invalid bearer token"

The key stored in your wallet is wrong or revoked. Grab a fresh one from console.anthropic.com, re-run claude setup-token, or use a free gift from the token pool.

Anthropic keeps returning 429 rate_limit_error on a gift

The gifter's upstream key is being throttled (the limit is on their account, not yours). Try a different Anthropic gift, or wait for the window to clear (usually 1 hour).

"provider not available in this session" after I added the key

The bridge snapshotted your providers before you added the Anthropic credential. Open the wallet popup, end the current session, and re-run claude — it will request a new session with the updated provider list.

The bridge works but Chrome won’t talk to it on my unpacked build

Bridge 0.9.2+ whitelists both the Web Store extension ID and the pinned unpacked ID (0.9.1 shipped with the wrong unpacked ID). Upgrade with npm i -g @byoky/bridge@latest && byoky-bridge install, restart the browser, and reload the unpacked extension.

The bridge logs to stderr — tail it with tail -f ~/Library/Logs/byoky-bridge.log (macOS) if you need to see raw request errors. For a deep dive on why some configurations classify as third-party, see Bisecting Anthropic's Claude Code fingerprint.

How it works

claude → HTTP → Bridge (localhost:19280/anthropic) → Extension → api.anthropic.com
                                                       ↑
                                              Keys live here. Always.

Claude Code CLI sends requests to $ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL — pointed at http://127.0.0.1:19280/anthropic.
The bridge strips the placeholder Authorization header and forwards the request to your Byoky extension via native messaging.
The extension injects the real Anthropic credential (your own API key, your OAuth setup token, or a gifted credential routed through the gifter's extension) and makes the call.
The streaming response flows back through the same path — Claude Code sees plain SSE, exactly as if it talked to api.anthropic.com directly.

For OAuth credentials (Pro/Max setup tokens), the extension routes outbound calls through the bridge a second time so the request is made from Node instead of Chrome. That bypasses the TLS fingerprint Anthropic uses to classify Claude Code vs. third-party apps — see the fingerprint post for the full story.

Ready to try it?

Grab a free Anthropic token gift from the token pool and you'll be running Claude Code on it in under five minutes.

Browse free gifts Bridge on GitHub