llm-anthropic

What it is and what it does

llm-anthropic is a plugin that extends the LLM command-line tool with access to Anthropic's Claude models. It acts as a bridge between the LLM CLI and the Anthropic API, letting you run Claude models from the terminal or Python without writing API code directly. The plugin handles authentication via API keys, model selection, and parameter passing.

Beyond basic text prompts, it supports attachments (images and PDFs), structured output via schemas, web search and fetch tools for real-time information, code execution in a sandboxed environment, and integration with remote MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers. It depends on the llm and anthropic packages, and requires Python 3.10 or later.

Use it for:

• Run Claude models from the command line without writing Python code or managing API calls directly.
• Process images and PDFs with Claude by attaching them to prompts from the CLI.
• Retrieve real-time information by using web search and fetch tools within Claude conversations.
• Generate structured JSON output from Claude using schema definitions.
• Execute Python and bash code in a sandboxed container via Claude's code execution tool.
• Connect Claude to remote tools and services via MCP servers for extended capabilities.

Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying

A plugin for the LLM command-line tool that adds access to Anthropic's Claude models, including support for image and PDF attachments, web search and fetch, code execution, and structured output schemas.

Yes. The package is actively maintained, has low install friction, carries a permissive license, and integrates cleanly into the LLM ecosystem. It is the standard way to access Claude models from the LLM CLI. Install it if you use LLM and want Claude access; the only prerequisite is an Anthropic API key.

Install

llm-anthropic on PyPI

pip install llm-anthropic

uv add llm-anthropic

poetry add llm-anthropic

Installing llm-anthropic

Before you install

Low friction: pure Python wheel with only two runtime dependencies (llm and anthropic). Active maintenance with a release 10 days ago. Requires Python 3.10 or later.

License in practice

Apache-2.0 permissive license allows commercial and private use with minimal restrictions.

Quickstart

pip install llm-anthropic
llm keys set anthropic
# Paste your API key, then:
llm -m claude-sonnet-5 'Fun facts about walruses'

Requires an Anthropic API key (obtainable from https://console.anthropic.com/settings/keys) and Python 3.10 or later.

Verify before relying

• Whether all Claude model versions mentioned (opus-5, sonnet-5, haiku-4.5, sonnet-4.6) are currently available via the Anthropic API.
• Performance characteristics and rate limits when using web search, fetch, or code execution tools.
• Compatibility with Anthropic-compatible endpoints other than the official API.

Package facts

Evidence: llm_anthropic-0.26-py3-none-any.whl

Tags

More Artificial Intelligence packages

Further reading