Skip to main content

Prerequisites

Before configuring Claude Code with Bedrock, ensure you have:
  • An AWS account with Bedrock access enabled
  • Access to desired Claude models (for example, Claude Sonnet 4.6) in Bedrock
  • AWS CLI installed and configured (optional - only needed if you don’t have another mechanism for getting credentials)
  • Appropriate IAM permissions
If you are deploying Claude Code to multiple users, pin your model versions to prevent breakage when Anthropic releases new models.

Setup

1. Submit use case details

First-time users of Anthropic models are required to submit use case details before invoking a model. This is done once per account.
  1. Ensure you have the right IAM permissions (see more on that below)
  2. Navigate to the Amazon Bedrock console
  3. Select Chat/Text playground
  4. Choose any Anthropic model and you will be prompted to fill out the use case form

2. Configure AWS credentials

Claude Code uses the default AWS SDK credential chain. Set up your credentials using one of these methods: Option A: AWS CLI configuration
aws configure
Option B: Environment variables (access key)
export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-access-key-id
export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret-access-key
export AWS_SESSION_TOKEN=your-session-token
Option C: Environment variables (SSO profile)
aws sso login --profile=<your-profile-name>

export AWS_PROFILE=your-profile-name
Option D: AWS Management Console credentials
aws login
Learn more about aws login. Option E: Bedrock API keys
export AWS_BEARER_TOKEN_BEDROCK=your-bedrock-api-key
Bedrock API keys provide a simpler authentication method without needing full AWS credentials. Learn more about Bedrock API keys.

Advanced credential configuration

Claude Code supports automatic credential refresh for AWS SSO and corporate identity providers. Add these settings to your Claude Code settings file (see Settings for file locations). When Claude Code detects that your AWS credentials are expired (either locally based on their timestamp or when Bedrock returns a credential error), it will automatically run your configured awsAuthRefresh and/or awsCredentialExport commands to obtain new credentials before retrying the request.
Example configuration
{
  "awsAuthRefresh": "aws sso login --profile myprofile",
  "env": {
    "AWS_PROFILE": "myprofile"
  }
}
Configuration settings explained
awsAuthRefresh: Use this for commands that modify the .aws directory, such as updating credentials, SSO cache, or config files. The command’s output is displayed to the user, but interactive input isn’t supported. This works well for browser-based SSO flows where the CLI displays a URL or code and you complete authentication in the browser. awsCredentialExport: Only use this if you can’t modify .aws and must directly return credentials. Output is captured silently and not shown to the user. The command must output JSON in this format:
{
  "Credentials": {
    "AccessKeyId": "value",
    "SecretAccessKey": "value",
    "SessionToken": "value"
  }
}

3. Configure Claude Code

Set the following environment variables to enable Bedrock:
# Enable Bedrock integration
export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK=1
export AWS_REGION=us-east-1  # or your preferred region

# Optional: Override the region for the small/fast model (Haiku)
export ANTHROPIC_SMALL_FAST_MODEL_AWS_REGION=us-west-2
When enabling Bedrock for Claude Code, keep the following in mind:
  • AWS_REGION is a required environment variable. Claude Code does not read from the .aws config file for this setting.
  • When using Bedrock, the /login and /logout commands are disabled since authentication is handled through AWS credentials.
  • You can use settings files for environment variables like AWS_PROFILE that you don’t want to leak to other processes. See Settings for more information.

4. Pin model versions

Pin specific model versions for every deployment. If you use model aliases (sonnet, opus, haiku) without pinning, Claude Code may attempt to use a newer model version that isn’t available in your Bedrock account, breaking existing users when Anthropic releases updates.
Set these environment variables to specific Bedrock model IDs:
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL='us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-6-v1'
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL='us.anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-6'
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL='us.anthropic.claude-haiku-4-5-20251001-v1:0'
These variables use cross-region inference profile IDs (with the us. prefix). If you use a different region prefix or application inference profiles, adjust accordingly. For current and legacy model IDs, see Models overview. See Model configuration for the full list of environment variables. Claude Code uses these default models when no pinning variables are set:
Model typeDefault value
Primary modelglobal.anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-6
Small/fast modelus.anthropic.claude-haiku-4-5-20251001-v1:0
To customize models further, use one of these methods:
# Using inference profile ID
export ANTHROPIC_MODEL='global.anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-6'
export ANTHROPIC_SMALL_FAST_MODEL='us.anthropic.claude-haiku-4-5-20251001-v1:0'

# Using application inference profile ARN
export ANTHROPIC_MODEL='arn:aws:bedrock:us-east-2:your-account-id:application-inference-profile/your-model-id'

# Optional: Disable prompt caching if needed
export DISABLE_PROMPT_CACHING=1
Prompt caching may not be available in all regions.

IAM configuration

Create an IAM policy with the required permissions for Claude Code:
{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Sid": "AllowModelAndInferenceProfileAccess",
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "bedrock:InvokeModel",
        "bedrock:InvokeModelWithResponseStream",
        "bedrock:ListInferenceProfiles"
      ],
      "Resource": [
        "arn:aws:bedrock:*:*:inference-profile/*",
        "arn:aws:bedrock:*:*:application-inference-profile/*",
        "arn:aws:bedrock:*:*:foundation-model/*"
      ]
    },
    {
      "Sid": "AllowMarketplaceSubscription",
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "aws-marketplace:ViewSubscriptions",
        "aws-marketplace:Subscribe"
      ],
      "Resource": "*",
      "Condition": {
        "StringEquals": {
          "aws:CalledViaLast": "bedrock.amazonaws.com"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}
For more restrictive permissions, you can limit the Resource to specific inference profile ARNs. For details, see Bedrock IAM documentation.
Create a dedicated AWS account for Claude Code to simplify cost tracking and access control.

AWS Guardrails

Amazon Bedrock Guardrails let you implement content filtering for Claude Code. Create a Guardrail in the Amazon Bedrock console, publish a version, then add the Guardrail headers to your settings file. Enable Cross-Region inference on your Guardrail if you’re using cross-region inference profiles. Example configuration:
{
  "env": {
    "ANTHROPIC_CUSTOM_HEADERS": "X-Amzn-Bedrock-GuardrailIdentifier: your-guardrail-id\nX-Amzn-Bedrock-GuardrailVersion: 1"
  }
}

Troubleshooting

If you encounter region issues:
  • Check model availability: aws bedrock list-inference-profiles --region your-region
  • Switch to a supported region: export AWS_REGION=us-east-1
  • Consider using inference profiles for cross-region access
If you receive an error “on-demand throughput isn’t supported”: Claude Code uses the Bedrock Invoke API and does not support the Converse API.

Additional resources