IdempotentThe SDK sends Idempotency-Key, so a retried request is only applied once.
3 parameters · 8 body fields
anthropic-versionstringoptional
The version of the Claude API you want to use.
Read more about versioning and our version history [here](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/api/versioning).
anthropic-user-profile-idstringoptional
The user profile ID to attribute this request to. Use when acting on behalf of a party other than your organization. Requires the `user-profiles` beta header.
anthropic-workspace-idstringoptional
Optional header to select the Workspace for this request. The value is a Workspace ID (for example, `wrkspc_011CZkZaBF1tNoB5wlCeusgy`).
Only needed for credentials that can act on more than one Workspace. A credential that belongs to a specific Workspace may omit it; if sent, it must match that Workspace.
cache_controlobjectoptional
Top-level cache control automatically applies a cache_control marker to the last cacheable block in the request.
messagesarray<InputMessage>required
Input messages.
Our models are trained to operate on alternating `user` and `assistant` conversational turns. When creating a new `Message`, you specify the prior conversational turns with the `messages` parameter, and the model then generates the next `Message` in the conversation. Consecutive `user` or `assistant` turns in your request will be combined into a single turn.
Each input message must be an object with a `role` and `content`. You can specify a single `user`-role message, or you can include multiple `user` and `assistant` messages.
If the final message uses the `assistant` role, the response content will continue immediately from the content in that message. This can be used to constrain part of the model's response.
Example with a single `user` message:
```json
[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello, Claude"}]
```
Example with multiple conversational turns:
```json
[
{"role": "user", "content": "Hello there."},
{"role": "assistant", "content": "Hi, I'm Claude. How can I help you?"},
{"role": "user", "content": "Can you explain LLMs in plain English?"},
]
```
Example with a partially-filled response from Claude:
```json
[
{"role": "user", "content": "What's the Greek name for Sun? (A) Sol (B) Helios (C) Sun"},
{"role": "assistant", "content": "The best answer is ("},
]
```
Each input message `content` may be either a single `string` or an array of content blocks, where each block has a specific `type`. Using a `string` for `content` is shorthand for an array of one content block of type `"text"`. The following input messages are equivalent:
```json
{"role": "user", "content": "Hello, Claude"}
```
```json
{"role": "user", "content": [{"type": "text", "text": "Hello, Claude"}]}
```
See [input examples](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/working-with-messages).
Note that if you want to include a [system prompt](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/prompt-engineering/claude-prompting-best-practices#give-claude-a-role), you can use the top-level `system` parameter — there is no `"system"` role for input messages in the Messages API.
There is a limit of 100,000 messages in a single request.
modelstringrequired
The model that will complete your prompt.
See [models](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/models-overview) for additional details and options.
output_configobjectoptional
Configuration options for the model's output, such as the output format.
systemstringoptional
System prompt.
A system prompt is a way of providing context and instructions to Claude, such as specifying a particular goal or role. See our [guide to system prompts](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/prompt-engineering/claude-prompting-best-practices#give-claude-a-role).
thinkingobjectoptional
Configuration for enabling Claude's extended thinking.
When enabled, responses include `thinking` content blocks showing Claude's thinking process before the final answer. Requires a minimum budget of 1,024 tokens and counts towards your `max_tokens` limit.
See [extended thinking](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/extended-thinking) for details.
tool_choiceobjectoptional
How the model should use the provided tools. The model can use a specific tool, any available tool, decide by itself, or not use tools at all.
toolsarray<Tool>optional
Definitions of tools that the model may use.
If you include `tools` in your API request, the model may return `tool_use` content blocks that represent the model's use of those tools. You can then run those tools using the tool input generated by the model and then optionally return results back to the model using `tool_result` content blocks.
There are two types of tools: **client tools** and **server tools**. The behavior described below applies to client tools. For [server tools](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/agents-and-tools/tool-use/server-tools), see their individual documentation as each has its own behavior (e.g., the [web search tool](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/agents-and-tools/tool-use/web-search-tool)).
Each tool definition includes:
* `name`: Name of the tool.
* `description`: Optional, but strongly-recommended description of the tool.
* `input_schema`: [JSON schema](https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12) for the tool `input` shape that the model will produce in `tool_use` output content blocks.
For example, if you defined `tools` as:
```json
[
{
"name": "get_stock_price",
"description": "Get the current stock price for a given ticker symbol.",
"input_schema": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"ticker": {
"type": "string",
"description": "The stock ticker symbol, e.g. AAPL for Apple Inc."
}
},
"required": ["ticker"]
}
}
]
```
And then asked the model "What's the S&P 500 at today?", the model might produce `tool_use` content blocks in the response like this:
```json
[
{
"type": "tool_use",
"id": "toolu_01D7FLrfh4GYq7yT1ULFeyMV",
"name": "get_stock_price",
"input": { "ticker": "^GSPC" }
}
]
```
You might then run your `get_stock_price` tool with `{"ticker": "^GSPC"}` as an input, and return the following back to the model in a subsequent `user` message:
```json
[
{
"type": "tool_result",
"tool_use_id": "toolu_01D7FLrfh4GYq7yT1ULFeyMV",
"content": "259.75 USD"
}
]
```
Tools can be used for workflows that include running client-side tools and functions, or more generally whenever you want the model to produce a particular JSON structure of output.
See our [guide](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/agents-and-tools/tool-use/overview) for more details.
17 status codes
200Successful Response
input_tokensintegerrequired
The total number of tokens across the provided list of messages, system prompt, and tools.
400Invalid argument - The client specified an invalid argument
errorobjectrequired
request_idstringrequired
Default:null
typestringrequired
Default:error
401Unauthenticated - The request does not have valid authentication credentials
errorobjectrequired
request_idstringrequired
Default:null
typestringrequired
Default:error
403Permission denied - The caller does not have permission to execute the specified operation
errorobjectrequired
request_idstringrequired
Default:null
typestringrequired
Default:error
404Not found - Some requested entity was not found
errorobjectrequired
request_idstringrequired
Default:null
typestringrequired
Default:error
408Deadline exceeded - The deadline expired before the operation could complete
errorobjectrequired
request_idstringrequired
Default:null
typestringrequired
Default:error
409Aborted - The operation was aborted due to concurrency issue
errorobjectrequired
request_idstringrequired
Default:null
typestringrequired
Default:error
412Failed precondition - Operation was rejected because the system is not in required state
errorobjectrequired
request_idstringrequired
Default:null
typestringrequired
Default:error
413Out of range - Operation was attempted past the valid range
errorobjectrequired
request_idstringrequired
Default:null
typestringrequired
Default:error
429Resource exhausted - Some resource has been exhausted (rate limiting)
errorobjectrequired
request_idstringrequired
Default:null
typestringrequired
Default:error
431Request header fields too large - Request metadata was too large
errorobjectrequired
request_idstringrequired
Default:null
typestringrequired
Default:error
499Cancelled - The operation was cancelled by the client
errorobjectrequired
request_idstringrequired
Default:null
typestringrequired
Default:error
500Internal - Internal server error
errorobjectrequired
request_idstringrequired
Default:null
typestringrequired
Default:error
501Unimplemented - The operation is not implemented or supported
errorobjectrequired
request_idstringrequired
Default:null
typestringrequired
Default:error
503Unavailable - The service is currently unavailable
errorobjectrequired
request_idstringrequired
Default:null
typestringrequired
Default:error
504Deadline exceeded - Upstream service did not respond in time
errorobjectrequired
request_idstringrequired
Default:null
typestringrequired
Default:error
529Overloaded - The service is temporarily overloaded
errorobjectrequired
request_idstringrequired
Default:null
typestringrequired
Default:error
Error handling
A 400 is returned: Invalid argument - The client specified an invalid argument. A 401 is returned: Unauthenticated - The request does not have valid authentication credentials. A 403 is returned: Permission denied - The caller does not have permission to execute the specified operation. A 404 is returned: Not found - Some requested entity was not found. A 408 is returned: Deadline exceeded - The deadline expired before the operation could complete. A 409 is returned: Aborted - The operation was aborted due to concurrency issue. A 412 is returned: Failed precondition - Operation was rejected because the system is not in required state. A 413 is returned: Out of range - Operation was attempted past the valid range. A 429 is returned: Resource exhausted - Some resource has been exhausted (rate limiting). A 431 is returned: Request header fields too large - Request metadata was too large. A 499 is returned: Cancelled - The operation was cancelled by the client. A 500 is returned: Internal - Internal server error. A 501 is returned: Unimplemented - The operation is not implemented or supported. A 503 is returned: Unavailable - The service is currently unavailable. A 504 is returned: Deadline exceeded - Upstream service did not respond in time. A 529 is returned: Overloaded - The service is temporarily overloaded.