Build with Claude#
- Messages
- Managed Agents
- Admin
- Resources
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First steps
Intro to ClaudeGet your API keyQuickstartAuthentication
Building with Claude
Features overviewUsing the Messages APIStop reasons and fallbackRefusals and fallbackFallback credit
Model capabilities
EffortTask budgets (beta)Fast mode (research preview)Structured outputsCitationsStreaming MessagesBatch processingSearch resultsStreaming refusalsMultilingual supportEmbeddings
Thinking
Tools
OverviewHow tool use worksTutorial: Build a tool-using agentDefine toolsHandle tool callsParallel tool useTool Runner (SDK)Strict tool useServer toolsWeb search toolWeb fetch toolCode execution toolAdvisor toolTool search toolMemory toolBash toolText editor toolComputer use toolTroubleshooting
Tool infrastructure
Tool referenceManage tool contextTool combinationsTool use with prompt cachingProgrammatic tool callingFine-grained tool streaming
Context management
Context windowsCompactionContext editingPrompt cachingMid-conversation system messages and tool changesBuild an orchestration modeCache diagnostics (beta)Token counting
Working with files
Images and vision
Skills
OverviewQuickstartBest practicesSkills for enterpriseSkills in the API
MCP
Remote MCP serversMCP connector
MCP tunnels
Claude on cloud platforms
Amazon Bedrock (Opus 4.7 and later)Amazon Bedrock (Opus 4.6 and earlier)Claude Platform on AWSGoogle CloudMicrosoft Foundry
MessagesFeatures overview
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Solutions#
- AI agents
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- Financial services
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- K-12 teachers
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Partners#
Learn#
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Company#
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Learn#
- Blog
- Courses
- Use cases
- Connectors
- Customer stories
- Engineering at Anthropic
- Events
- Powered by Claude
- Service partners
- Startups program
Help and security#
Terms and policies#
- Privacy policy
- Responsible disclosure policy
- Terms of service: Commercial
- Terms of service: Consumer
- Usage policy
Messages/Building with Claude
Features overview#
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Explore Claude's advanced features and capabilities.
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Claude's API surface is organized into five areas:
- Model capabilities: Control how Claude reasons and formats responses.
- Tools: Let Claude take actions on the web or in your environment.
- Tool infrastructure: Handles discovery and orchestration at scale.
- Context management: Keeps long-running sessions efficient.
- Files and assets: Manage the documents and data you provide to Claude.
If you're new, start with model capabilities and tools. Return to the other sections when you're ready to optimize cost, latency, or scale.
For administration and governance, see the Admin API, the Usage and Cost API, and the Compliance API.
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Feature availability
Features on the Claude Platform are assigned one of the following availability classifications per platform (shown in the Availability column of each following table). Not all features pass through every stage. A feature may enter at any classification and may skip stages.
| Classification | Description |
|---|---|
| Beta | Preview features used for gathering feedback and iterating on a less mature use case. Availability may be limited, including through sign-up requirements or waitlists, and may not be publicly announced. |
Features may change significantly or be discontinued based on feedback. Not guaranteed for ongoing production use. Breaking changes are possible with notice, and some platform-specific limitations may apply. Beta features on the Claude API and Claude Platform on AWS have a beta header.
Generally available (GA)| Feature is stable, fully supported, and recommended for production use. Should not have a beta header or other indicator that the feature is in a preview state. Covered by standard API versioning guarantees.
Deprecated| Feature is still functional but no longer recommended. A migration path and removal timeline are provided.
Retired| Feature is no longer available.
Platform labels: Claude API (Anthropic first-party) · Bedrock (AWS-operated) · Claude Platform on AWS (Anthropic-operated on AWS) · Google Cloud (Google-operated) · Microsoft Foundry (Anthropic-operated on Azure)
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Model capabilities
Ways to steer Claude and Claude's direct outputs, including response format, reasoning depth, and input modalities.
You can discover which capabilities a model supports programmatically. The Models API returns max_input_tokens, max_tokens, and a capabilities object for every available model.
The ZDR column indicates whether a feature is available under a Zero Data Retention arrangement. For most features this depends only on what the feature mechanism retains; for features tied to specific models, model-level ZDR availability also applies. See Model-specific data retention requirements.
| Feature | Description | Zero Data Retention (ZDR) | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Context windows | Up to 1M tokens for processing large documents, extensive code bases, and long conversations. | ZDR eligible | Claude API (GA) |
Bedrock (GA)
Claude Platform on AWS (GA)
Google Cloud (GA)
Microsoft Foundry (GA)
Adaptive thinking| Let Claude dynamically decide when and how much to think. The only thinking mode on Claude 4.7 and later models. Use the effort parameter to control thinking depth.| ZDR eligible| Claude API (GA)
Bedrock (GA)
Claude Platform on AWS (GA)
Google Cloud (GA)
Microsoft Foundry (GA)
Batch processing| Process large volumes of requests asynchronously for cost savings. Send batches with a large number of queries per batch. Batch API calls cost 50% less than standard API calls.| Not ZDR eligible| Claude API (GA)
Claude Platform on AWS (GA)
Citations| Ground Claude's responses in source documents. With Citations, Claude can provide detailed references to the exact sentences and passages it uses to generate responses, leading to more verifiable, trustworthy outputs.| ZDR eligible| Claude API (GA)
Bedrock (GA)
Claude Platform on AWS (GA)
Google Cloud (GA)
Microsoft Foundry (GA)
Data residency| Control where model inference runs using geographic controls. Specify "global" or "us" routing per request through the inference_geo parameter.| ZDR eligible| Claude API (GA)
Claude Platform on AWS (GA)
Effort| Control how many tokens Claude uses when responding with the effort parameter, trading off between response thoroughness and token efficiency.| ZDR eligible| Claude API (GA)
Bedrock (GA)
Claude Platform on AWS (GA)
Google Cloud (GA)
Microsoft Foundry (GA)
Fallback credit| Avoid paying the prompt-cache cost twice when you retry a refused request on another model. The refusal carries a credit token, and echoing it on the retry bills the retry as though the conversation had been on the new model all along. Message Batches results do not include fallback credit tokens.| Not ZDR eligible*| Claude API (Beta)
Bedrock (Beta)
Claude Platform on AWS (Beta)
Google Cloud (Beta)
Microsoft Foundry (Beta)
PDF support| Process and analyze text and vis