Claude Api Not Working
Claude API calls fail in 2026 for four main reasons: your API key is invalid or expired (401 error), you have exceeded your rate limits or context window (429 or 400 error), the model ID you are requesting is not available in your tier (404), or Anthropic has an active incident (check status.anthropic.com). Most failures are key or rate limit issues.
Why This Happens
- Configuration gaps between tools or services
- Missing integrations or manual workarounds that weren't designed to scale
- Changes in vendor behavior, pricing, or API that weren't communicated clearly
What To Check First
- Verify your current setup matches the vendor's latest documentation
- Look for recent changes — platform updates, new team members, configuration drift
- Check if the problem is consistent or intermittent (different root causes, different fixes)
When To Escalate
- The problem is costing you money or customers per week
- You've spent more than 2 hours on it without progress
- A vendor quoted you more than $500 and you're not sure if it's necessary
Dealing with this right now?
Diagnose in order: (1) Is the API key correct? Check that your `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` environment variable starts with `sk-ant-` and matches what is shown in console.anthropic.com. (2) Are you hitting rate limits? Check the `anthropic-ratelimit-requests-remaining` header in the 429 response — if it is zero, you need to wait or request a limit increase. (3) Is your prompt too long? Each Claude model has a context window limit — claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022 supports 200,000 tokens input but claude-haiku-4-5 has tighter per-minute limits. (4) Check status.anthropic.com for active incidents.
