How it works
Using the Claude API for AI agents
Agentic workloads are token-hungry and long-running, which makes model choice, caching and cost control matter most. Here is how apiToken.sale fits agents.
·
What agents need
- Streaming and tool use — both standard on the Anthropic Messages API.
- Model routing: Haiku for cheap steps, Sonnet for reasoning, Opus for the hardest.
- Prompt caching for repeated system prompts and tool definitions.
- A per-key lifetime spending limit so a runaway loop cannot spend beyond that key's cap.
See also: Streaming responses from the Claude API
A cost-aware agent loop
A practical pattern: route planning and reasoning to Sonnet, cheap sub-steps and parsing to Haiku, and escalate only the hardest calls to Opus. Cache the system prompt and tool definitions so repeated context is nearly free.
- Set a per-key lifetime spending limit so a runaway loop cannot spend beyond the cap.
- Stream so the agent can act on partial output.
- Watch token usage to tune which steps use which model.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Claude API good for agents?
Yes — with streaming, tool use, model routing and prompt caching, all on one apiToken.sale key with spend controls.
How do I keep agent costs down?
Route cheap steps to Haiku, cache repeated context, and set a lifetime spending limit on the agent's key.
Try it before you pay: new Google/GitHub accounts include $10 of official-price Claude usage.