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Claude Agent SDK with LiteLLM

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Claude Code Knowledge Pack7/10/2026

Overview

Claude Agent SDK with LiteLLM

Use Anthropic's Claude Agent SDK with any LLM provider through LiteLLM Proxy.

The Claude Agent SDK provides a high-level interface for building AI agents. By pointing it to LiteLLM, you can use the same agent code with OpenAI, Bedrock, Azure, Vertex AI, or any other provider.

Quick Start

1. Install Dependencies

uv add claude-agent-sdk

2. Start LiteLLM Proxy

model_list:
  - model_name: bedrock-claude-sonnet-3.5
    litellm_params:
      model: "bedrock/us.anthropic.claude-3-5-sonnet-20240620-v1:0"
      aws_region_name: "us-east-1"

  - model_name: bedrock-claude-sonnet-4
    litellm_params:
      model: "bedrock/us.anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-20250514-v1:0"
      aws_region_name: "us-east-1"

  - model_name: bedrock-claude-sonnet-4.5
    litellm_params:
      model: "bedrock/us.anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929-v1:0"
      aws_region_name: "us-east-1"

  - model_name: bedrock-claude-opus-4.5
    litellm_params:
      model: "bedrock/us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-5-20251101-v1:0"
      aws_region_name: "us-east-1"

  - model_name: bedrock-nova-premier
    litellm_params:
      model: "bedrock/amazon.nova-premier-v1:0"
      aws_region_name: "us-east-1"

litellm --config config.yaml

3. Point Agent SDK to LiteLLM

Environment VariableValueDescription
ANTHROPIC_BASE_URLhttp://localhost:4000LiteLLM proxy URL
ANTHROPIC_API_KEYsk-1234Your LiteLLM API key (not Anthropic key)

from claude_agent_sdk import ClaudeSDKClient, ClaudeAgentOptions

# Point to LiteLLM proxy (not Anthropic)
os.environ["ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL"] = "http://localhost:4000"
os.environ["ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"] = "sk-1234"  # Your LiteLLM key

# Configure agent with any model from your config
options = ClaudeAgentOptions(
    system_prompt="You are a helpful AI assistant.",
    model="bedrock-claude-sonnet-4",  # Use any model from config.yaml
    max_turns=20,
)

async with ClaudeSDKClient(options=options) as client:
    await client.query("What is LiteLLM?")
    
    async for msg in client.receive_response():
        if hasattr(msg, 'content'):
            for content_block in msg.content:
                if hasattr(content_block, 'text'):
                    print(content_block.text, end='', flush=True)

Why Use LiteLLM with Agent SDK?

FeatureBenefit
Multi-ProviderUse the same agent code with OpenAI, Bedrock, Azure, Vertex AI, etc.
Cost TrackingTrack spending across all agent conversations
Rate LimitingSet budgets and limits on agent usage
Load BalancingDistribute requests across multiple API keys or regions
FallbacksAutomatically retry with different models if one fails

Complete Example

See our cookbook example for a complete interactive CLI agent that:

  • Streams responses in real-time
  • Switches between models dynamically
  • Fetches available models from the proxy
# Clone and run the example
git clone https://github.com/BerriAI/litellm.git
cd litellm/cookbook/anthropic_agent_sdk
uv add -r requirements.txt
python main.py

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