The claude-litellm Shell Script¶

Recommended pattern for running Claude Code (and any future CLI tool that speaks Anthropic's API format) against Navigator. The script reads .env, exports the correct environment variables, and hands off to the underlying binary.

The Script¶

Save this as claude-litellm somewhere on your PATH (typically ~/.local/bin/claude-litellm), then chmod +x to make it executable:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Run Claude Code routed through the LiteLLM proxy defined in ./.env
# Expects ANTHROPIC_API_KEY and LITELLM_BASE_URL in .env.
set -euo pipefail

if [ ! -f .env ]; then
  echo "claude-litellm: no .env in $(pwd)" >&2
  exit 1
fi

set -a
# shellcheck disable=SC1091
source .env
set +a

: "${LITELLM_BASE_URL:?LITELLM_BASE_URL missing from .env}"
: "${ANTHROPIC_API_KEY:?ANTHROPIC_API_KEY missing from .env}"

export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="$LITELLM_BASE_URL"
export ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN="$ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"
unset ANTHROPIC_API_KEY

exec claude "$@"

What Each Part Does¶

set -euo pipefail makes the script fail loudly on any error, unset variable, or pipe failure. Prevents silent-fail scenarios where the wrong key gets used.
The .env existence check keeps the script from accidentally running with system-level env vars if the local .env is missing.
set -a / source / set +a temporarily marks all sourced variables for export. Standard pattern for loading .env files in bash.
The two ${VAR:?} assertions require both variables to exist and be non-empty. If either is missing, the script fails with a clear message.
ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL is what Claude Code reads to decide which host to talk to. Setting it here routes traffic through Navigator instead of api.anthropic.com.
ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN (not ANTHROPIC_API_KEY) is the correct variable for a proxy key. Claude Code treats ANTHROPIC_API_KEY as a real Anthropic key and validates it against Anthropic's format. ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN is passed through as a bearer token, which is what Navigator expects.
unset ANTHROPIC_API_KEY removes the raw key from the child process's environment. Only ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN is exported to Claude Code.
exec claude "$@" replaces the shell process with Claude Code, passing through any arguments. exec is used so signals propagate correctly.