Agent skill

anthropic-sdk-guide

Guide for Anthropic Python/TypeScript SDK usage including messages API, streaming, prompt caching, batches, token counting, and error handling. Use when the user is building with the Anthropic API, setting up Claude SDK, calling messages endpoints, implementing streaming, or troubleshooting API errors.

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npx add-skill https://github.com/majiayu000/claude-skill-registry/tree/main/skills/other/other/anthropic-sdk-guide

SKILL.md

Anthropic SDK Guide

Comprehensive reference for building with the Anthropic Python and TypeScript SDKs. Covers initialization, messages API, streaming, prompt caching, batches, and error handling.

When to Use

  • User is setting up Anthropic SDK (Python or TypeScript)
  • User is calling the Messages API or needs streaming responses
  • User wants prompt caching, batch processing, or token counting
  • User is debugging API errors or rate limits
  • User asks about Claude model IDs or API configuration

Core Patterns

SDK Installation and Setup

bash
# Python
pip install anthropic

# TypeScript
npm install @anthropic-ai/sdk
python
# Python - client initialization
import anthropic

client = anthropic.Anthropic()  # Uses ANTHROPIC_API_KEY env var
# Or explicit: anthropic.Anthropic(api_key="sk-ant-...")
typescript
// TypeScript - client initialization
import Anthropic from "@anthropic-ai/sdk";

const client = new Anthropic();  // Uses ANTHROPIC_API_KEY env var

Messages API - Basic Usage

python
# Python - simple message
message = client.messages.create(
    model="claude-sonnet-4-6-20250514",
    max_tokens=1024,
    system="You are a helpful coding assistant.",
    messages=[
        {"role": "user", "content": "Explain async/await in Python."}
    ]
)
print(message.content[0].text)
typescript
// TypeScript - simple message
const message = await client.messages.create({
  model: "claude-sonnet-4-6-20250514",
  max_tokens: 1024,
  system: "You are a helpful coding assistant.",
  messages: [
    { role: "user", content: "Explain async/await in Python." }
  ],
});
console.log(message.content[0].text);

Streaming Responses

python
# Python - streaming with context manager
with client.messages.stream(
    model="claude-sonnet-4-6-20250514",
    max_tokens=1024,
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Write a short story."}]
) as stream:
    for text in stream.text_stream:
        print(text, end="", flush=True)

# Access final message after stream completes
final_message = stream.get_final_message()
typescript
// TypeScript - streaming
const stream = client.messages.stream({
  model: "claude-sonnet-4-6-20250514",
  max_tokens: 1024,
  messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Write a short story." }],
});

stream.on("text", (text) => process.stdout.write(text));

const finalMessage = await stream.finalMessage();

Prompt Caching

Use cache_control to cache large system prompts, tool definitions, or conversation prefixes. Cached content costs 90% less on cache hits.

python
# Python - prompt caching with large system prompt
message = client.messages.create(
    model="claude-sonnet-4-6-20250514",
    max_tokens=1024,
    system=[
        {
            "type": "text",
            "text": "You are an expert on this large codebase..." + large_context,
            "cache_control": {"type": "ephemeral"}
        }
    ],
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "What does the auth module do?"}]
)
# Check cache performance
print(f"Cache read: {message.usage.cache_read_input_tokens}")
print(f"Cache creation: {message.usage.cache_creation_input_tokens}")

Batch Processing

Process up to 10,000 requests at 50% cost with 24-hour turnaround.

python
# Python - create a batch
batch = client.messages.batches.create(
    requests=[
        {
            "custom_id": f"request-{i}",
            "params": {
                "model": "claude-sonnet-4-6-20250514",
                "max_tokens": 1024,
                "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": prompt}]
            }
        }
        for i, prompt in enumerate(prompts)
    ]
)

# Poll for completion
import time
while True:
    status = client.messages.batches.retrieve(batch.id)
    if status.processing_status == "ended":
        break
    time.sleep(60)

# Stream results
for result in client.messages.batches.results(batch.id):
    if result.result.type == "succeeded":
        print(result.custom_id, result.result.message.content[0].text)

Token Counting

python
# Python - count tokens before sending
count = client.messages.count_tokens(
    model="claude-sonnet-4-6-20250514",
    system="You are a helpful assistant.",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": long_document}]
)
print(f"Input tokens: {count.input_tokens}")

Error Handling

python
import anthropic

try:
    message = client.messages.create(
        model="claude-sonnet-4-6-20250514",
        max_tokens=1024,
        messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]
    )
except anthropic.RateLimitError:
    # Back off and retry - SDK has built-in retries (2 by default)
    print("Rate limited. The SDK will auto-retry.")
except anthropic.APIStatusError as e:
    print(f"API error {e.status_code}: {e.message}")
except anthropic.APIConnectionError:
    print("Network connection failed.")

Anti-Patterns

  • Hardcoding API keys instead of using environment variables
  • Not setting max_tokens (it is required, not optional)
  • Ignoring the stop_reason field (could be "end_turn", "max_tokens", or "tool_use")
  • Polling batch status too frequently (use 60-second intervals minimum)
  • Not using streaming for user-facing applications (causes perceived latency)
  • Setting temperature > 0 for deterministic tasks like classification or extraction

Quick Reference

Model ID Best For
claude-opus-4-6-20250514 Deep reasoning, complex tasks
claude-sonnet-4-6-20250514 Best balance of speed and capability
claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 Fast, lightweight tasks
Feature Endpoint / Method
Messages client.messages.create()
Streaming client.messages.stream()
Batches client.messages.batches.create()
Token count client.messages.count_tokens()
Prompt caching cache_control: {"type": "ephemeral"}

Default retries: 2 (configurable via max_retries on client).

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