I remember the first time I tried to set up Claude Code CLI on my laptop — I spent an entire afternoon chasing a single typo in a JSON file, and I almost gave up on coding agents forever. If you are reading this, you probably want a clean, beginner-friendly walkthrough that does not assume you have shipped an LLM integration before. That is exactly what this guide delivers: a copy-paste path from a blank terminal to a working Claude Code CLI instance powered by HolySheep AI's relay service, with a proper Model Context Protocol (MCP) configuration and real cost numbers so you know what you are paying for.

HolySheep AI (Sign up here) is a unified AI API gateway that exposes OpenAI-compatible and Anthropic-compatible endpoints at https://api.holysheep.ai/v1. By routing Claude Code CLI through that gateway instead of Anthropic's direct endpoint, you unlock cheaper CNY-denominated billing at a fixed ¥1 = $1 parity (saving 85%+ versus the ¥7.3/USD street rate foreign cards typically get hit with), WeChat Pay and Alipay checkout rails, sub-50ms regional latency, and free signup credits. Below is the full setup.

Who This Guide Is For (And Who It Is Not For)

You should read this if you:

This guide is not for you if you:

What You Will Need Before We Start

Step 1: Install Node.js and Claude Code CLI

If you do not have Node.js yet, download the LTS build from nodejs.org and run the installer. On macOS, the fastest path is:

# macOS one-liner using Homebrew
brew install node@20


verify the install

node --version   # should print v20.x.x or higher
npm --version    # should print 10.x.x or higher

Now install Claude Code CLI globally with npm:

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code


confirm the binary is reachable

claude --version

If claude --version prints a version number like 1.0.x or higher, you are ready to continue.

Step 2: Create Your HolySheep Account and Copy Your API Key

  1. Visit the HolySheep signup page and create an account with email + password, or sign in with Google or GitHub.
  2. After login, open the dashboard and click "API Keys" in the left sidebar.
  3. Click "Create new key", name it claude-code-laptop, and copy the resulting token. It will start with hs_ and look like hs_4f2c9b1e7a8d3f....
  4. Top up at least ¥10 (about $10) so you have runway for the rest of the tutorial. WeChat Pay, Alipay, USDT, and credit card are all supported.

Tip: treat this key like a password. Do not paste it into public GitHub repos or screenshots.

Step 3: Configure HolySheep as Your Claude Code Relay

Claude Code CLI looks at two environment variables to find its backend: ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL and ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN. Point them at HolySheep and the CLI will route every request through the relay.

For macOS or Linux, append these lines to your shell profile (typically ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc):

# HolySheep relay for Claude Code CLI
export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="https://api.holysheep.ai/v1"
export ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN="YOUR_HOLYSHEEP_API_KEY"


apply the change immediately

source ~/.zshrc   # or source ~/.bashrc on Linux

On Windows PowerShell, run the equivalent commands and then refresh the environment:

$env:ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL = "https://api.holysheep.ai/v1"
$env:ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN = "YOUR_HOLYSHEEP_API_KEY"
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL", $env:ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL, "User")
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN", $env:ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN, "User")

Step 4: Wire Up MCP Servers in Your Config File

The Model Context Protocol lets Claude Code CLI call external tools — file access, git, browsers, databases — through small JSON-defined servers. HolySheep's relay forwards MCP traffic unchanged, so anything that works with Claude Code direct works here too.

Create the file ~/.claude/mcp.json (on Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.claude\mcp.json) with the following starter config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/Users/you/projects"],
      "env": {}
    },
    "git": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-git", "--repository", "/Users/you/projects/myrepo"],
      "env": {}
    },
    "fetch": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-fetch"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

Replace /Users/you

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