Integrating W&B Inference with Claude Code: A step-by-step guide
Save 70-80% on AI coding costs by integrating Claude Code with W&B Inference. Complete guide using official APIs - no complex proxy setup required.
Created on July 28|Last edited on August 4
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Claude Code is Anthropic's powerful agentic command-line tool, but using it with Anthropic's API can be expensive for heavy development work. This guide shows you how to configure Claude Code to work with W&B Inference models like Qwen, providing similar capabilities at significantly reduced costs.
What You'll Learn
- Setting up proper authentication and project tracking
- Cost comparison and model selection strategies
- Troubleshooting common issues
- Best practices for development workflows
Prerequisites
Before starting, ensure you have:
- A Weights & Biases account with access to W&B Inference
- Python 3.8+ installed
- Basic familiarity with command-line tools
Understanding the setup
Unlike the previous proxy-based approach, we'll configure Claude Code to connect directly to W&B Inference using their OpenAI-compatible API. This is simpler, more reliable, and officially supported.
The setup works as follows:
1. Claude Code expects an OpenAI-compatible API
2. W&B Inference provides an OpenAI-compatible endpoint
3. We configure Claude Code to point to W&B's endpoint with proper authentication
4. Weights & Biases handles model serving and usage tracking automatically
Step 1: Get your W&B credentials
First, gather your W&B credentials:
- Team/Project: Use the format team/project-name (e.g., mycompany/claude-dev)
Step 2: Test W&B Inference connection
Before configuring Claude Code, let's verify W&B Inference works with a simple test:
Create and run a test script
Create a file named test_wb_inference.py and past this into it. Save it to your desktop.
import openaiclient = openai.OpenAI(base_url='https://api.inference.wandb.ai/v1',api_key="your-wandb-api-key-here"", # Replace with your actual keyproject="your-team/your-project", # Replace with your team/project)try:response = client.chat.completions.create(model="Qwen/Qwen3-Coder-480B-A35B-Instruct",messages=[{"role": "system", "content": "You are a helpful coding assistant."},{"role": "user", "content": "Write a simple Python function to calculate factorial."}],max_tokens=1000,temperature=0.7)print("✅ W&B Inference connection successful!")print("Response:", response.choices[0].message.content)print("Model used:", response.model)print("Tokens used:", response.usage.total_tokens if response.usage else "N/A")except Exception as e:print("❌ Connection failed:", str(e))
Run the test:
pip install openaipython test_wb_inference.py
If this works, you're ready to configure Claude Code.
Step 3: Configure Claude Code Environment
Claude Code uses environment variables for configuration. Create a script to set them up:
Create configuration script
# W&B Inference configurationexport OPENAI_API_KEY="your-wandb-api-key-here""export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://api.inference.wandb.ai/v1"export OPENAI_PROJECT="your-team/your-project"# Optional: Disable non-essential traffic for better performanceexport CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC=1echo "✅ Claude Code configured for W&B Inference"echo "Base URL: $OPENAI_BASE_URL"echo "Project: $OPENAI_PROJECT"echo ""echo "You can now run Claude Code commands like:"echo " claude 'Write a Python function to sort a list'"echo " claude --help"
Make it executable:
chmod +x setup_claude_wb.sh
Step 4: Test Claude Code Integration
Source your configuration and test Claude Code:
# Load the configurationsource setup_claude_wb.sh# Test with a simple commandclaude "Write a simple 'Hello, World!' program in Python"# Test with a more complex coding taskclaude "Create a Python class for a basic calculator with add, subtract, multiply, and divide methods"
Step 5: Model Selection and Configuration
W&B Inference offers several Qwen models optimized for different use cases:
Available Models (as of January 2025)
Model | Best For | Context Length | Speed |
---|---|---|---|
Qwen/Qwen3-Coder-480B-A35B-Instruct | Code generation, complex programming tasks | 32K | Medium |
Qwen/Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 | General coding assistance, documentation | 32K | Fast |
Qwen/Qwen2.5-Coder-32B-Instruct | Lightweight coding tasks, quick responses | 32K | Very Fast |
Configure Default Model
Claude Code will use the model specified in your requests, but you can set preferences:
# For heavy coding work - use the most capable modelexport CLAUDE_DEFAULT_MODEL="Qwen/Qwen3-Coder-480B-A35B-Instruct"# For quick tasks - use the faster modelexport CLAUDE_DEFAULT_MODEL="Qwen/Qwen2.5-Coder-32B-Instruct"
Step 6: Advanced Configuration
Create a Persistent Configuration
Instead of sourcing a script each time, create a permanent configuration:
# Add to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrcecho 'export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-wandb-api-key-here"' >> ~/.bashrcecho 'export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://api.inference.wandb.ai/v1"' >> ~/.bashrcecho 'export OPENAI_PROJECT="your-team/your-project"' >> ~/.bashrcecho 'export CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC=1' >> ~/.bashrc# Reload your shellsource ~/.bashrc
Project-Specific Configuration
For different projects, you can use different W&B projects:
# project-a-config.shexport OPENAI_PROJECT="mycompany/project-a"export CLAUDE_PROJECT_CONTEXT="Working on project A - focus on React/TypeScript"# project-b-config.shexport OPENAI_PROJECT="mycompany/project-b"export CLAUDE_PROJECT_CONTEXT="Working on project B - focus on Python/Django"
Cost Comparison
Here's an updated cost comparison based on current pricing:
Service | Input (per 1M tokens) | Output (per 1M tokens) | Total Cost Example* |
---|---|---|---|
Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4 | $3.00 | $15.00 | $18.00 |
W&B Qwen3-Coder-480B | ~$1.00 | ~$3.00 | $4.00 |
Savings | 67% | 80% | 78% |
*Example based on 1M input tokens + 1M output tokens
Integration with Development Tools
VS Code Integration
# In VS Code terminal, source your configurationsource setup_claude_wb.sh# Now use Claude Code within VS Codeclaude "Add error handling to this function" --file src/utils.pyclaude "Write unit tests for this class" --file src/models.py
Git Workflow Integration
# Generate commit messagesgit diff --cached | claude "Write a concise commit message for these changes"# Code review assistancegit diff main..feature-branch | claude "Review this code for potential issues and suggest improvements"# Documentation generationclaude "Generate README documentation for this project" --file package.json
IDE Integration
Many IDEs can be configured to use custom OpenAI endpoints:
// VS Code settings.json for extensions like "Claude" or "AI Coder"{"aiCoder.openai.baseUrl": "https://api.inference.wandb.ai/v1","aiCoder.openai.apiKey": "your-wandb-api-key","aiCoder.openai.model": "Qwen/Qwen3-Coder-480B-A35B-Instruct"}
Monitoring and Usage Tracking
W&B Dashboard
Monitor your usage through the W&B interface:
- Go to your W&B project dashboard
- Navigate to the "Inference" section
- View usage statistics, costs, and model performance
- Set up alerts for usage thresholds
Usage Tracking Script
# usage_tracker.py - Monitor your Claude Code usageimport openaiimport weave# Initialize Weave for automatic loggingweave.init("your-team/your-project")client = openai.OpenAI(base_url='https://api.inference.wandb.ai/v1',api_key="your-wandb-api-key",project="your-team/your-project",)# Your Claude Code requests will now be automatically logged to W&B
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Issue 1: Authentication Errors
# Verify your API keycurl -H "Authorization: Bearer your-api-key" \-H "OpenAI-Project: your-team/your-project" \https://api.inference.wandb.ai/v1/models# Should return a list of available models
Issue 2: Model Not Found
# List available modelscurl -H "Authorization: Bearer your-api-key" \-H "OpenAI-Project: your-team/your-project" \https://api.inference.wandb.ai/v1/models | jq '.data[].id'
Issue 3: Claude Code Not Recognizing Configuration
# Verify environment variables are setecho "API Key: ${OPENAI_API_KEY:0:10}..."echo "Base URL: $OPENAI_BASE_URL"echo "Project: $OPENAI_PROJECT"# Test with verbose outputclaude --debug "Simple test query"
Issue 4: Rate Limiting
# Add delays between requests if hitting rate limitsexport CLAUDE_REQUEST_DELAY=1 # 1 second delay between requests
Best Practices
1. Security
- Store API keys in environment variables, not in code
- Use project-specific API keys when possible
- Regularly rotate API keys
- Never commit API keys to version control
2. Cost Optimization
- Use lighter models (Qwen2.5-Coder-32B) for simple tasks
- Monitor usage through W&B dashboard
- Set up billing alerts
- Cache common responses when appropriate
3. Performance
- Use appropriate models for different task types
- Configure reasonable token limits
- Enable request caching when beneficial
- Monitor response times and adjust model selection
4. Development Workflow
- Create project-specific configurations
- Use meaningful project names for tracking
- Document your model choices and reasoning
- Share configurations with team members
Example Workflows
Daily Development Routine
#!/bin/bash# daily_dev_setup.sh# Load W&B configurationsource setup_claude_wb.sh# Start development sessionecho "🚀 Starting development session with W&B Inference"# Quick status checkclaude "What's the current date and time?" > /dev/null 2>&1if [ $? -eq 0 ]; thenecho "✅ Claude Code + W&B Inference ready"elseecho "❌ Configuration issue - check your setup"exit 1fi# Optional: Start your IDE# code .
Code Review Workflow
#!/bin/bash# code_review.sh# Review staged changesif git diff --cached --quiet; thenecho "No staged changes to review"exit 1fiecho "🔍 Reviewing staged changes..."git diff --cached | claude "Review this code for:1. Potential bugs or issues2. Code quality and best practices3. Security concerns4. Performance implications5. Suggestions for improvementBe constructive and specific in your feedback."
Migration from Anthropic API
If you're currently using Claude Code with Anthropic's API:
1. Backup Current Configuration
# Save current settingsecho "Current ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: ${ANTHROPIC_API_KEY:0:10}..."echo "Current ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL: $ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL"
2. Gradual Migration
# Test W&B setup alongside existing configurationexport OPENAI_API_KEY="your-wandb-key"export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://api.inference.wandb.ai/v1"# Test a simple queryclaude "Hello, this is a test of W&B Inference"# If successful, update your permanent configuration
3. Compare Results
Run the same coding tasks with both APIs to compare:
- Response quality
- Response speed
- Cost per task
- Overall satisfaction
Conclusion
This updated approach provides a much more reliable integration between Claude Code and W&B Inference by:
- Using the official W&B Inference OpenAI-compatible API
- Eliminating the complexity and potential issues of proxy servers
- Providing better error handling and debugging capabilities
- Offering more straightforward monitoring and usage tracking
The direct integration approach is:
- Simpler: No proxy server to manage
- More reliable: Fewer moving parts and potential failure points
- Better supported: Uses official APIs from both services
- Easier to debug: Direct connection makes troubleshooting straightforward
With this setup, you can achieve significant cost savings (70-80%) while maintaining excellent coding assistance capabilities. The W&B Inference models provide strong performance for coding tasks at a fraction of the cost of Anthropic's API.
Next Steps
- Test the setup: Follow the steps above to verify everything works
- Monitor usage: Keep track of costs and performance through W&B dashboard
- Optimize model selection: Experiment with different models for different tasks
- Share with team: Roll out this cost-effective solution to other developers
- Stay updated: Monitor W&B Inference for new models and features
Useful Resources
Happy coding with your cost-effective AI assistant! 🎉
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