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Claude Code "Invalid API key · Fix external API key": Not logged in, Credit balance is too low, API Error 401/429/529 — Exact Messages and Retry Behavior, Tested
28 cases, 61 claude -p runs on Claude Code 2.1.280 against a local Messages API stub. A 401 is retried 10 times, so Invalid API key · Fix external API key shows up after ~3 minutes; a key with non-ASCII chars or an embedded newline is rejected locally with 0 requests in 0.28 s. Every error goes to stdout, stderr is 0 bytes, exit 1, and JSON subtype still says success. CLAUDE_CODE_MAX_RETRIES=0 fails a 401 in 0.28 s. Set both KEY and TOKEN and both headers are sent.
claude-codetroubleshooting+4
pitfallsSep 27, 202611 min
173
Claude Code "Command timed out after 2m 0s": Two Timeout Paths, BASH_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_MS and run_in_background Tested
Claude Code's Bash tool times out after 120 seconds by default. I ran 19 real sessions on 2.1.280 and found two timeout paths: only commands whose first word is sleep get killed with Exit code 143 / Command timed out after 2m 0s; everything else is moved to the background and killed 5 seconds after claude -p winds down. Either way claude exits 0, stderr is 0 bytes and the JSON top level says is_error=false. BASH_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_MS=8000 killed at 8.17s; 0 or abc silently fall back to 120s; an explicit timeout above BASH_MAX_TIMEOUT_MS was silently clamped to 15s.
claude-codetroubleshooting+4
pitfallsSep 26, 20269 min
160You Set ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL. Claude Code Ignored It.
I exported ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL in .zshrc to point at a self-hosted API gateway, and Claude Code kept talking to Google Vertex anyway. On the same machine, a launchd-managed web UI insisted it wasn't authenticated at all. Neither bug was in the gateway — both were in the gap between 'I set the env var' and 'the process actually has it.'
claude-codebug-postmortem+2
pitfallsAug 24, 20264 min
385