How to Use Claude Code from Algeria and Pay in Dinars

Claude Code is one of the most capable AI coding tools available today. You describe what you want in plain language, and it reads your project, edits files, runs commands and fixes its own mistakes until the job is done.

The usual way to use it is a subscription or credits paid in dollars with an international card. For many developers in Algeria, that is where it stops.

This guide shows how to run the same Claude Code from Algeria with a DEVUP AI balance topped up in dinars. You keep the official tool and its commands. You choose between Claude models and leading open models. Setup takes about five minutes.

What Claude Code does#

Claude Code is an AI agent that works in your terminal, inside your project folder. Instead of copying code into a chat window, you give it a task and it works on the real files:

• Understands a codebase. Ask "what does this project do?" and it reads the files it needs and explains the structure.

• Edits files across the project. A feature, a refactor or a fix that touches ten files is one request.

• Runs commands. Tests, builds, linters and Git: it runs them, reads the output and corrects course.

• Asks before acting. By default it asks for your approval before changing files or running commands. Shift+Tab switches the permission mode.

How it connects to DEVUP AI#

Claude Code talks to an API that follows the Anthropic Messages format. DEVUP AI offers that same format at https://api.devupai.com/anthropic. Two environment variables point Claude Code there, and nothing else changes.

• The official Claude Code. Same installer, same commands, same features. Nothing to patch or fork.

• Your DEVUP API key instead of an Anthropic login.

• Usage billed in dinars from your balance, topped up with BaridiMob, CIB or Edahabia.

• Your choice of model: Claude Opus 5.5, Sonnet 5.5 and Haiku 4.5, or open models such as Kimi-K3 and DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017, with any of them one environment variable away.

• Your code stays yours. DEVUP AI doesn't store the content of your prompts or of the model's replies, only usage metadata (model, tokens, cost), and doesn't train on your data.

Before you start#

1. A DEVUP AI account. Sign up at devupai.com/register.

2. A balance in dinars. Top up from your dashboard with BaridiMob, CIB or Edahabia.

3. An API key. Open Dashboard → API Keys and create one. Keys start with sk-devup-.

4. A terminal. PowerShell or CMD on Windows, Terminal on macOS, any shell on Linux.

Step 1: Install Claude Code#

Run the official installer for your system.

Windows PowerShell:

irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex

Windows CMD:

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.cmd -o install.cmd && install.cmd && del install.cmd

macOS, Linux and WSL:

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

Open a new terminal window and check the installation:

claude --version

A version number followed by (Claude Code) means it worked. On Windows, installing Git for Windows is recommended so Claude Code can use Bash; without it, Claude Code uses PowerShell.

Step 2: Point Claude Code at DEVUP AI#

Set these variables in the terminal where you will run Claude Code. Replace sk-devup-your-api-key with your key.

Windows PowerShell:

$env:ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL = "https://api.devupai.com/anthropic"
$env:ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN = "sk-devup-your-api-key"
$env:ANTHROPIC_MODEL = "claude-opus-5-5"
$env:ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL = "claude-opus-5-5"
$env:ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL = "claude-sonnet-5-5"
$env:ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL = "claude-haiku-4-5"
$env:CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL = "claude-sonnet-5-5"
$env:CLAUDE_CODE_MAX_OUTPUT_TOKENS = "32000"

macOS and Linux (Bash or Zsh):

export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="https://api.devupai.com/anthropic"
export ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN="sk-devup-your-api-key"
export ANTHROPIC_MODEL="claude-opus-5-5"
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL="claude-opus-5-5"
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL="claude-sonnet-5-5"
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL="claude-haiku-4-5"
export CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL="claude-sonnet-5-5"
export CLAUDE_CODE_MAX_OUTPUT_TOKENS="32000"

What each line does:

Step 3: Start your first session#

Go to your project folder and start Claude Code:

cd path/to/your/project
claude

Inside the session, check the connection:

/status

The Anthropic base URL line should show https://api.devupai.com/anthropic, and an Auth token line should name ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN. Then send a first request:

what does this project do?

For a one-off task without opening a session, use -p:

claude -p "explain the folder structure of this project"

Choose your models: two ready-made profiles#

You can use Claude models, open models, or both. These two profiles cover most needs.

Profile 1 is the configuration from Step 2. For Profile 2, keep ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL, ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN and CLAUDE_CODE_MAX_OUTPUT_TOKENS from Step 2, and replace the model lines with these:

Windows PowerShell:

$env:ANTHROPIC_MODEL = "deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017"
$env:ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL = "moonshotai/Kimi-K3"
$env:ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL = "deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017"
$env:ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL = "deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017"
$env:CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL = "deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017"

macOS and Linux:

export ANTHROPIC_MODEL="deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017"
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL="moonshotai/Kimi-K3"
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL="deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017"
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL="deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017"
export CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL="deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017"

Switch models at any time:

• In a session: /model opus, /model sonnet or /model haiku.

• At launch: claude --model opus.

• Any catalog model: claude --model "moonshotai/Kimi-K3".

Claude Code is an agent: it needs a model that supports tool calling. Every model in the two profiles does. To use another one, check Tools on its page in the model catalog and copy its ID exactly.

Make the setup permanent#

Variables set with $env: or export last only for the current terminal. Two ways to keep them:

Option A: a settings file (all your projects). Put the variables in the env block of ~/.claude/settings.json, which is %USERPROFILE%\.claude\settings.json on Windows:

{
  "env": {
    "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL": "https://api.devupai.com/anthropic",
    "ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN": "sk-devup-your-api-key",
    "ANTHROPIC_MODEL": "claude-opus-5-5",
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL": "claude-opus-5-5",
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL": "claude-sonnet-5-5",
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL": "claude-haiku-4-5",
    "CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL": "claude-sonnet-5-5",
    "CLAUDE_CODE_MAX_OUTPUT_TOKENS": "32000"
  }
}

Option B: a devup shortcut (keeps your usual claude untouched). Add a small function to your shell profile, then start DEVUP sessions with devup and keep claude for anything else.

PowerShell: open your profile with notepad $PROFILE and paste the function. If the file doesn't exist yet, create it first with New-Item -ItemType File -Path $PROFILE -Force. If PowerShell then says that running scripts is disabled, allow local scripts for your user with Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser RemoteSigned.

function devup {
  $devupEnv = @{
    ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL             = "https://api.devupai.com/anthropic"
    ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN           = "sk-devup-your-api-key"
    ANTHROPIC_MODEL                = "claude-opus-5-5"
    ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL   = "claude-opus-5-5"
    ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL = "claude-sonnet-5-5"
    ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL  = "claude-haiku-4-5"
    CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL     = "claude-sonnet-5-5"
    CLAUDE_CODE_MAX_OUTPUT_TOKENS  = "32000"
  }
  $saved = @{}
  foreach ($name in $devupEnv.Keys) {
    $saved[$name] = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable($name)
    Set-Item -Path "Env:$name" -Value $devupEnv[$name]
  }
  try { claude @args }
  finally {
    foreach ($name in $saved.Keys) {
      if ($null -eq $saved[$name]) { Remove-Item -Path "Env:$name" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue }
      else { Set-Item -Path "Env:$name" -Value $saved[$name] }
    }
  }
}

The function sets the variables only while devup runs, then restores your terminal as it was.

Bash or Zsh (add it to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc):

devup() {
  ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="https://api.devupai.com/anthropic" \
  ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN="sk-devup-your-api-key" \
  ANTHROPIC_MODEL="claude-opus-5-5" \
  ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL="claude-opus-5-5" \
  ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL="claude-sonnet-5-5" \
  ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL="claude-haiku-4-5" \
  CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL="claude-sonnet-5-5" \
  CLAUDE_CODE_MAX_OUTPUT_TOKENS="32000" \
  claude "$@"
}

Open a new terminal, go to a project and run devup.

Five first tasks worth trying#

Each of these is a single request in a Claude Code session:

1. Understand a new project. explain the architecture of this project and where the main entry point is

2. Create a project memory. Run /init: Claude Code writes a CLAUDE.md file with notes about your project that it reads at the start of every session. Add your own conventions to it.

3. Fix a bug with a test. there's a bug where the login form accepts an empty password. Write a failing test first, then fix it

4. Write missing tests. write unit tests for the functions in src/utils and run them

5. Prepare a clean commit. review my changes, suggest improvements, then commit with a descriptive message

Useful commands during a session: /model to switch models, /compact to summarize a long conversation and keep working, /clear to start fresh, /status to check the connection, and Shift+Tab to change how much Claude Code may do without asking.

Troubleshooting#

Prefer working inside your editor?#

DEVUP Code is our free AI coding extension for VS Code, Cursor and Antigravity. You sign in with your DEVUP account, with no key to copy, and use the same models and the same dinar balance. Claude Code is the agent for your terminal; DEVUP Code is the assistant in your editor. Many developers use both.

Frequently asked questions#

Do I need a Claude subscription or an Anthropic account?#

No. With ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL and ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN set, Claude Code uses your DEVUP AI key. Usage is paid from your DEVUP balance in dinars.

Is this the official Claude Code?#

Yes. You install it with Anthropic's official installer. DEVUP AI only provides the API it connects to.

Does it work on Windows?#

Yes, natively in PowerShell or CMD, and also in WSL. Installing Git for Windows is recommended.

Can I use models other than Claude?#

Yes. Any model in the catalog that supports tool calling works with Claude Code. Kimi-K3 and DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 are two strong choices.

Will this break my normal Claude Code login?#

No. The DEVUP variables take priority while they are set. Remove them, or use the devup shortcut, and Claude Code goes back to your usual account.

Is my code stored?#

No. DEVUP AI doesn't store the content of prompts or replies. Only usage metadata (model, tokens, cost) is kept, and DEVUP AI doesn't train on your data.

Start coding with Claude Code today#

Create your account, top up in dinars, set two variables and run claude.

Create your DEVUP AI account · Claude Code integration guide · Browse the models

New to the DEVUP AI API? Start with our guide How to Use AI APIs from Algeria and Pay in Dinars.