One-Click API Setup: Claude Code / Codex CLI

Overview

Setting things up by hand means installing the client, editing a config file, and filling in the endpoint and your API Key. The setup script (evolink-config) does all of that with one command:

Checks your environment, and installs the client if it is not on your computer yet
Writes the EvoLink endpoint and your API Key
Sends one test message to confirm that calls go through
Backs up every file before it changes it, and can undo everything with one command

The whole thing usually takes less than a minute.

Client	One-click setup
Claude Code CLI	Supported
Codex CLI	Supported
Other clients	See the manual guides under “AI Coding Tools”

The commands below are for macOS and Linux. On Windows, please follow the manual guide for Claude Code CLI or Codex CLI for now.

Prerequisites

EvoLink API Key: log in to the EvoLink Dashboard, create a Key under API Keys, and copy it. A Key starts with sk-.
Node.js: version 22 or later is recommended (18 is the minimum). Run node -v in a terminal to check. If it is not installed, download the LTS version from the Node.js website.

Set up Claude Code

Run this in a terminal:

curl -fsSL https://cdn.evolink.ai/cli/setup.sh | bash

The script walks you through five steps:

Environment

Checks Node.js and Claude Code. If Claude Code is not installed yet, the script asks “Install now?”; press Enter and it installs it for you.

API Key

Paste your EvoLink API Key and press Enter. What you paste is not shown on screen. The script checks online that the Key is valid and shows your balance.

Model

Choose the model Claude Code uses by default. You can switch at any time inside Claude Code with /model.

Review changes

The script lists the files and settings it is about to change. Press Enter to apply them.

Apply and verify

After writing the settings, the script sends one test message (about 0.01 credits). A normal reply means the setup is complete.

When it finishes, open a new terminal window and run:

claude

Inside Claude Code, run /status. If the Anthropic base URL shows the EvoLink address, the setup is in effect.

Set up Codex CLI

Run this in a terminal:

curl -fsSL https://cdn.evolink.ai/cli/setup.sh | bash -s -- codex

The steps are the same as above. When it finishes, start Codex with:

codex -p evolink

The script creates a separate profile for Codex, ~/.codex/evolink.config.toml, and does not change your own ~/.codex/config.toml. Codex uses EvoLink only when you start it with -p evolink; a plain codex keeps your original settings.

What the script changes

Claude Code

File	Change
`~/.claude/settings.json`	Writes the endpoint `ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL` and your Key `ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN`; sets `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` to an empty value, so that an old Key left on the computer cannot cause 401 errors; pins the model version used for Sonnet; turns auto mode off (see the FAQ below for why). Everything else in the file is kept.
`~/.claude.json`	Skips the login screens shown on first launch; with your consent, marks the current folder as trusted.

Codex CLI

File	Change
`~/.codex/evolink.config.toml`	New file. Holds the EvoLink endpoint, the default model, and your Key. Only you can read it.
`~/.codex/config.toml`	Not changed.

In both cases

Every file is backed up to ~/.evolink/backups/ before it is changed.
The script itself is saved under ~/.evolink/, and its command is ~/.evolink/bin/evolink-config. It does not change your PATH or your shell profile.
Your Key is stored only in the config files on your computer and is sent only to the EvoLink API.

evolink-config only sets up the API connection. It is a different tool from the evolink command-line tool that generates images, video, and audio (see the CLI/MCP section). You can use both.

Check, undo, and set up again

Preview the changes (nothing is written)

curl -fsSL https://cdn.evolink.ai/cli/setup.sh | bash -s -- --dry-run

Check the current setup

~/.evolink/bin/evolink-config doctor

Your Key is hidden in the output, so you can send it to support as it is. For Codex, use ~/.evolink/bin/evolink-config doctor codex.

Undo the setup

~/.evolink/bin/evolink-config reset

The script puts back everything it changed. For Codex, use ~/.evolink/bin/evolink-config reset codex.

Change the Key or the default model

Run the setup command again.

FAQ

1. What if it says Node.js was not found?

Install the LTS version from the Node.js website, open a new terminal, and run the setup command again.

2. I already set things up by hand. Will my settings be overwritten?

Not as a whole. The script changes only the items listed above and keeps everything else. Before writing, it shows the old and new value of each item and backs up the original file.

3. Why is there no auto mode in Claude Code?

In auto mode, Claude Code stops asking you before each command. Instead, it first sends a review request, and a model decides whether the command is safe to run. These review requests are billed by tokens like any other request. They use claude-sonnet-5, whichever default model you chose. To avoid charges you did not expect, the script turns auto mode off by default, and Claude Code asks you before it runs a command. The script also tells you this when it finishes. If you want auto mode, turn it on like this:

curl -fsSL https://cdn.evolink.ai/cli/setup.sh | bash -s -- --auto-mode

To turn it off again, run the setup command once more without --auto-mode.

4. Can I read the script before I run it?

Yes. Download it, read it, then run it:

curl -fsSL https://cdn.evolink.ai/cli/setup.sh -o setup.sh
less setup.sh
bash setup.sh

5. What if it says “Rate limited (429)”?

Each account can check its Key only a limited number of times per minute. If you run the script several times in a row, you will see this message. Wait for the number of seconds shown in the message, then run the script again.

6. What if it still does not work after the setup?

Run ~/.evolink/bin/evolink-config doctor and send the output to support. You can also check the troubleshooting sections of the Claude Code CLI and Codex CLI pages.