Set up Claude on Google Cloud (Google managed)

When your company buys Claude through Google Cloud, Claude Code and Claude Desktop reach Claude through your own Google Cloud project. You sign in with Google Cloud credentials, so you don't need an Anthropic API key, and Google Cloud bills the usage.

Setup has three parts. Someone gets the project ready once, then each person gives themselves access. After that, you point the app you use at the project. You're done when Claude Code answers you and /status shows your project ID.

Google Cloud sells Claude as two services, and they're set up differently. So the first job is to check which one you have.

Check which service you have

The two services differ in who operates Claude. On Claude Models on Google Cloud (Google managed), Google operates the Claude models as part of Google Cloud's Agent Platform, formerly Vertex AI. Agent Platform is the part of Google Cloud that these steps work in: you turn on its API, you get one of its roles, and your usage is billed as Agent Platform usage. On the Anthropic managed service, Anthropic operates the Claude API.

To tell which one is yours, look at something you already have. The table shows what to look for.

Where to look	Google managed	Anthropic managed
The Google Cloud console	Claude models in Model Garden	The option labeled Anthropic managed
The SDK client in your code	Its name contains `Vertex`, as in `AnthropicVertex`	Its name contains `GoogleCloud`

Model Garden is the part of the Google Cloud console where each model has its own card.

Request URLs are a third sign. On Google managed, they point at an Agent Platform host, and the URL path contains .../publishers/anthropic/models/{model}. The overview of the two services lists the hosts.

If you have Anthropic managed, follow the Anthropic managed docs page instead. If you call api.anthropic.com with an API key, you use neither service.

What you need, and what it costs

Have these ready before you start:

A Google Cloud project with billing on, and its project ID
The gcloud CLI, Google Cloud's command-line tool
Claude Code, installed

Wherever a command below shows YOUR-PROJECT-ID or PROJECT_ID, replace it with your project ID.

If you've just installed the gcloud CLI, sign it in with gcloud auth login or gcloud init. That's the gcloud CLI's own login. Application Default Credentials, which Claude Code uses, are a separate sign-in that comes under "Give yourself access."

Google Cloud bills the usage, as Agent Platform usage. That includes what you send from Claude Code or Claude Desktop. To look up prices, start from the billing section of this service's docs page.

Get the project ready, once

Before anyone can call Claude from a project, the project needs the Agent Platform API turned on and a Claude model enabled. These steps are done once per Google Cloud project, usually by an admin. If someone has already done them for yours, go on to "Give yourself access."

Turn on the Agent Platform API. Point gcloud at the project, then enable the service aiplatform.googleapis.com.
bash
```
gcloud config set project YOUR-PROJECT-ID
gcloud services enable aiplatform.googleapis.com
```
Google's Before you begin steps for Claude models cover this step and the billing check.
Enable the Claude models you'll use, in Model Garden. Google lists the Claude model cards. Open the card for each model and click Enable. With no model pinned, Claude Code's primary model is claude-opus-5-5, and it uses its default Claude Sonnet model for background tasks. The list of default models gives both IDs, so enable those two.

Whoever clicks Enable must have the Consumer Procurement Entitlement Manager role in Identity and Access Management (IAM). Its ID is roles/consumerprocurement.entitlementManager.

Give yourself access

The project is ready, but your own account still needs permission to call Claude and a sign-in Claude Code can use. Each person does these steps for their own account.

Point gcloud at the project.

bash

gcloud config set project YOUR-PROJECT-ID

Get a role that lets you call Claude. The identity making the calls needs an IAM role that includes the aiplatform.endpoints.predict permission, such as Agent Platform User (roles/aiplatform.user). This command grants that role:
bash
```
gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding PROJECT_ID --member=PRINCIPAL --role=roles/aiplatform.user
```
Replace PRINCIPAL with user: and then your email address, for example, user:you@example.com. Google's page on granting access shows the other forms PRINCIPAL can take. If you aren't allowed to change the project's IAM policy, ask an admin to run the command for you.
Sign in with Application Default Credentials. These are the Google Cloud credentials Claude Code uses when it calls Claude.
bash
```
gcloud auth application-default login
```

Connect Claude Code or Claude Desktop

With the project ready and your access in place, point the app you use at the project. Both apps ask for the same two values: your project ID and a region. The steps below use the region global.

Claude Code

The login wizard handles the Claude Code side.

Start Claude Code.
bash
```
claude
```
Choose Agent Platform. At the login prompt, select 3rd-party platform, then Google Vertex AI. That's the label the login prompt still uses for Google Cloud's Agent Platform. If you're already signed in, run /login to open the same menu.
Follow the wizard's prompts. When it asks how you authenticate to Google Cloud, choose Application Default Credentials from gcloud, which you set up in "Give yourself access." Then give it your project ID and the region global. The wizard verifies which Claude models your project can invoke and lets you pin them. It saves the result to your user settings file, so you don't need to export environment variables yourself.
Send Claude Code a message. When it answers, Claude Code is reaching Claude through Google Cloud.

Check that it's using the project you meant. Run /status. The API provider line shows Google Vertex AI. The GCP project, Default region, and Model lines show your project ID, your region, and the resolved model. Compare the project ID with the project from "Get the project ready, once."

Claude Opus models have a higher per-token price than Sonnet models. If you don't pin a primary model, you're billed at the Opus rate. To change your model pins, project, region, or credentials later, run /setup-vertex to reopen the wizard.

To set Claude Code up without the wizard, for example, in CI or a scripted rollout, set these environment variables in the shell where you start claude:

bash

export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_VERTEX=1
export CLOUD_ML_REGION=global
export ANTHROPIC_VERTEX_PROJECT_ID=YOUR-PROJECT-ID

If /status then shows no API provider line, the variables aren't reaching the process. The manual setup steps cover the rest, including how to pin model versions for a team.

Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop can use Claude models through the same project, and Claude Cowork sessions run in that app. An IT administrator usually deploys it to every device, so ask whether yours already has. To try it on one device, fill in the same values by hand.

Open the in-app configuration window. It's under Developer → Configure Third-Party Inference….
Choose the provider. In the Connection section, set Inference provider to Vertex AI.
Fill in the Vertex AI credentials card. Put your project ID in GCP project ID and a region in GCP region. The region can be global. Then provide exactly one credential source. GCP credentials file path accepts the file that gcloud auth application-default login produces.
Add a model. Under Models, add at least one Model list entry, using the publisher model ID of a model you enabled.

Deploy Claude Desktop on 3P with Google Cloud's Agent Platform covers the other ways to sign in and how to push the settings to every device.

If it doesn't work

These errors can stop Claude Code from reaching Claude. Find yours in the table, then apply its fix.

What you see	What to do
"Could not load the default credentials"	Run `gcloud auth application-default login` to set up Application Default Credentials.
"model not found", a 404 error	Confirm that the model is enabled in Model Garden. Then verify that the model is available in the location you specified. With the region `global`, check in Model Garden, under "Supported features", that your models support global endpoints.
A quota issue	Check your current quotas or request a quota increase through the Cloud Console.
A 429 error	On a regional endpoint, make sure that the primary model and the small, fast model are supported in your region. Consider switching to the region `global` for better availability.

A model can be missing from a location. Some models are offered only on global or multi-region locations such as eu and us, not in specific regions. If you change your region, verify that your models are available there.

These fixes come from Troubleshooting in Claude Code on Google Cloud's Agent Platform, which goes further. For Claude Desktop, start from its own Troubleshoot section.

Where to go next

Keep your project ID and your region where you can find them. Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and the SDK clients all ask for them.

To learn Claude Code, take Claude Code 101, then Claude Code in action.
To learn Claude Cowork, take Introduction to Claude Cowork.
To call Claude from your own code, follow the Google managed docs page. It shows how to install an SDK and make a request with the AnthropicVertex client.

For more on the service itself, the docs have a section on each of these:

Check which service you have

What you need, and what it costs

Get the project ready, once

Give yourself access

Connect Claude Code or Claude Desktop

Claude Code

Claude Desktop

If it doesn't work

Where to go next