# Claude Code

Claude Code is the smoothest of the adapters, and the only one where a subscription can
carry through unchanged.

## Before you connect

Open Claude Code's own account panel and check it is using your **Claude subscription**
rather than an API key. If it says "API Key", the request is already being billed
somewhere else and connecting it to Sentilai will not change that.

## Connecting

**Tools → Claude Code → Connect.** The app explains what it is about to edit and asks you
to confirm twice, because it is modifying a settings file that Claude Code owns.

Your subscription keeps billing exactly as before. Sentilai governs and audits the
request on the way through; it does not become the payer.

## Restart it

Claude Code reads this setting only at startup. **Fully quit and reopen it** — the app
says so in bold, and it is still the most common reason someone reports "I connected it
but nothing shows up in Activity".

## Disconnecting

**Disconnect** restores the previous configuration. If your organization has locked this
down through a managed configuration, the button is not shown and the card explains why.

## What it looks like when it works

The tool card shows **routed through Sentilai**, and the first prompt you send produces a
row in the admin console's Activity feed within a few seconds.

<!-- shot:connect-claude-code -->
![Claude Code, routed through Sentilai. It reads this only at startup, so an already-running session must be restarted.](https://docs.sentilai.com/uploads/images/gallery/2026-08/dJOconnect-claude-code.png)
*Claude Code, routed through Sentilai. It reads this only at startup, so an already-running session must be restarted.*