# Use your Claude subscription via Claude CLI (no API key). Dimmy Help.

> Use your Claude subscription via Claude CLI (no API key). Step-by-step help for Dimmy, the native voice dictation app for macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Source: https://dimmy.app/help/integrations-claude-cli/

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Integrations

# Use your Claude subscription via Claude CLI (no API key)

If you already pay for Claude Pro, Team, or Max, route Dimmy's LLM rewrites and recaps through the local claude CLI. No API key, no per-token cost.

Dimmy can run Anthropic's official claude CLI as a subprocess and use it as the LLM provider for style rewrites and meeting recaps. The CLI owns your login session (your Pro / Team / Max plan), and Dimmy only talks to its stdin/stdout. Dimmy never reads your credentials file.

info

This is the LLM provider feature. It's separate from the [Claude Desktop MCP bridge](https://dimmy.app/help/integrations-claude-desktop/) (which lets Claude read your Dimmy meetings) and the [Dimmy MCP from Claude CLI](https://dimmy.app/help/integrations-mcp-claude-cli/) recipe (which points the terminal at Dimmy's data).

## Prerequisites

* An active Claude Pro, Team, Max, or Enterprise plan.
* Node.js 18 or newer. Get the LTS from nodejs.org. npm ships with it.
* A browser, for the sign-in flow.

## Install the CLI

bash

`npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code`

Open a NEW terminal (so PATH refreshes) and verify it's there:

bash

`claude --version`

tip

If you see "command not found" after the install, your shell PATH didn't refresh. Close every terminal window and open a fresh one. On Windows the npm global entry is %APPDATA%\\npm.

## Sign in

Easiest path: let Dimmy do it. Open the Claude Code card in Dimmy (see below) and click Sign in via browser. Dimmy launches the CLI's login and watches for it to complete. You can also just run claude in a terminal the first time and follow its sign-in prompt.

Quick sanity check that the CLI answers:

bash

`echo "say pong" | claude --print`

## Turn it on in Dimmy

The wording differs slightly per platform, but in both cases the connection status lives on Settings → Integrations and the provider switch lives on Settings → Output.

| macOS             | Windows                                                                  |                                                                                              |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Pick the provider | Settings → Output → provider "Claude Code (subscription — Pro/Team/Max)" | Settings → Output → provider Anthropic, then turn on the "Use Anthropic subscription" toggle |
| For recaps        | Same provider applies to recaps                                          | Turn on "Use Anthropic subscription for recap" under Recap                                   |
| Connection card   | Settings → Integrations, "Anthropic — Claude Code subscription" group    | Settings → Integrations, "ANTHROPIC SUBSCRIPTION" group                                      |

1. Open the Claude Code connection card on Settings → Integrations.
2. If it's not green yet, click Sign in via browser and finish the login.
3. Flip on the subscription provider/toggle as in the table above.
4. Press your hotkey and dictate a sentence with an LLM style active. The result now comes from your Claude subscription.

Settings → Integrations: the Claude Code subscription card showing a green connected state

Connect Claude Code wizard

info

On the subscription provider, Dimmy uses Claude Opus 4.8\. For meeting recaps you can separately choose the Anthropic recap model: Opus 4.8, Sonnet 4.6, or Haiku 4.5\. There is no free-form model dropdown for the Claude Code provider itself.

## What this affects

* Style rewrites (Correct, Summarize, Elaborate, Prompt, and friends). Every dictation that passes through an LLM style now uses your subscription.
* Meeting recaps, when you've enabled the subscription for recap.
* Custom prompts you defined in [Custom prompts](https://dimmy.app/help/custom-prompts/). They keep working, only the provider changes.

## What this does NOT affect

* STT (speech-to-text). That still runs locally (Whisper) or via your chosen STT provider.
* Telemetry. Dimmy records aggregate events (status probed, login completed, invocation success / failure) with no prompt or response content. See [Telemetry](https://dimmy.app/help/telemetry/).
* Other AI tools on your machine. Dimmy spawns its own subprocess; it does not interfere with claude when you use it manually.

## Gotchas

* Always open a fresh terminal AFTER npm install. Windows PATH only picks up the new entry in new shells.
* Corporate networks (Zscaler, Netskope, etc.) can break the sign-in callback. If login hangs or fails with a TLS error, try from a personal network to confirm.
* nvm users: install the CLI with the same Node version you use day-to-day. Switching versions loses global packages.
* If you sign out of Claude in another tool, the CLI session goes too. Sign in again from the Dimmy card.

warning

If the card still shows not connected after you signed in, click Refresh on the card (or Recheck inside the setup wizard) to re-probe. Dimmy caches where the claude binary lives until you hit refresh, so a fresh install sometimes needs one nudge.

## Cost and quotas

Dimmy makes one CLI call per LLM action (one rewrite, one recap). Each call counts against your subscription's usage. There is no separate Dimmy quota: the CLI talks to Anthropic with your account.

Was this helpful? 

## In this category

[ IntegrationsConnect Claude Desktop to Dimmy (MCP bridge)One-click wizard installs a small MCP server. Ask Claude Desktop about your meetings, dictations, and let it write recaps back into Dimmy.](https://dimmy.app/help/integrations-claude-desktop/) [ IntegrationsUse Dimmy's MCP server from Claude CLI (advanced)Dimmy's MCP bridge has a one-click setup for Claude Desktop. There's no built-in button for the terminal, but you can point the Claude CLI at the same binary by hand. Here's how.](https://dimmy.app/help/integrations-mcp-claude-cli/) [ IntegrationsSend meeting recaps to NotionDimmy has a built-in Notion integration. Connect once with your own integration token, pick a destination page or database, then send any recap with one button (or auto-send every meeting).](https://dimmy.app/help/integrations-notion/) [ IntegrationsUse your ChatGPT subscription via Codex (no API key)If you already pay for ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Team, Business, or Enterprise, route Dimmy's LLM rewrites and recaps through the local codex CLI. No API key, no per-token cost.](https://dimmy.app/help/integrations-codex-cli/) [ IntegrationsSend audio from your phone with TelegramConnect Dimmy to your own Telegram account. Record audio on your phone with any app, share it to your Telegram Saved Messages, and Dimmy transcribes it and writes a recap on your computer. Windows and macOS.](https://dimmy.app/help/integrations-telegram/)

Last updated: 2026-05-22

On this page

1. [01 Prerequisites](#prerequisites)
2. [02 Install the CLI](#install-the-cli)
3. [03 Sign in](#sign-in)
4. [04 Turn it on in Dimmy](#turn-it-on-in-dimmy)
5. [05 What this affects](#what-this-affects)
6. [06 What this does NOT affect](#what-this-does-not-affect)
7. [07 Gotchas](#gotchas)
8. [08 Cost and quotas](#cost-and-quotas)