Intro to Claude
On this page
Anthropic offers two ways to build with Claude, each suited to different use cases:
| Messages API | Claude Managed Agents | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Direct model prompting access | Pre-built, configurable agent harness that runs in managed infrastructure |
| Best for | Custom agent loops and fine-grained control | Long-running tasks and asynchronous work |
To learn more about each, see Using the Messages API and the Claude Managed Agents overview.
Explore the latest generation of Claude models
If you're unsure which model to use, start with Claude Opus 5 for most workloads. Use Claude Fable 5.1 for demanding reasoning and long-horizon agentic work, or when your evals on Claude Opus 5 at higher effort still fall short. All current models support text and image input, text output, multilingual capabilities, vision, and tool use. Each model's page lists the platforms it's available on.
- Claude Fable 5.1 (
claude-fable-5-1) — New — For demanding reasoning and long-horizon agentic work — Most capable · Research · Multi-day tasks - Claude Opus 5 (
claude-opus-5) — For complex agentic coding and enterprise work — Complex projects · Agents · Coding - Claude Sonnet 5 (
claude-sonnet-5) — The best combination of speed and intelligence — Everyday tasks · Writing · Cost-efficient - Claude Haiku 4.5 (
claude-haiku-4-5) — The fastest model with near-frontier intelligence — Fastest · Lowest cost · High volume
Recommended path for new developers
Follow these steps to go from zero to a working Claude integration.
[Go to the quickstart](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/get-started)
[Read the authentication guide](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/manage-claude/authentication)
[Read the Messages API guide](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/working-with-messages)
[See the models overview](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/models/overview)
[Browse the features overview](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/overview)
Develop with Claude
Anthropic provides developer tools to help you build and scale applications with Claude.
Key capabilities
Claude can assist with many tasks that involve text, code, and images.
