How to Run Claude Desktop with Free Gateway API Credits (Opus 4.8 & Opus 5)

Abhi-world — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 05:52:20 +0000

How to Run Claude Desktop with Opus 4.8 & Opus 5 (Free API Credits)

Stop paying $20/month for Claude Desktop or hitting daily token caps on coding projects. You can route Claude Desktop through Agent Router's Gateway API to get free starting credits and access to Opus 4.8 and Opus 5 models.

Step 1: Claim Your Starting Gateway Credits

Create an account via the gateway link: 👉 Claim Free Gateway Credits Here (Sign in using your GitHub account)
Navigate to API Token > Create Token.
Set a token name (e.g., claude-desktop), toggle Unlimited Quota to ON, and copy your secret key.
Copy your Base URL from your Agent Router dashboard.

Step 2: Enable Developer Mode in Claude Desktop

Open official Claude Desktop.
Go to Help > Troubleshooting > Enable Developer Mode.
The app will automatically restart with developer settings unlocked.

Step 3: Configure Third-Party Inference

Go to Developer > Configure Third-Party Inference.
Set Credential Kind to Static API Key.
Paste your Base URL from Step 1.
Paste your API Key from Step 1.
Set Auth Scheme to Bearer.
Click Test Connection (it will discover Opus 4.8 & Opus 5 models).
Click Apply Changes.

Your status in the top right of Claude Desktop will now show "You are using Gateway"!

💡 Tip: Use Opus 5 inside the model selector for maximum context efficiency per token.

DEV Community: Abhi-world

How to Run Claude Desktop with Free Gateway API Credits (Opus 4.8 & Opus 5)

How to Run Claude Desktop with Opus 4.8 & Opus 5 (Free API Credits)

Step 1: Claim Your Starting Gateway Credits

Step 2: Enable Developer Mode in Claude Desktop

Step 3: Configure Third-Party Inference