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Haowen Huang
Haowen Huang

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Running Claude Code and Claude Desktop on Amazon Bedrock

#claude #agents #claudecode #claudedesktop

Abstract: This article walks through configuring both Claude Code (terminal CLI) and Claude Desktop (Cowork) to use Amazon Bedrock as the inference backend — no Anthropic API key or subscription required. Claude Code needs two environment variables in ~/.claude/settings.json. Claude Desktop needs a few fields in the built-in Setup UI. Both share the same AWS credentials and Bedrock model access. The entire setup, including troubleshooting, was done through AI-assisted development with Kiro.

In a previous post, we covered how to run the Claude Agent SDK (Python) on Amazon Bedrock with just two environment variables. This post continues the series, covering the other two main ways developers interact with Claude daily: the terminal CLI and the desktop app.

If you're already in the AWS ecosystem, routing Claude through Amazon Bedrock keeps your data in your own account, bills through your existing AWS agreement, and eliminates the need for a separate Anthropic subscription. This post covers two scenarios:

  • Scenario A: Claude Code CLI — the terminal-based coding tool
  • Scenario B: Claude Desktop (Cowork 3P) — the GUI desktop app

Both use the same AWS IAM user and Bedrock model access.

Prerequisites (Shared)

Before either scenario, make sure you have:

  1. AWS CLI installed and credentials configured 
aws --version
aws sts get-caller-identity
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  1. Bedrock model access enabled — Serverless foundation models on Amazon Bedrock are now automatically enabled when first invoked. However, for Anthropic models, first-time users may need to submit use case details before access is granted. Simply select a model from the Model catalog and try invoking it — you'll be prompted if any additional steps are needed.

  2. IAM permissions — Your IAM user or role needs:

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "bedrock:InvokeModel",
        "bedrock:InvokeModelWithResponseStream",
        "bedrock:ListInferenceProfiles",
        "bedrock:GetInferenceProfile"
      ],
      "Resource": [
        "arn:aws:bedrock:*:*:inference-profile/*",
        "arn:aws:bedrock:*:*:application-inference-profile/*",
        "arn:aws:bedrock:*:*:foundation-model/*"
      ]
    }
  ]
}
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  1. Know your inference profile IDs — Bedrock requires cross-region inference profile IDs (with a region prefix like us.), not bare model IDs. The ones used in this post:
Model Inference Profile ID
Claude Opus 4.7 us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-7
Claude Opus 4.6 us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-6-v1

Scenario A: Claude Code CLI

Claude Code is Anthropic's terminal-based AI coding tool. Install it via npm:

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
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Step 1: Edit settings.json

The cleanest approach is writing the Bedrock configuration into Claude Code's settings file, so you don't need to export environment variables every time.

Edit ~/.claude/settings.json:

{
  "model": "us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-6-v1",
  "env": {
    "CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK": "1",
    "AWS_REGION": "us-east-1"
  }
}
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Two key fields:

  • CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK: Tells Claude Code to use Bedrock instead of the Anthropic API.
  • AWS_REGION: Required. Claude Code does not read this from ~/.aws/config.

The model field uses the Bedrock inference profile ID. Without it, Claude Code picks its own default.

Step 2: Run and Verify 

claude
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Inside Claude Code, run /status. You should see:

API provider: Amazon Bedrock
AWS region: us-east-1
Model: us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-6-v1
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That's it. Claude Code picks up your AWS credentials through the standard SDK credential chain (~/.aws/credentials, environment variables, IAM role, SSO profile).

Switching Models

There are two ways to switch models:

At runtime — Inside Claude Code, use the /model command:

/model us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-7
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This switches immediately without restarting. Use /model us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-6-v1 to switch back.

Permanently — Change the model field in ~/.claude/settings.json:

{
  "model": "us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-7",
  "env": {
    "CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK": "1",
    "AWS_REGION": "us-east-1"
  }
}
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Restart Claude Code (/exit, then claude) for the change to take effect.

Optional: Install Skills

Claude Code supports Skills — packaged instructions that extend Claude's capabilities. Anthropic publishes an official set at github.com/anthropics/skills.

To install them, run inside Claude Code:

/plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills
/plugin install document-skills@anthropic-agent-skills
/plugin install example-skills@anthropic-agent-skills
/reload-plugins
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This gives you skills like mcp-builder, webapp-testing, claude-api, document generation (docx/pdf/pptx/xlsx), and more.

After installation, your ~/.claude/settings.json will be updated automatically with the new plugin entries:

{
  "model": "us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-6-v1",
  "env": {
    "CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK": "1",
    "AWS_REGION": "us-east-1"
  },
  "enabledPlugins": {
    "document-skills@anthropic-agent-skills": true,
    "example-skills@anthropic-agent-skills": true
  },
  "extraKnownMarketplaces": {
    "anthropic-agent-skills": {
      "source": {
        "source": "github",
        "repo": "anthropics/skills"
      }
    }
  }
}
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Compared to the base configuration in Step 1, two new sections are added:

  • enabledPlugins: Tracks which Skills are active.
  • extraKnownMarketplaces: Records the GitHub source for the Skills marketplace.

Example: Turning a Blog Post into a Slide Deck

Once Skills are installed, you can use them directly in Claude Code. For example, I previously wrote a blog post "Deploying OpenClaw on Amazon EC2 - A Developer's Perspective", covering one-click CloudFormation deployment, VPC Endpoints security architecture, and multi-region inference profile configuration. It's a detailed post. If I needed to present this topic at a developer conference the next day, building slides manually would take too long. With the pptx skill, it takes one command:

❯ /example-skills:pptx
⏺ PPTX skill loaded. What presentation would you like me to create?

❯ Turn the following blog post into a slide deck:
  https://builder.aws.com/content/3CQFzc91nM9sGkfHRbpjo4eXojf/deploying-openclaw-on-amazon-ec2-a-developers-perspective
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Claude Code reads the blog, extracts the architecture descriptions, deployment steps, and key configurations, organizes them into well-structured slides, and generates a .pptx file — all within the terminal, powered by Amazon Bedrock. From blog post to presentation-ready slides in a single command.

Scenario B: Claude Desktop (Cowork 3P)

Claude Desktop can run in "third-party platform" mode, using Bedrock for inference instead of Anthropic's own servers. This is called Cowork 3P.

Step 1: Open the Setup UI

  1. Open Claude Desktop (you don't need to log in)
  2. Go to Help → Troubleshooting → Enable Developer mode
  3. Go to Developer → Configure third-party inference

This opens the built-in configuration UI.

Step 2: Configure Bedrock

Fill in the following fields:

Field Value
Inference provider Bedrock (select the radio button)
AWS region us-east-1
AWS bearer token Leave empty
Bedrock base URL Leave empty
AWS profile name default
AWS config directory Leave empty (uses ~/.aws by default)

Under IDENTITY & MODELS:

Field Value
Model list us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-6-v1

The model list uses Bedrock inference profile IDs. You can add multiple models — click + Add for each one. The first entry becomes the default.

Step 3: Apply and Relaunch

  1. Click Apply locally at the bottom of the Setup UI
  2. Fully quit Claude Desktop (Cmd+Q on macOS)
  3. Reopen Claude Desktop

After relaunch, Claude Desktop shows the Bedrock login screen — no Anthropic account needed, just your AWS credentials:

Step 4: Verify

After relaunch, you should see:

  • Bottom-left corner shows Cowork 3P | Bedrock
  • The model picker shows us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-6-v1
  • Claude responds and identifies itself as running on the Bedrock model

Send a test message like "What version of the model are you currently using?" — Claude should confirm it's powered by claude-opus-4-6-v1 in Cowork mode.

Adding More Models Later

To add models (e.g., Opus 4.7) after initial setup:

  1. In the macOS menu bar, go to Help → Troubleshooting → Enable Developer mode
  2. A Developer menu appears in the menu bar — click Developer → Configure third-party inference
  3. Under Model list, click + Add and enter us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-7
  4. Click Apply locally, then Cmd+Q and reopen Claude Desktop

The model picker at the bottom of the chat window will now show all configured models.

How It Works Under the Hood

When you set AWS profile name to default, Claude Desktop reads your ~/.aws/credentials and ~/.aws/config files to authenticate with Bedrock. The three authentication methods are:

Method When to use
AWS bearer token If you have a Bedrock API key
AWS profile name If you have standard AWS credentials (this is what we used)
Credential helper For enterprise SSO setups with rotating credentials

You only need one of the three. The Setup UI validates the configuration and writes it to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude-3p/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS.

Important: Use the Setup UI

During this setup, I first tried manually editing the claude_desktop_config.json file. This resulted in a persistent "Your provider setup needs a fix" error. The Setup UI handles the correct format and field validation automatically — use it instead of hand-editing the JSON.

Troubleshooting

"on-demand throughput isn't supported" — You're using a bare model ID instead of an inference profile ID. Use the us. prefixed IDs (e.g., us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-6-v1).

"Your provider setup needs a fix" in Claude Desktop — Don't hand-edit the config JSON. Use the Setup UI (Developer → Configure third-party inference) and click Apply locally.

Claude Code /status doesn't show Bedrock — Make sure CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK is set to "1" in ~/.claude/settings.json under the env key. Restart Claude Code after changing settings.

AWS credentials not found — Claude Code uses the standard AWS SDK credential chain. Verify with aws sts get-caller-identity. For Claude Desktop, make sure the AWS profile name matches a profile in ~/.aws/credentials.

Summary

Claude Code CLI Claude Desktop (Cowork 3P)
Config location ~/.claude/settings.json Setup UI → Apply locally
Key setting CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK=1 inferenceProvider: bedrock
Auth method AWS SDK credential chain AWS profile name
Model format Inference profile ID Inference profile ID
Verify /status in Claude Code Bottom-left shows "Cowork 3P | Bedrock"

Both scenarios use the same AWS credentials and Bedrock model access. Once you have one working, the other is straightforward.

A Note on the Setup Process

This entire configuration — both scenarios, including troubleshooting the Claude Desktop JSON format issue — was completed through conversation with Kiro, an AI-powered IDE. Kiro checked the AWS environment, verified IAM permissions, wrote the settings files, researched the official documentation, and diagnosed the Setup UI requirement for Claude Desktop — all without leaving the IDE.

Tested with Claude Code 2.1.123, Claude Desktop (Cowork 3P), Claude Opus 4.6 & 4.7 on Amazon Bedrock, us-east-1

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