How the Claude API works — CCA-F Exam Prep

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REAL STORY A terminal window on a dark screen. A single curl command is typed out. Below: Claude's response in JSON. Elapsed time: 2 seconds.

You open a terminal.

You type one curl command with your API key, a model name, and a message. 2 seconds later, Claude responds. JSON in, JSON out.

That's it. The entire Claude API in one request. Everything else is just options.