# Anthropic Claude authentication

> To be able to create a connection, you need to have an Anthropic Claude account with the following credentials:

## Prerequisites

To be able to create a connection, you need to have an Anthropic Claude account with the following credentials:

* an **API Key** associated with your account

## Add the Anthropic Claude connection

To create a connection to your Anthropic Claude instance, you need to perform the following steps:

1. Select Orchestrator from the product launcher.
2. Select a folder, and then navigate to the **Connections** tab.
3. Select **Add connection**.
4. To open the connection creation page, select the connector from the list. You can use the search bar to find the connector.
5. Enter the required credentials and select **Connect**.

   For any secret-type field, you can select the menu next to the field and choose **Use credential asset** to reference an Orchestrator credential asset linked to an external vault instead of entering the value directly. For more information, see [Use credential assets for connections](credential-store-connections.md).
6. Your connection has been added.