Guide 14 · template: claude · works on every plan
Use your Claude Pro/Max subscription — no API key
Already paying for Claude Pro or Max? Your workstation can authenticate with that subscription instead of an API key — the same flow Claude Code offers on a laptop, in your cloud machine’s web terminal. No second bill, no key to mint, nothing for us to store.
Launch a Claude Code workstation — leave the key blank
# pilldrops.com/workstation → pick "Claude Code" → skip the API-key field → Launch # The launcher says it plainly: deploying keyless just opens an idle terminal — that's what we want.
Sign in with your subscription from the web terminal
$ claude setup-token # "Set up a long-lived authentication token (requires Claude subscription)" # → prints a sign-in URL. Open it on your phone or laptop, approve, paste the code back.
Prefer the interactive way? Just run claude and use /login, then pick
your Claude account. Either way the credential is minted by Anthropic’s own flow and lands in
the workstation’s home directory — we never see it, proxy it, or meter it.
Use it — from the browser, or from your phone
$ claude "summarise what changed in this repo overnight" # or text the workstation from Telegram — the pairing link is on the launch page
On a persistent plan the login survives pause/resume: the machine sleeps when you stop typing and wakes with the same session — you don’t sign in twice, and idle time costs nothing.
Your Claude seat’s included usage covers the tokens, so a workstation costs the machine price alone — from $5/mo. The sign-in flow is Claude Code’s own (claude setup-token); your use of it is governed by your Anthropic subscription terms.