Which Claude model should I use by default?

Use Claude Opus 4.8 (model ID: `claude-opus-4-8`) as the default. Also default to adaptive thinking (`thinking: {type: "adaptive"}`) for anything complex, and streaming for requests with long input, output, or high max_tokens.

What should I do if the project uses OpenAI or another non-Anthropic provider?

Stop and ask the user whether they want to switch the file to Claude or want a non-Claude implementation. Do not edit a non-Anthropic file with Anthropic SDK calls.

Should I use the official SDK or raw HTTP?

Use the official Anthropic SDK for your language whenever one exists (Python, TypeScript, Java, Go, Ruby, C#, PHP). Only use raw HTTP (curl, requests, fetch) if the user explicitly asks for it, the project is shell/cURL, or the language has no official SDK.

When should I use Managed Agents versus Claude API with tool use?

Use Managed Agents when you want Anthropic to run the agent loop and host a per-session container for tool execution (file ops, bash, code). Use Claude API with tool use for multi-step workflows where you control the orchestration and host the compute yourself.

Does this skill work with Amazon Bedrock, Google Vertex AI, or Microsoft Foundry?

Managed Agents is not available on those platforms. Use Claude API with tool use instead. Claude Platform on AWS (Anthropic-operated) has full feature parity with the first-party API.

claude-api by anthropics

Managed Agents - Go

Bindings not shown here: This README covers the most common managed-agents flows for Go. If you need a class, method, namespace, field, or behavior that isn't shown, WebFetch the Go SDK repo or the relevant docs page from shared/live-sources.md rather than guess. Do not extrapolate from cURL shapes or another language's SDK.

Agents are persistent - create once, reference by ID. Store the agent ID returned by agents.New and pass it to every subsequent sessions.New; do not call agents.New in the request path. Recommended: define agents and environments as version-controlled files synced with ant apply - see shared/anthropic-cli.md (its live-docs URL is in shared/live-sources.md). The CLI owns the control plane (create/update); your code owns the data plane (sessions with the stored ID). The examples below show in-code creation for when you must provision programmatically; in production the create call belongs in setup, not in the request path.

Installation

go get github.com/anthropics/anthropic-sdk-go

Client Initialization

import (
    "context"

    "github.com/anthropics/anthropic-sdk-go"
    "github.com/anthropics/anthropic-sdk-go/option"
)

// Default (uses ANTHROPIC_API_KEY env var)
client := anthropic.NewClient()

// Explicit API key
client := anthropic.NewClient(
    option.WithAPIKey("your-api-key"),
)

ctx := context.Background()

Create an Environment

environment, err := client.Beta.Environments.New(ctx, anthropic.BetaEnvironmentNewParams{
    Name: "my-dev-env",
    Config: anthropic.BetaEnvironmentNewParamsConfigUnion{
        OfCloud: &anthropic.BetaCloudConfigParams{
            Networking: anthropic.BetaCloudConfigParamsNetworkingUnion{
                OfUnrestricted: &anthropic.BetaUnrestrictedNetworkParam{},
            },
        },
    },
})
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}
fmt.Println(environment.ID) // env_...

Create an Agent (required first step)

Warning: There is no inline agent config. Model/System/Tools live on the agent object, not the session. Always start with Beta.Agents.New() - the session only takes Agent: anthropic.BetaSessionNewParamsAgentUnion{OfString: anthropic.String(agent.ID)} (or the typed OfBetaManagedAgentsAgents variant when you need a specific version).

Minimal

// 1. Create the agent (reusable, versioned)
agent, err := client.Beta.Agents.New(ctx, anthropic.BetaAgentNewParams{
    Name: "Coding Assistant",
    Model: anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsModelConfigParams{
        ID:   "claude-opus-5-5",
        Type: anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsModelConfigParamsTypeModelConfig,
    },
    System: anthropic.String("You are a helpful coding assistant."),
    Tools: []anthropic.BetaAgentNewParamsToolUnion{{
        OfAgentToolset20260401: &anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsAgentToolset20260401Params{
            Type: anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsAgentToolset20260401ParamsTypeAgentToolset20260401,
        },
    }},
})
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

// 2. Start a session
session, err := client.Beta.Sessions.New(ctx, anthropic.BetaSessionNewParams{
    Agent: anthropic.BetaSessionNewParamsAgentUnion{
        OfBetaManagedAgentsAgents: &anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsAgentParams{
            Type:    anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsAgentParamsTypeAgent,
            ID:      agent.ID,
            Version: anthropic.Int(agent.Version),
        },
    },
    EnvironmentID: environment.ID,
    Title:         anthropic.String("Quickstart session"),
})
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}
fmt.Printf("Session ID: %s, status: %s\n", session.ID, session.Status)
fmt.Printf("Trace: https://platform.claude.com/workspaces/default/sessions/%s\n", session.ID) // swap 'default' for your workspace ID if the API key is not in the Default workspace

Updating an Agent

Updates create new versions; the agent object is immutable per version.

updatedAgent, err := client.Beta.Agents.Update(ctx, agent.ID, anthropic.BetaAgentUpdateParams{
    Version: agent.Version,
    System:  anthropic.String("You are a helpful coding agent. Always write tests."),
})
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}
fmt.Printf("New version: %d\n", updatedAgent.Version)

// List all versions
iter := client.Beta.Agents.Versions.ListAutoPaging(ctx, agent.ID, anthropic.BetaAgentVersionListParams{})
for iter.Next() {
    version := iter.Current()
    fmt.Printf("Version %d: %s\n", version.Version, version.UpdatedAt.Format(time.RFC3339))
}
if err := iter.Err(); err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

// Archive the agent
_, err = client.Beta.Agents.Archive(ctx, agent.ID, anthropic.BetaAgentArchiveParams{})
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

Send a User Message

_, err = client.Beta.Sessions.Events.Send(ctx, session.ID, anthropic.BetaSessionEventSendParams{
    Events: []anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsEventParamsUnion{{
        OfUserMessage: &anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsUserMessageEventParams{
            Type: anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsUserMessageEventParamsTypeUserMessage,
            Content: []anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsUserMessageEventParamsContentUnion{{
                OfText: &anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsTextBlockParam{
                    Type: anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsTextBlockTypeText,
                    Text: "Review the auth module",
                },
            }},
        },
    }},
})
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

Tip: Stream-first: Open the stream before (or concurrently with) sending the message. The stream only delivers events that occur after it opens - stream-after-send means early events arrive buffered in one batch. See Steering Patterns.

Stream Events (SSE)

// Open the stream first, then send the user message
stream := client.Beta.Sessions.Events.StreamEvents(ctx, session.ID, anthropic.BetaSessionEventStreamParams{})
defer stream.Close()

if _, err := client.Beta.Sessions.Events.Send(ctx, session.ID, anthropic.BetaSessionEventSendParams{
    Events: []anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsEventParamsUnion{{
        OfUserMessage: &anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsUserMessageEventParams{
            Type: anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsUserMessageEventParamsTypeUserMessage,
            Content: []anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsUserMessageEventParamsContentUnion{{
                OfText: &anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsTextBlockParam{
                    Type: anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsTextBlockTypeText,
                    Text: "Summarize the repo README",
                },
            }},
        },
    }},
}); err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

events:
for stream.Next() {
    switch event := stream.Current().AsAny().(type) {
    case anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsAgentMessageEvent:
        for _, block := range event.Content {
            fmt.Print(block.Text)
        }
    case anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsAgentToolUseEvent:
        fmt.Printf("\n[Using tool: %s]\n", event.Name)
    case anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsSessionStatusIdleEvent:
        break events
    case anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsSessionErrorEvent:
        fmt.Printf("\n[Error: %s]\n", event.Error.Message)
        break events
    }
}
if err := stream.Err(); err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

Reconnecting and Tailing

When reconnecting mid-session, list past events first to dedupe, then tail live events:

stream := client.Beta.Sessions.Events.StreamEvents(ctx, session.ID, anthropic.BetaSessionEventStreamParams{})
defer stream.Close()

// Stream is open and buffering. List history before tailing live.
seenEventIDs := map[string]struct{}{}
history := client.Beta.Sessions.Events.ListAutoPaging(ctx, session.ID, anthropic.BetaSessionEventListParams{})
for history.Next() {
    seenEventIDs[history.Current().ID] = struct{}{}
}
if err := history.Err(); err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

// Tail live events, skipping anything already seen
tail:
for stream.Next() {
    event := stream.Current()
    if _, seen := seenEventIDs[event.ID]; seen {
        continue
    }
    seenEventIDs[event.ID] = struct{}{}
    switch event := event.AsAny().(type) {
    case anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsAgentMessageEvent:
        for _, block := range event.Content {
            fmt.Print(block.Text)
        }
    case anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsSessionStatusIdleEvent:
        break tail
    }
}
if err := stream.Err(); err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

Provide Custom Tool Result

Note: The Go managed-agents bindings for user.custom_tool_result are not yet documented in this skill or in the apps source examples. Refer to shared/managed-agents-events.md for the wire format and the github.com/anthropics/anthropic-sdk-go repository for the corresponding Go params types.

Poll Events

// Auto-paginating iterator
iter := client.Beta.Sessions.Events.ListAutoPaging(ctx, session.ID, anthropic.BetaSessionEventListParams{})
for iter.Next() {
    event := iter.Current()
    fmt.Printf("%s: %s\n", event.Type, event.ID)
}
if err := iter.Err(); err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

Upload a File

csvFile, err := os.Open("data.csv")
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}
defer csvFile.Close()

file, err := client.Beta.Files.Upload(ctx, anthropic.BetaFileUploadParams{
    File: csvFile,
})
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}
fmt.Printf("File ID: %s\n", file.ID)

// Mount in a session
session, err := client.Beta.Sessions.New(ctx, anthropic.BetaSessionNewParams{
    Agent: anthropic.BetaSessionNewParamsAgentUnion{
        OfString: anthropic.String(agent.ID),
    },
    EnvironmentID: environment.ID,
    Resources: []anthropic.BetaSessionNewParamsResourceUnion{{
        OfFile: &anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsFileResourceParams{
            Type:      anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsFileResourceParamsTypeFile,
            FileID:    file.ID,
            MountPath: anthropic.String("/workspace/data.csv"),
        },
    }},
})
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

Add and Manage Resources on an Existing Session

// Attach an additional file to an open session
resource, err := client.Beta.Sessions.Resources.Add(ctx, session.ID, anthropic.BetaSessionResourceAddParams{
    BetaManagedAgentsFileResourceParams: anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsFileResourceParams{
        Type:   anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsFileResourceParamsTypeFile,
        FileID: file.ID,
    },
})
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}
fmt.Println(resource.ID) // "sesrsc_01ABC..."

// List resources on the session
listed, err := client.Beta.Sessions.Resources.List(ctx, session.ID, anthropic.BetaSessionResourceListParams{})
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}
for _, entry := range listed.Data {
    fmt.Println(entry.ID, entry.Type)
}

// Detach a resource
if _, err := client.Beta.Sessions.Resources.Delete(ctx, resource.ID, anthropic.BetaSessionResourceDeleteParams{
    SessionID: session.ID,
}); err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

List and Download Session Files

Note: Listing and downloading files an agent wrote during a session is not yet documented for Go in this skill or in the apps source examples. See shared/managed-agents-events.md and the github.com/anthropics/anthropic-sdk-go repository for the Beta.Files.List and Beta.Files.Download Go params types.

Session Management

// List environments
environments, err := client.Beta.Environments.List(ctx, anthropic.BetaEnvironmentListParams{})
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

// Retrieve a specific environment
env, err := client.Beta.Environments.Get(ctx, environment.ID, anthropic.BetaEnvironmentGetParams{})
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

// Archive an environment (read-only, existing sessions continue)
_, err = client.Beta.Environments.Archive(ctx, environment.ID, anthropic.BetaEnvironmentArchiveParams{})
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

// Delete an environment (only if no sessions reference it)
_, err = client.Beta.Environments.Delete(ctx, environment.ID, anthropic.BetaEnvironmentDeleteParams{})
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

// Delete a session
_, err = client.Beta.Sessions.Delete(ctx, session.ID, anthropic.BetaSessionDeleteParams{})
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

MCP Server Integration

// Agent declares MCP server (no auth here - auth goes in a vault)
agent, err := client.Beta.Agents.New(ctx, anthropic.BetaAgentNewParams{
    Name: "GitHub Assistant",
    Model: anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsModelConfigParams{
        ID:   "claude-opus-5-5",
        Type: anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsModelConfigParamsTypeModelConfig,
    },
    MCPServers: []anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsURLMCPServerParams{{
        Type: anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsURLMCPServerParamsTypeURL,
        Name: "github",
        URL:  "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/",
    }},
    Tools: []anthropic.BetaAgentNewParamsToolUnion{
        {
            OfAgentToolset20260401: &anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsAgentToolset20260401Params{
                Type: anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsAgentToolset20260401ParamsTypeAgentToolset20260401,
            },
        },
        {
            OfMCPToolset: &anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsMCPToolsetParams{
                Type:          anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsMCPToolsetParamsTypeMCPToolset,
                MCPServerName: "github",
            },
        },
    },
})
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

// Session attaches vault(s) containing credentials for those MCP server URLs
session, err := client.Beta.Sessions.New(ctx, anthropic.BetaSessionNewParams{
    Agent: anthropic.BetaSessionNewParamsAgentUnion{
        OfBetaManagedAgentsAgents: &anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsAgentParams{
            Type:    anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsAgentParamsTypeAgent,
            ID:      agent.ID,
            Version: anthropic.Int(agent.Version),
        },
    },
    EnvironmentID: environment.ID,
    VaultIDs:      []string{vault.ID},
})
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

See shared/managed-agents-tools.md §Vaults for creating vaults and adding credentials.

Vaults

// Create a vault
vault, err := client.Beta.Vaults.New(ctx, anthropic.BetaVaultNewParams{
    DisplayName: "Alice",
    Metadata:    map[string]string{"external_user_id": "usr_abc123"},
})
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

// Add an OAuth credential
credential, err := client.Beta.Vaults.Credentials.New(ctx, vault.ID, anthropic.BetaVaultCredentialNewParams{
    DisplayName: anthropic.String("Alice's Slack"),
    Auth: anthropic.BetaVaultCredentialNewParamsAuthUnion{
        OfMCPOAuth: &anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsMCPOAuthCreateParams{
            Type:         anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsMCPOAuthCreateParamsTypeMCPOAuth,
            MCPServerURL: "https://mcp.slack.com/mcp",
            AccessToken:  "xoxp-...",
            ExpiresAt:    anthropic.Time(time.Date(2026, time.April, 15, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)),
            Refresh: anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsMCPOAuthRefreshParams{
                TokenEndpoint: "https://slack.com/api/oauth.v2.access",
                ClientID:      "1234567890.0987654321",
                Scope:         anthropic.String("channels:read chat:write"),
                RefreshToken:  "xoxe-1-...",
                TokenEndpointAuth: anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsMCPOAuthRefreshParamsTokenEndpointAuthUnion{
                    OfClientSecretPost: &anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsTokenEndpointAuthPostParam{
                        Type:         anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsTokenEndpointAuthPostParamTypeClientSecretPost,
                        ClientSecret: "abc123...",
                    },
                },
            },
        },
    },
})
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

// Rotate the credential (e.g., after a token refresh)
_, err = client.Beta.Vaults.Credentials.Update(ctx, credential.ID, anthropic.BetaVaultCredentialUpdateParams{
    VaultID: vault.ID,
    Auth: anthropic.BetaVaultCredentialUpdateParamsAuthUnion{
        OfMCPOAuth: &anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsMCPOAuthUpdateParams{
            Type:        anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsMCPOAuthUpdateParamsTypeMCPOAuth,
            AccessToken: anthropic.String("xoxp-new-..."),
            ExpiresAt:   anthropic.Time(time.Date(2026, time.May, 15, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)),
            Refresh: anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsMCPOAuthRefreshUpdateParams{
                RefreshToken: anthropic.String("xoxe-1-new-..."),
            },
        },
    },
})
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

// Archive a vault
_, err = client.Beta.Vaults.Archive(ctx, vault.ID, anthropic.BetaVaultArchiveParams{})
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

GitHub Repository Integration

Mount a GitHub repository as a session resource (a vault holds the GitHub MCP credential):

session, err := client.Beta.Sessions.New(ctx, anthropic.BetaSessionNewParams{
    Agent:         anthropic.BetaSessionNewParamsAgentUnion{OfString: anthropic.String(agent.ID)},
    EnvironmentID: environment.ID,
    VaultIDs:      []string{vault.ID},
    Resources: []anthropic.BetaSessionNewParamsResourceUnion{
        {
            OfGitHubRepository: &anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsGitHubRepositoryResourceParams{
                Type:               anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsGitHubRepositoryResourceParamsTypeGitHubRepository,
                URL:                "https://github.com/org/repo",
                MountPath:          anthropic.String("/workspace/repo"),
                AuthorizationToken: "ghp_your_github_token",
            },
        },
    },
})
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

Multiple repositories on the same session:

resources := []anthropic.BetaSessionNewParamsResourceUnion{
    {
        OfGitHubRepository: &anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsGitHubRepositoryResourceParams{
            Type:               anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsGitHubRepositoryResourceParamsTypeGitHubRepository,
            URL:                "https://github.com/org/frontend",
            MountPath:          anthropic.String("/workspace/frontend"),
            AuthorizationToken: "ghp_your_github_token",
        },
    },
    {
        OfGitHubRepository: &anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsGitHubRepositoryResourceParams{
            Type:               anthropic.BetaManagedAgentsGitHubRepositoryResourceParamsTypeGitHubRepository,
            URL:                "https://github.com/org/backend",
            MountPath:          anthropic.String("/workspace/backend"),
            AuthorizationToken: "ghp_your_github_token",
        },
    },
}

Rotating a repository's authorization token:

listed, err := client.Beta.Sessions.Resources.List(ctx, session.ID, anthropic.BetaSessionResourceListParams{})
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}
repoResourceID := listed.Data[0].ID

_, err = client.Beta.Sessions.Resources.Update(ctx, repoResourceID, anthropic.BetaSessionResourceUpdateParams{
    SessionID:          session.ID,
    AuthorizationToken: "ghp_your_new_github_token",
})
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

/claude-api

gomanaged-agentsREADME.md

Managed Agents - Go

Installation

Client Initialization

Create an Environment

Create an Agent (required first step)

Minimal

Updating an Agent

Send a User Message

Stream Events (SSE)

Reconnecting and Tailing

Provide Custom Tool Result

Poll Events

Upload a File

Add and Manage Resources on an Existing Session

List and Download Session Files

Session Management

MCP Server Integration

Vaults

GitHub Repository Integration

Third-party checks

Provenance

Topics

What it does

Frequently asked

/claude-api

claude-apigomanaged-agentsREADME.md

Managed Agents - Go

Installation

Client Initialization

Create an Environment

Create an Agent (required first step)

Minimal

Updating an Agent

Send a User Message

Stream Events (SSE)

Reconnecting and Tailing

Provide Custom Tool Result

Poll Events

Upload a File

Add and Manage Resources on an Existing Session

List and Download Session Files

Session Management

MCP Server Integration

Vaults

GitHub Repository Integration

Third-party checks

Provenance

Topics

README badge

What it does

Frequently asked

Related skills

gomanaged-agentsREADME.md