Create
client.messages.create(MessageCreateParamsbody, RequestOptionsoptions?): Message | Stream<RawMessageStreamEvent>
post /v1/messages
Send a structured list of input messages with text and/or image content, and the model will generate the next message in the conversation.
The Messages API can be used for either single queries or stateless multi-turn conversations.
Learn more about the Messages API in our user guide
Parameters
-
MessageCreateParams = MessageCreateParamsNonStreaming | MessageCreateParamsStreaming-
MessageCreateParamsBase-
max_tokens: numberThe maximum number of tokens to generate before stopping. Note that our models may stop before reaching this maximum. This parameter only specifies the absolute maximum number of tokens to generate. Different models have different maximum values for this parameter. See models for details. -
messages: Array<MessageParam>Input messages. Our models are trained to operate on alternatinguserandassistantconversational turns. When creating a newMessage, you specify the prior conversational turns with themessagesparameter, and the model then generates the nextMessagein the conversation. Consecutiveuserorassistantturns in your request will be combined into a single turn. Each input message must be an object with aroleandcontent. You can specify a singleuser-role message, or you can include multipleuserandassistantmessages. If the final message uses theassistantrole, the response content will continue immediately from the content in that message. This can be used to constrain part of the model’s response. Example with a singleusermessage:Example with multiple conversational turns:Example with a partially-filled response from Claude:Each input messagecontentmay be either a singlestringor an array of content blocks, where each block has a specifictype. Using astringforcontentis shorthand for an array of one content block of type"text". The following input messages are equivalent:See input examples. Note that if you want to include a system prompt, you can use the top-levelsystemparameter — there is no"system"role for input messages in the Messages API. There is a limit of 100,000 messages in a single request.-
content: string | Array<ContentBlockParam>-
string -
Array<ContentBlockParam>-
TextBlockParam-
text: string -
type: "text""text"
-
cache_control?: CacheControlEphemeral | nullCreate a cache control breakpoint at this content block.-
type: "ephemeral""ephemeral"
-
ttl?: "5m" | "1h"The time-to-live for the cache control breakpoint. This may be one the following values:5m: 5 minutes1h: 1 hour
5m.-
"5m" -
"1h"
-
-
citations?: Array<TextCitationParam> | null-
CitationCharLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
document_index: number -
document_title: string | null -
end_char_index: number -
start_char_index: number -
type: "char_location""char_location"
-
-
CitationPageLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
document_index: number -
document_title: string | null -
end_page_number: number -
start_page_number: number -
type: "page_location""page_location"
-
-
CitationContentBlockLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
document_index: number -
document_title: string | null -
end_block_index: number -
start_block_index: number -
type: "content_block_location""content_block_location"
-
-
CitationWebSearchResultLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
encrypted_index: string -
title: string | null -
type: "web_search_result_location""web_search_result_location"
-
url: string
-
-
CitationSearchResultLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
end_block_index: number -
search_result_index: number -
source: string -
start_block_index: number -
title: string | null -
type: "search_result_location""search_result_location"
-
-
-
-
ImageBlockParam-
source: Base64ImageSource | URLImageSource-
Base64ImageSource-
data: string -
media_type: "image/jpeg" | "image/png" | "image/gif" | "image/webp"-
"image/jpeg" -
"image/png" -
"image/gif" -
"image/webp"
-
-
type: "base64""base64"
-
-
URLImageSource-
type: "url""url"
-
url: string
-
-
-
type: "image""image"
-
cache_control?: CacheControlEphemeral | nullCreate a cache control breakpoint at this content block.-
type: "ephemeral""ephemeral"
-
ttl?: "5m" | "1h"The time-to-live for the cache control breakpoint. This may be one the following values:5m: 5 minutes1h: 1 hour
5m.-
"5m" -
"1h"
-
-
-
DocumentBlockParam-
source: Base64PDFSource | PlainTextSource | ContentBlockSource | URLPDFSource-
Base64PDFSource-
data: string -
media_type: "application/pdf""application/pdf"
-
type: "base64""base64"
-
-
PlainTextSource-
data: string -
media_type: "text/plain""text/plain"
-
type: "text""text"
-
-
ContentBlockSource-
content: string | Array<ContentBlockSourceContent>-
string -
Array<ContentBlockSourceContent>-
TextBlockParam-
text: string -
type: "text""text"
-
cache_control?: CacheControlEphemeral | nullCreate a cache control breakpoint at this content block.-
type: "ephemeral""ephemeral"
-
ttl?: "5m" | "1h"The time-to-live for the cache control breakpoint. This may be one the following values:5m: 5 minutes1h: 1 hour
5m.-
"5m" -
"1h"
-
-
citations?: Array<TextCitationParam> | null-
CitationCharLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
document_index: number -
document_title: string | null -
end_char_index: number -
start_char_index: number -
type: "char_location""char_location"
-
-
CitationPageLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
document_index: number -
document_title: string | null -
end_page_number: number -
start_page_number: number -
type: "page_location""page_location"
-
-
CitationContentBlockLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
document_index: number -
document_title: string | null -
end_block_index: number -
start_block_index: number -
type: "content_block_location""content_block_location"
-
-
CitationWebSearchResultLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
encrypted_index: string -
title: string | null -
type: "web_search_result_location""web_search_result_location"
-
url: string
-
-
CitationSearchResultLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
end_block_index: number -
search_result_index: number -
source: string -
start_block_index: number -
title: string | null -
type: "search_result_location""search_result_location"
-
-
-
-
ImageBlockParam-
source: Base64ImageSource | URLImageSource-
Base64ImageSource-
data: string -
media_type: "image/jpeg" | "image/png" | "image/gif" | "image/webp"-
"image/jpeg" -
"image/png" -
"image/gif" -
"image/webp"
-
-
type: "base64""base64"
-
-
URLImageSource-
type: "url""url"
-
url: string
-
-
-
type: "image""image"
-
cache_control?: CacheControlEphemeral | nullCreate a cache control breakpoint at this content block.-
type: "ephemeral""ephemeral"
-
ttl?: "5m" | "1h"The time-to-live for the cache control breakpoint. This may be one the following values:5m: 5 minutes1h: 1 hour
5m.-
"5m" -
"1h"
-
-
-
-
-
type: "content""content"
-
-
URLPDFSource-
type: "url""url"
-
url: string
-
-
-
type: "document""document"
-
cache_control?: CacheControlEphemeral | nullCreate a cache control breakpoint at this content block.-
type: "ephemeral""ephemeral"
-
ttl?: "5m" | "1h"The time-to-live for the cache control breakpoint. This may be one the following values:5m: 5 minutes1h: 1 hour
5m.-
"5m" -
"1h"
-
-
citations?: CitationsConfigParam | nullenabled?: boolean
-
context?: string | null -
title?: string | null
-
-
SearchResultBlockParam-
content: Array<TextBlockParam>-
text: string -
type: "text""text"
-
cache_control?: CacheControlEphemeral | nullCreate a cache control breakpoint at this content block.-
type: "ephemeral""ephemeral"
-
ttl?: "5m" | "1h"The time-to-live for the cache control breakpoint. This may be one the following values:5m: 5 minutes1h: 1 hour
5m.-
"5m" -
"1h"
-
-
citations?: Array<TextCitationParam> | null-
CitationCharLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
document_index: number -
document_title: string | null -
end_char_index: number -
start_char_index: number -
type: "char_location""char_location"
-
-
CitationPageLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
document_index: number -
document_title: string | null -
end_page_number: number -
start_page_number: number -
type: "page_location""page_location"
-
-
CitationContentBlockLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
document_index: number -
document_title: string | null -
end_block_index: number -
start_block_index: number -
type: "content_block_location""content_block_location"
-
-
CitationWebSearchResultLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
encrypted_index: string -
title: string | null -
type: "web_search_result_location""web_search_result_location"
-
url: string
-
-
CitationSearchResultLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
end_block_index: number -
search_result_index: number -
source: string -
start_block_index: number -
title: string | null -
type: "search_result_location""search_result_location"
-
-
-
-
source: string -
title: string -
type: "search_result""search_result"
-
cache_control?: CacheControlEphemeral | nullCreate a cache control breakpoint at this content block.-
type: "ephemeral""ephemeral"
-
ttl?: "5m" | "1h"The time-to-live for the cache control breakpoint. This may be one the following values:5m: 5 minutes1h: 1 hour
5m.-
"5m" -
"1h"
-
-
citations?: CitationsConfigParamenabled?: boolean
-
-
ThinkingBlockParam-
signature: string -
thinking: string -
type: "thinking""thinking"
-
-
RedactedThinkingBlockParam-
data: string -
type: "redacted_thinking""redacted_thinking"
-
-
ToolUseBlockParam-
id: string -
input: Record<string, unknown> -
name: string -
type: "tool_use""tool_use"
-
cache_control?: CacheControlEphemeral | nullCreate a cache control breakpoint at this content block.-
type: "ephemeral""ephemeral"
-
ttl?: "5m" | "1h"The time-to-live for the cache control breakpoint. This may be one the following values:5m: 5 minutes1h: 1 hour
5m.-
"5m" -
"1h"
-
-
-
ToolResultBlockParam-
tool_use_id: string -
type: "tool_result""tool_result"
-
cache_control?: CacheControlEphemeral | nullCreate a cache control breakpoint at this content block.-
type: "ephemeral""ephemeral"
-
ttl?: "5m" | "1h"The time-to-live for the cache control breakpoint. This may be one the following values:5m: 5 minutes1h: 1 hour
5m.-
"5m" -
"1h"
-
-
content?: string | Array<TextBlockParam | ImageBlockParam | SearchResultBlockParam | DocumentBlockParam>-
string -
Array<TextBlockParam | ImageBlockParam | SearchResultBlockParam | DocumentBlockParam>-
TextBlockParam-
text: string -
type: "text""text"
-
cache_control?: CacheControlEphemeral | nullCreate a cache control breakpoint at this content block.-
type: "ephemeral""ephemeral"
-
ttl?: "5m" | "1h"The time-to-live for the cache control breakpoint. This may be one the following values:5m: 5 minutes1h: 1 hour
5m.-
"5m" -
"1h"
-
-
citations?: Array<TextCitationParam> | null-
CitationCharLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
document_index: number -
document_title: string | null -
end_char_index: number -
start_char_index: number -
type: "char_location""char_location"
-
-
CitationPageLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
document_index: number -
document_title: string | null -
end_page_number: number -
start_page_number: number -
type: "page_location""page_location"
-
-
CitationContentBlockLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
document_index: number -
document_title: string | null -
end_block_index: number -
start_block_index: number -
type: "content_block_location""content_block_location"
-
-
CitationWebSearchResultLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
encrypted_index: string -
title: string | null -
type: "web_search_result_location""web_search_result_location"
-
url: string
-
-
CitationSearchResultLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
end_block_index: number -
search_result_index: number -
source: string -
start_block_index: number -
title: string | null -
type: "search_result_location""search_result_location"
-
-
-
-
ImageBlockParam-
source: Base64ImageSource | URLImageSource-
Base64ImageSource-
data: string -
media_type: "image/jpeg" | "image/png" | "image/gif" | "image/webp"-
"image/jpeg" -
"image/png" -
"image/gif" -
"image/webp"
-
-
type: "base64""base64"
-
-
URLImageSource-
type: "url""url"
-
url: string
-
-
-
type: "image""image"
-
cache_control?: CacheControlEphemeral | nullCreate a cache control breakpoint at this content block.-
type: "ephemeral""ephemeral"
-
ttl?: "5m" | "1h"The time-to-live for the cache control breakpoint. This may be one the following values:5m: 5 minutes1h: 1 hour
5m.-
"5m" -
"1h"
-
-
-
SearchResultBlockParam-
content: Array<TextBlockParam>-
text: string -
type: "text""text"
-
cache_control?: CacheControlEphemeral | nullCreate a cache control breakpoint at this content block.-
type: "ephemeral""ephemeral"
-
ttl?: "5m" | "1h"The time-to-live for the cache control breakpoint. This may be one the following values:5m: 5 minutes1h: 1 hour
5m.-
"5m" -
"1h"
-
-
citations?: Array<TextCitationParam> | null-
CitationCharLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
document_index: number -
document_title: string | null -
end_char_index: number -
start_char_index: number -
type: "char_location""char_location"
-
-
CitationPageLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
document_index: number -
document_title: string | null -
end_page_number: number -
start_page_number: number -
type: "page_location""page_location"
-
-
CitationContentBlockLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
document_index: number -
document_title: string | null -
end_block_index: number -
start_block_index: number -
type: "content_block_location""content_block_location"
-
-
CitationWebSearchResultLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
encrypted_index: string -
title: string | null -
type: "web_search_result_location""web_search_result_location"
-
url: string
-
-
CitationSearchResultLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
end_block_index: number -
search_result_index: number -
source: string -
start_block_index: number -
title: string | null -
type: "search_result_location""search_result_location"
-
-
-
-
source: string -
title: string -
type: "search_result""search_result"
-
cache_control?: CacheControlEphemeral | nullCreate a cache control breakpoint at this content block.-
type: "ephemeral""ephemeral"
-
ttl?: "5m" | "1h"The time-to-live for the cache control breakpoint. This may be one the following values:5m: 5 minutes1h: 1 hour
5m.-
"5m" -
"1h"
-
-
citations?: CitationsConfigParamenabled?: boolean
-
-
DocumentBlockParam-
source: Base64PDFSource | PlainTextSource | ContentBlockSource | URLPDFSource-
Base64PDFSource-
data: string -
media_type: "application/pdf""application/pdf"
-
type: "base64""base64"
-
-
PlainTextSource-
data: string -
media_type: "text/plain""text/plain"
-
type: "text""text"
-
-
ContentBlockSource-
content: string | Array<ContentBlockSourceContent>-
string -
Array<ContentBlockSourceContent>-
TextBlockParam-
text: string -
type: "text""text"
-
cache_control?: CacheControlEphemeral | nullCreate a cache control breakpoint at this content block.-
type: "ephemeral""ephemeral"
-
ttl?: "5m" | "1h"The time-to-live for the cache control breakpoint. This may be one the following values:5m: 5 minutes1h: 1 hour
5m.-
"5m" -
"1h"
-
-
citations?: Array<TextCitationParam> | null-
CitationCharLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
document_index: number -
document_title: string | null -
end_char_index: number -
start_char_index: number -
type: "char_location""char_location"
-
-
CitationPageLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
document_index: number -
document_title: string | null -
end_page_number: number -
start_page_number: number -
type: "page_location""page_location"
-
-
CitationContentBlockLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
document_index: number -
document_title: string | null -
end_block_index: number -
start_block_index: number -
type: "content_block_location""content_block_location"
-
-
CitationWebSearchResultLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
encrypted_index: string -
title: string | null -
type: "web_search_result_location""web_search_result_location"
-
url: string
-
-
CitationSearchResultLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
end_block_index: number -
search_result_index: number -
source: string -
start_block_index: number -
title: string | null -
type: "search_result_location""search_result_location"
-
-
-
-
ImageBlockParam-
source: Base64ImageSource | URLImageSource-
Base64ImageSource-
data: string -
media_type: "image/jpeg" | "image/png" | "image/gif" | "image/webp"-
"image/jpeg" -
"image/png" -
"image/gif" -
"image/webp"
-
-
type: "base64""base64"
-
-
URLImageSource-
type: "url""url"
-
url: string
-
-
-
type: "image""image"
-
cache_control?: CacheControlEphemeral | nullCreate a cache control breakpoint at this content block.-
type: "ephemeral""ephemeral"
-
ttl?: "5m" | "1h"The time-to-live for the cache control breakpoint. This may be one the following values:5m: 5 minutes1h: 1 hour
5m.-
"5m" -
"1h"
-
-
-
-
-
type: "content""content"
-
-
URLPDFSource-
type: "url""url"
-
url: string
-
-
-
type: "document""document"
-
cache_control?: CacheControlEphemeral | nullCreate a cache control breakpoint at this content block.-
type: "ephemeral""ephemeral"
-
ttl?: "5m" | "1h"The time-to-live for the cache control breakpoint. This may be one the following values:5m: 5 minutes1h: 1 hour
5m.-
"5m" -
"1h"
-
-
citations?: CitationsConfigParam | nullenabled?: boolean
-
context?: string | null -
title?: string | null
-
-
-
-
is_error?: boolean
-
-
ServerToolUseBlockParam-
id: string -
input: Record<string, unknown> -
name: "web_search""web_search"
-
type: "server_tool_use""server_tool_use"
-
cache_control?: CacheControlEphemeral | nullCreate a cache control breakpoint at this content block.-
type: "ephemeral""ephemeral"
-
ttl?: "5m" | "1h"The time-to-live for the cache control breakpoint. This may be one the following values:5m: 5 minutes1h: 1 hour
5m.-
"5m" -
"1h"
-
-
-
WebSearchToolResultBlockParam-
content: WebSearchToolResultBlockParamContent-
Array<WebSearchResultBlockParam>-
encrypted_content: string -
title: string -
type: "web_search_result""web_search_result"
-
url: string -
page_age?: string | null
-
-
WebSearchToolRequestError-
error_code: "invalid_tool_input" | "unavailable" | "max_uses_exceeded" | 2 more-
"invalid_tool_input" -
"unavailable" -
"max_uses_exceeded" -
"too_many_requests" -
"query_too_long"
-
-
type: "web_search_tool_result_error""web_search_tool_result_error"
-
-
-
tool_use_id: string -
type: "web_search_tool_result""web_search_tool_result"
-
cache_control?: CacheControlEphemeral | nullCreate a cache control breakpoint at this content block.-
type: "ephemeral""ephemeral"
-
ttl?: "5m" | "1h"The time-to-live for the cache control breakpoint. This may be one the following values:5m: 5 minutes1h: 1 hour
5m.-
"5m" -
"1h"
-
-
-
-
-
role: "user" | "assistant"-
"user" -
"assistant"
-
-
-
model: ModelThe model that will complete your prompt. See models for additional details and options.-
"claude-opus-4-5-20251101" | "claude-opus-4-5" | "claude-3-7-sonnet-latest" | 17 more-
"claude-opus-4-5-20251101"Premium model combining maximum intelligence with practical performance -
"claude-opus-4-5"Premium model combining maximum intelligence with practical performance -
"claude-3-7-sonnet-latest"High-performance model with early extended thinking -
"claude-3-7-sonnet-20250219"High-performance model with early extended thinking -
"claude-3-5-haiku-latest"Fastest and most compact model for near-instant responsiveness -
"claude-3-5-haiku-20241022"Our fastest model -
"claude-haiku-4-5"Hybrid model, capable of near-instant responses and extended thinking -
"claude-haiku-4-5-20251001"Hybrid model, capable of near-instant responses and extended thinking -
"claude-sonnet-4-20250514"High-performance model with extended thinking -
"claude-sonnet-4-0"High-performance model with extended thinking -
"claude-4-sonnet-20250514"High-performance model with extended thinking -
"claude-sonnet-4-5"Our best model for real-world agents and coding -
"claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929"Our best model for real-world agents and coding -
"claude-opus-4-0"Our most capable model -
"claude-opus-4-20250514"Our most capable model -
"claude-4-opus-20250514"Our most capable model -
"claude-opus-4-1-20250805"Our most capable model -
"claude-3-opus-latest"Excels at writing and complex tasks -
"claude-3-opus-20240229"Excels at writing and complex tasks -
"claude-3-haiku-20240307"Our previous most fast and cost-effective
-
-
(string & {})
-
-
metadata?: MetadataAn object describing metadata about the request.-
user_id?: string | nullAn external identifier for the user who is associated with the request. This should be a uuid, hash value, or other opaque identifier. Anthropic may use this id to help detect abuse. Do not include any identifying information such as name, email address, or phone number.
-
-
service_tier?: "auto" | "standard_only"Determines whether to use priority capacity (if available) or standard capacity for this request. Anthropic offers different levels of service for your API requests. See service-tiers for details.-
"auto" -
"standard_only"
-
-
stop_sequences?: Array<string>Custom text sequences that will cause the model to stop generating. Our models will normally stop when they have naturally completed their turn, which will result in a responsestop_reasonof"end_turn". If you want the model to stop generating when it encounters custom strings of text, you can use thestop_sequencesparameter. If the model encounters one of the custom sequences, the responsestop_reasonvalue will be"stop_sequence"and the responsestop_sequencevalue will contain the matched stop sequence. -
stream?: falseWhether to incrementally stream the response using server-sent events. See streaming for details.false
-
system?: string | Array<TextBlockParam>System prompt. A system prompt is a way of providing context and instructions to Claude, such as specifying a particular goal or role. See our guide to system prompts.-
string -
Array<TextBlockParam>-
text: string -
type: "text""text"
-
cache_control?: CacheControlEphemeral | nullCreate a cache control breakpoint at this content block.-
type: "ephemeral""ephemeral"
-
ttl?: "5m" | "1h"The time-to-live for the cache control breakpoint. This may be one the following values:5m: 5 minutes1h: 1 hour
5m.-
"5m" -
"1h"
-
-
citations?: Array<TextCitationParam> | null-
CitationCharLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
document_index: number -
document_title: string | null -
end_char_index: number -
start_char_index: number -
type: "char_location""char_location"
-
-
CitationPageLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
document_index: number -
document_title: string | null -
end_page_number: number -
start_page_number: number -
type: "page_location""page_location"
-
-
CitationContentBlockLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
document_index: number -
document_title: string | null -
end_block_index: number -
start_block_index: number -
type: "content_block_location""content_block_location"
-
-
CitationWebSearchResultLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
encrypted_index: string -
title: string | null -
type: "web_search_result_location""web_search_result_location"
-
url: string
-
-
CitationSearchResultLocationParam-
cited_text: string -
end_block_index: number -
search_result_index: number -
source: string -
start_block_index: number -
title: string | null -
type: "search_result_location""search_result_location"
-
-
-
-
-
temperature?: numberAmount of randomness injected into the response. Defaults to1.0. Ranges from0.0to1.0. Usetemperaturecloser to0.0for analytical / multiple choice, and closer to1.0for creative and generative tasks. Note that even withtemperatureof0.0, the results will not be fully deterministic. -
thinking?: ThinkingConfigParamConfiguration for enabling Claude’s extended thinking. When enabled, responses includethinkingcontent blocks showing Claude’s thinking process before the final answer. Requires a minimum budget of 1,024 tokens and counts towards yourmax_tokenslimit. See extended thinking for details.-
ThinkingConfigEnabled-
budget_tokens: numberDetermines how many tokens Claude can use for its internal reasoning process. Larger budgets can enable more thorough analysis for complex problems, improving response quality. Must be ≥1024 and less thanmax_tokens. See extended thinking for details. -
type: "enabled""enabled"
-
-
ThinkingConfigDisabled-
type: "disabled""disabled"
-
-
-
tool_choice?: ToolChoiceHow the model should use the provided tools. The model can use a specific tool, any available tool, decide by itself, or not use tools at all.-
ToolChoiceAutoThe model will automatically decide whether to use tools.-
type: "auto""auto"
-
disable_parallel_tool_use?: booleanWhether to disable parallel tool use. Defaults tofalse. If set totrue, the model will output at most one tool use.
-
-
ToolChoiceAnyThe model will use any available tools.-
type: "any""any"
-
disable_parallel_tool_use?: booleanWhether to disable parallel tool use. Defaults tofalse. If set totrue, the model will output exactly one tool use.
-
-
ToolChoiceToolThe model will use the specified tool withtool_choice.name.-
name: stringThe name of the tool to use. -
type: "tool""tool"
-
disable_parallel_tool_use?: booleanWhether to disable parallel tool use. Defaults tofalse. If set totrue, the model will output exactly one tool use.
-
-
ToolChoiceNoneThe model will not be allowed to use tools.-
type: "none""none"
-
-
-
tools?: Array<ToolUnion>Definitions of tools that the model may use. If you includetoolsin your API request, the model may returntool_usecontent blocks that represent the model’s use of those tools. You can then run those tools using the tool input generated by the model and then optionally return results back to the model usingtool_resultcontent blocks. There are two types of tools: client tools and server tools. The behavior described below applies to client tools. For server tools, see their individual documentation as each has its own behavior (e.g., the web search tool). Each tool definition includes:name: Name of the tool.description: Optional, but strongly-recommended description of the tool.input_schema: JSON schema for the toolinputshape that the model will produce intool_useoutput content blocks.
toolsas:And then asked the model “What’s the S&P 500 at today?”, the model might producetool_usecontent blocks in the response like this:You might then run yourget_stock_pricetool with{"ticker": "^GSPC"}as an input, and return the following back to the model in a subsequentusermessage:Tools can be used for workflows that include running client-side tools and functions, or more generally whenever you want the model to produce a particular JSON structure of output. See our guide for more details.-
Tool-
input_schema: InputSchemaJSON schema for this tool’s input. This defines the shape of theinputthat your tool accepts and that the model will produce.-
type: "object""object"
-
properties?: Record<string, unknown> | null -
required?: Array<string> | null
-
-
name: stringName of the tool. This is how the tool will be called by the model and intool_useblocks. -
cache_control?: CacheControlEphemeral | nullCreate a cache control breakpoint at this content block.-
type: "ephemeral""ephemeral"
-
ttl?: "5m" | "1h"The time-to-live for the cache control breakpoint. This may be one the following values:5m: 5 minutes1h: 1 hour
5m.-
"5m" -
"1h"
-
-
description?: stringDescription of what this tool does. Tool descriptions should be as detailed as possible. The more information that the model has about what the tool is and how to use it, the better it will perform. You can use natural language descriptions to reinforce important aspects of the tool input JSON schema. -
type?: "custom" | null"custom"
-
-
ToolBash20250124-
name: "bash"Name of the tool. This is how the tool will be called by the model and intool_useblocks."bash"
-
type: "bash_20250124""bash_20250124"
-
cache_control?: CacheControlEphemeral | nullCreate a cache control breakpoint at this content block.-
type: "ephemeral""ephemeral"
-
ttl?: "5m" | "1h"The time-to-live for the cache control breakpoint. This may be one the following values:5m: 5 minutes1h: 1 hour
5m.-
"5m" -
"1h"
-
-
-
ToolTextEditor20250124-
name: "str_replace_editor"Name of the tool. This is how the tool will be called by the model and intool_useblocks."str_replace_editor"
-
type: "text_editor_20250124""text_editor_20250124"
-
cache_control?: CacheControlEphemeral | nullCreate a cache control breakpoint at this content block.-
type: "ephemeral""ephemeral"
-
ttl?: "5m" | "1h"The time-to-live for the cache control breakpoint. This may be one the following values:5m: 5 minutes1h: 1 hour
5m.-
"5m" -
"1h"
-
-
-
ToolTextEditor20250429-
name: "str_replace_based_edit_tool"Name of the tool. This is how the tool will be called by the model and intool_useblocks."str_replace_based_edit_tool"
-
type: "text_editor_20250429""text_editor_20250429"
-
cache_control?: CacheControlEphemeral | nullCreate a cache control breakpoint at this content block.-
type: "ephemeral""ephemeral"
-
ttl?: "5m" | "1h"The time-to-live for the cache control breakpoint. This may be one the following values:5m: 5 minutes1h: 1 hour
5m.-
"5m" -
"1h"
-
-
-
ToolTextEditor20250728-
name: "str_replace_based_edit_tool"Name of the tool. This is how the tool will be called by the model and intool_useblocks."str_replace_based_edit_tool"
-
type: "text_editor_20250728""text_editor_20250728"
-
cache_control?: CacheControlEphemeral | nullCreate a cache control breakpoint at this content block.-
type: "ephemeral""ephemeral"
-
ttl?: "5m" | "1h"The time-to-live for the cache control breakpoint. This may be one the following values:5m: 5 minutes1h: 1 hour
5m.-
"5m" -
"1h"
-
-
max_characters?: number | nullMaximum number of characters to display when viewing a file. If not specified, defaults to displaying the full file.
-
-
WebSearchTool20250305-
name: "web_search"Name of the tool. This is how the tool will be called by the model and intool_useblocks."web_search"
-
type: "web_search_20250305""web_search_20250305"
-
allowed_domains?: Array<string> | nullIf provided, only these domains will be included in results. Cannot be used alongsideblocked_domains. -
blocked_domains?: Array<string> | nullIf provided, these domains will never appear in results. Cannot be used alongsideallowed_domains. -
cache_control?: CacheControlEphemeral | nullCreate a cache control breakpoint at this content block.-
type: "ephemeral""ephemeral"
-
ttl?: "5m" | "1h"The time-to-live for the cache control breakpoint. This may be one the following values:5m: 5 minutes1h: 1 hour
5m.-
"5m" -
"1h"
-
-
max_uses?: number | nullMaximum number of times the tool can be used in the API request. -
user_location?: UserLocation | nullParameters for the user’s location. Used to provide more relevant search results.-
type: "approximate""approximate"
-
city?: string | nullThe city of the user. -
country?: string | nullThe two letter ISO country code of the user. -
region?: string | nullThe region of the user. -
timezone?: string | nullThe IANA timezone of the user.
-
-
-
top_k?: numberOnly sample from the top K options for each subsequent token. Used to remove “long tail” low probability responses. Learn more technical details here. Recommended for advanced use cases only. You usually only need to usetemperature. -
top_p?: numberUse nucleus sampling. In nucleus sampling, we compute the cumulative distribution over all the options for each subsequent token in decreasing probability order and cut it off once it reaches a particular probability specified bytop_p. You should either altertemperatureortop_p, but not both. Recommended for advanced use cases only. You usually only need to usetemperature.
-
-
MessageCreateParamsNonStreaming extends MessageCreateParamsBase-
stream?: falseWhether to incrementally stream the response using server-sent events. See streaming for details.false
-
-
MessageCreateParamsNonStreaming extends MessageCreateParamsBase-
stream?: falseWhether to incrementally stream the response using server-sent events. See streaming for details.false
-
-
Returns
-
Message-
id: stringUnique object identifier. The format and length of IDs may change over time. -
content: Array<ContentBlock>Content generated by the model. This is an array of content blocks, each of which has atypethat determines its shape. Example:If the request inputmessagesended with anassistantturn, then the responsecontentwill continue directly from that last turn. You can use this to constrain the model’s output. For example, if the inputmessageswere:Then the responsecontentmight be:-
TextBlock-
citations: Array<TextCitation> | nullCitations supporting the text block. The type of citation returned will depend on the type of document being cited. Citing a PDF results inpage_location, plain text results inchar_location, and content document results incontent_block_location.-
CitationCharLocation-
cited_text: string -
document_index: number -
document_title: string | null -
end_char_index: number -
file_id: string | null -
start_char_index: number -
type: "char_location""char_location"
-
-
CitationPageLocation-
cited_text: string -
document_index: number -
document_title: string | null -
end_page_number: number -
file_id: string | null -
start_page_number: number -
type: "page_location""page_location"
-
-
CitationContentBlockLocation-
cited_text: string -
document_index: number -
document_title: string | null -
end_block_index: number -
file_id: string | null -
start_block_index: number -
type: "content_block_location""content_block_location"
-
-
CitationsWebSearchResultLocation-
cited_text: string -
encrypted_index: string -
title: string | null -
type: "web_search_result_location""web_search_result_location"
-
url: string
-
-
CitationsSearchResultLocation-
cited_text: string -
end_block_index: number -
search_result_index: number -
source: string -
start_block_index: number -
title: string | null -
type: "search_result_location""search_result_location"
-
-
-
text: string -
type: "text""text"
-
-
ThinkingBlock-
signature: string -
thinking: string -
type: "thinking""thinking"
-
-
RedactedThinkingBlock-
data: string -
type: "redacted_thinking""redacted_thinking"
-
-
ToolUseBlock-
id: string -
input: Record<string, unknown> -
name: string -
type: "tool_use""tool_use"
-
-
ServerToolUseBlock-
id: string -
input: Record<string, unknown> -
name: "web_search""web_search"
-
type: "server_tool_use""server_tool_use"
-
-
WebSearchToolResultBlock-
content: WebSearchToolResultBlockContent-
WebSearchToolResultError-
error_code: "invalid_tool_input" | "unavailable" | "max_uses_exceeded" | 2 more-
"invalid_tool_input" -
"unavailable" -
"max_uses_exceeded" -
"too_many_requests" -
"query_too_long"
-
-
type: "web_search_tool_result_error""web_search_tool_result_error"
-
-
Array<WebSearchResultBlock>-
encrypted_content: string -
page_age: string | null -
title: string -
type: "web_search_result""web_search_result"
-
url: string
-
-
-
tool_use_id: string -
type: "web_search_tool_result""web_search_tool_result"
-
-
-
model: ModelThe model that will complete your prompt. See models for additional details and options.-
"claude-opus-4-5-20251101" | "claude-opus-4-5" | "claude-3-7-sonnet-latest" | 17 more-
"claude-opus-4-5-20251101"Premium model combining maximum intelligence with practical performance -
"claude-opus-4-5"Premium model combining maximum intelligence with practical performance -
"claude-3-7-sonnet-latest"High-performance model with early extended thinking -
"claude-3-7-sonnet-20250219"High-performance model with early extended thinking -
"claude-3-5-haiku-latest"Fastest and most compact model for near-instant responsiveness -
"claude-3-5-haiku-20241022"Our fastest model -
"claude-haiku-4-5"Hybrid model, capable of near-instant responses and extended thinking -
"claude-haiku-4-5-20251001"Hybrid model, capable of near-instant responses and extended thinking -
"claude-sonnet-4-20250514"High-performance model with extended thinking -
"claude-sonnet-4-0"High-performance model with extended thinking -
"claude-4-sonnet-20250514"High-performance model with extended thinking -
"claude-sonnet-4-5"Our best model for real-world agents and coding -
"claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929"Our best model for real-world agents and coding -
"claude-opus-4-0"Our most capable model -
"claude-opus-4-20250514"Our most capable model -
"claude-4-opus-20250514"Our most capable model -
"claude-opus-4-1-20250805"Our most capable model -
"claude-3-opus-latest"Excels at writing and complex tasks -
"claude-3-opus-20240229"Excels at writing and complex tasks -
"claude-3-haiku-20240307"Our previous most fast and cost-effective
-
-
(string & {})
-
-
role: "assistant"Conversational role of the generated message. This will always be"assistant"."assistant"
-
stop_reason: StopReason | nullThe reason that we stopped. This may be one the following values:"end_turn": the model reached a natural stopping point"max_tokens": we exceeded the requestedmax_tokensor the model’s maximum"stop_sequence": one of your provided customstop_sequenceswas generated"tool_use": the model invoked one or more tools"pause_turn": we paused a long-running turn. You may provide the response back as-is in a subsequent request to let the model continue."refusal": when streaming classifiers intervene to handle potential policy violations
message_startevent and non-null otherwise.-
"end_turn" -
"max_tokens" -
"stop_sequence" -
"tool_use" -
"pause_turn" -
"refusal"
-
stop_sequence: string | nullWhich custom stop sequence was generated, if any. This value will be a non-null string if one of your custom stop sequences was generated. -
type: "message"Object type. For Messages, this is always"message"."message"
-
usage: UsageBilling and rate-limit usage. Anthropic’s API bills and rate-limits by token counts, as tokens represent the underlying cost to our systems. Under the hood, the API transforms requests into a format suitable for the model. The model’s output then goes through a parsing stage before becoming an API response. As a result, the token counts inusagewill not match one-to-one with the exact visible content of an API request or response. For example,output_tokenswill be non-zero, even for an empty string response from Claude. Total input tokens in a request is the summation ofinput_tokens,cache_creation_input_tokens, andcache_read_input_tokens.-
cache_creation: CacheCreation | nullBreakdown of cached tokens by TTL-
ephemeral_1h_input_tokens: numberThe number of input tokens used to create the 1 hour cache entry. -
ephemeral_5m_input_tokens: numberThe number of input tokens used to create the 5 minute cache entry.
-
-
cache_creation_input_tokens: number | nullThe number of input tokens used to create the cache entry. -
cache_read_input_tokens: number | nullThe number of input tokens read from the cache. -
input_tokens: numberThe number of input tokens which were used. -
output_tokens: numberThe number of output tokens which were used. -
server_tool_use: ServerToolUsage | nullThe number of server tool requests.-
web_search_requests: numberThe number of web search tool requests.
-
-
service_tier: "standard" | "priority" | "batch" | nullIf the request used the priority, standard, or batch tier.-
"standard" -
"priority" -
"batch"
-
-
-