Power AI Butler with your Claude Max or Team plan

Power AI Butler with your Claude Max or Team plan

Updated October 17, 2026 · Meowport Pro · About 7 minutes

If you already pay for Claude Max or Claude Team, your plan includes a monthly allowance of Anthropic API credits. Meowport's AI Butler can run on those credits: you create an API key once, paste it into Meowport, and the Butler answers with Claude. This guide walks through the setup, what it costs, and what it does and does not cover.

Who this is for

• You have Meowport Pro. AI Butler is a Pro feature; a custom model service only chooses which model answers.
• You have a Claude Max plan (5x or 20x) or a Claude Team plan. Since October 7, 2026, these plans include monthly API credits.
• You are comfortable with each request's conversation and the pet context it needs being sent to Anthropic under Anthropic's terms, the same as with any custom provider.

A Claude Pro plan or a free Claude account does not include API credits. You can still follow this guide with a pay-as-you-go API key from the Anthropic Console; the Meowport steps are identical.

How it works, in one minute

Meowport runs no AI server and ships no API key. With a custom model service, the app on your iPhone or iPad talks directly to the provider you configured. For Claude, that provider is Anthropic's Messages API, which authenticates with an API key.

Your plan's credits are spent through API keys that belong to a Console organization linked to your plan. So the recipe is: link, create a key, paste the key. Your claude.ai login is never involved, and Meowport never asks for it. Anthropic does not allow third-party apps to offer a Claude login or to route requests through a plan's own credentials, so an API key is the one supported way. Meowport's Mac MCP Hub is the exception that works differently; see the end of this guide.

What the credits cover

The amounts Anthropic published in October 2026:

• Max 5x: US$100 of API credits per month.
• Max 20x: US$200 per month.
• Team: US$20 per Standard seat and US$100 per Premium seat, pooled across the team and capped at US$500 per month.

Amounts and rules can change. Anthropic's article is the authoritative source, not this page. What happens when a month's credits run out depends on how the Console organization is set up: requests may stop until the credits renew, or be billed at Anthropic's standard API rates.

Step 1: Claim the credits and open the Console

Anthropic's support article explains how a plan's credits are linked to a Console organization and how they renew each month. Follow it first: Monthly API credits for Claude Max and Team. When you are done, you can sign in to the Console and see the linked organization. On Team plans an organization admin may need to do this step and the next.

Step 2: Create an API key

1. In the Console, open API keys for the linked organization.
2. Create a key and give it a name you will recognize later, for example "Meowport on my iPhone".
3. Copy the key right away. The Console shows it only once. Treat it like a password: anyone who has it can spend your credits.

One key per device makes it easy to revoke a single device later without touching the others.

Step 3: Connect it in Meowport

1. Open Meowport and go to Settings → AI Butler.
2. Choose Custom model API (marked Advanced).
3. Fill in the three fields:
   • Base URL: https://api.anthropic.com
   • API Key: paste the key from Step 2.
   • Model name: claude-opus-5-5 for the most capable answers, or claude-haiku-5-5 for faster and cheaper ones.
4. Tap Fetch models to confirm the key works. The list shows the models your key can use; you can pick one from it instead of typing.
5. Tap Save model settings.

Meowport recognizes Anthropic's address and switches to the Anthropic Messages format on its own; there is no format to pick. The key is stored in this device's Keychain and is sent only to api.anthropic.com. If the Butler on another iPhone or iPad asks for a key, repeat this step there.

How Meowport treats this provider

Anthropic is one of the providers Meowport recognizes by its address. The Butler runs it in full mode: the model's plan is taken as it is and goes to your normal confirmation, and the model may look up more of your cat's records when a question needs them, within the bounds Meowport sets. Claude's private reasoning is never used as an answer; only its final text counts. The Before saving choice, action cards and undo from the chat work as with every provider.

Step 4: Try it

Open the Butler and say something small, for example "Mochi weighed 4.2 kg this morning." The Butler drafts a weight record and, depending on your Before saving setting, saves it or asks you first. Ask when it matters is the recommended middle setting. Whatever you choose, the Butler always asks before changing a record you already have, and it never deletes one. Anything it saves can be undone from the chat.

You can also attach a photo of a clinic report or a lab PDF. With a custom model service the Butler reads the file for that one request only; Meowport keeps no copy of it in the chat history.

Costs and limits

• Inside your credits, the Butler costs you nothing extra. Typical use is small: at Anthropic's October 2026 rates, an ordinary conversation on Opus 5.5 is a few cents, and far less on Haiku 5.5. The exact amount depends on how long your messages and records are.
• Look at the Console's usage and billing pages from time to time, especially near the end of a month.
• Claude thinks before it answers, so replies take longer than with a small model. Meowport shows the real waiting stage and lets you stop a request at any time; a stopped request writes nothing.
• When Anthropic is overloaded, Meowport retries briefly and then tells you. Try again in a minute.

Privacy and what is sent

With a custom model service, each request sends your message, any images you attached to it, and the pet records the Butler needs for that request to the provider, under the provider's terms and privacy policy. Meowport's privacy policy describes this in its custom-provider section. Apple's on-device model stays available: switch back any time in the same AI Butler settings, and the key stays saved for later. To stop using Claude entirely, clear the key in Meowport and revoke it in the Console.

Troubleshooting

• Authentication error. The key was pasted incompletely or has been revoked. Create a new key and paste it again.
• The model is not found. Model names must match exactly. Tap Fetch models and pick from the list.
• Fetch models returns an empty list. The key is valid but the Console organization is not linked or has no access yet. Finish Step 1.
• A reply stops midway or arrives empty. On very long questions a reasoning model can spend its whole budget thinking. Ask a shorter question, or switch the model to claude-haiku-5-5.
• It worked yesterday and fails today. The month's credits may be used up or a spending limit reached. Check the Console's usage page.

Prefer to use Claude on your Mac?

Meowport for Mac (Beta, Pro) includes the Mac MCP Hub. It lets an agent you already run on your Mac, including Claude Code and Claude Desktop signed in with your own Claude plan, read and write your cats' records through the Hub, within the permissions you grant. That path uses your plan directly on the Mac, and the changes reach your iPhone through iCloud sync. It does not power the chat inside the iPhone app; this guide does.

Your responsibilities

• Check the provider's pricing and terms yourself; this guide reflects October 17, 2026 and cannot follow later changes.
• Keep the API key private. Do not paste it into chats, screenshots or shared notes.
• Watch your usage in the Console. You, not Meowport, pay for what the key spends.
• What you send is handled by Anthropic under its own policies, outside Meowport's control.
• AI can be wrong. Review what the Butler writes, and talk to your veterinarian before any medical decision.
• A Meowport is a personal record, not a certificate.