Skip to main content
During the onboarding flow in Bolly’s web interface you’ll choose one of two ways to connect to Claude. No need to edit config files — everything is set up in the browser.

​
Option 1: Anthropic API Key

The standard approach — you provide your own API key and pay per usage.
1

Create an Anthropic account

Go to console.anthropic.com and sign up.
2

Generate an API key

Navigate to Settings > API Keys and click Create Key. Give it a descriptive name like “Bolly”.
3

Add credits

Anthropic requires prepaid credits. Add funds under Settings > Billing. Usage depends on how much you interact with Bolly — typical usage is $5-20/month.
4

Enter the key in Bolly

Open Bolly in your browser at http://localhost:26559. The onboarding flow will prompt you for your API key.
Keep your API key secret. Never share it or commit it to version control. Bolly stores it locally on your machine.

​
Pricing considerations

Bolly uses Claude for all conversations, reasoning, and tool use. Costs depend on:
  • Conversation length — longer chats use more tokens
  • Tool usage — each tool call involves additional API calls
  • Heartbeat cycles — autonomous wake-ups consume tokens
  • Memory operations — search and retrieval use the API
Start with $10-20 in credits and monitor usage through the Anthropic dashboard.

​
Option 2: Claude Pro / Max Subscription

If you have an active Claude Pro or Claude Max subscription, you can use it instead of an API key. Under the hood Bolly emulates Claude Code, which is included in Pro and Max plans.
1

Select subscription mode in onboarding

When Bolly asks how you’d like to connect, choose Claude Subscription.
2

Log in to your Claude account

Follow the authentication flow to link your Pro or Max subscription.
Using a subscription is at your own risk. In theory everything should work fine since Bolly emulates the Claude Code interface, but this is not an officially supported use case by Anthropic. Your account is subject to Anthropic’s terms of service.

​
Optional: Google AI

Google AI provides two features for Bolly:
  1. Vector embeddings for semantic memory search (beyond keyword-based BM25)
  2. Video and audio analysis for understanding media files
1

Get a Google AI API key

Go to aistudio.google.com and sign in with your Google account. Click Get API key in the sidebar.
2

Create or select a project

Choose an existing Google Cloud project or create a new one.
3

Add the key in Bolly

Open Bolly’s settings in the web interface and add your Google AI key.

​
What changes with Google AI enabled

FeatureWithout Google AIWith Google AI
Memory searchBM25 (keyword-based)BM25 + vector similarity
Search qualityGood for exact termsBetter for conceptual queries
Media analysisNot availableVideo and audio understanding
Google AI’s free tier is generous. Most Bolly users won’t exceed the free quota for embeddings.

​
Optional: ElevenLabs

ElevenLabs enables Bolly to speak with a synthesized voice using text-to-speech.
1

Create an ElevenLabs account

Go to elevenlabs.io and sign up.
2

Get your API key

Navigate to your profile settings and copy your API key.
3

Add the key in Bolly

Open Bolly’s settings in the web interface and add your ElevenLabs key.
ElevenLabs offers a free tier with limited characters per month. Paid plans start at $5/month for more usage.

​
Security best practices

  • Never share your API keys — they grant full access to your accounts
  • Rotate keys periodically — regenerate keys every few months
  • Monitor usage — check provider dashboards for unexpected spikes
  • Use separate keys for Bolly — don’t reuse keys from other projects

​
Verifying your keys

After entering your keys through the Bolly UI, check the logs to confirm successful connection: 
journalctl -u bolly -n 20
Look for messages confirming successful API connection. If a key is invalid, Bolly will show an error in the web interface.

​
Next steps

Configuration

Customize personality, heartbeat, and other settings.

Troubleshooting

Fix common API key and connection issues.