Using Claude on Cornell's AI Gateway — Start Here
This guide helps you install Claude on your Cornell-managed Mac or PC and connect it
to Cornell's AI inference gateway, so your work runs on Cornell-provided models
instead of a personal Claude account. It also turns off optional telemetry and
experimental features for you.
You do not need to be technical to follow this. Pick the path that matches how you
like to work, then follow that one guide start to finish.
Step 1 — Pick your path
Not sure? If you don't write code, choose Claude Desktop.
Step 2 — Get the three things every guide needs
Before you start, you'll need these. Each guide tells you exactly where to paste them.
📋 Your prerequisites
| What |
Value |
| Gateway address |
https://api.ai.it.cornell.edu |
| Your personal key |
You request this once — see Getting Your Gateway Key. It looks like sk-… and is secret, like a password. |
| Model names |
claude-sonnet-4-6 (everyday default) · claude-opus-4-8 (most capable) · claude-haiku-4-5 (fastest) |
You only request a key once. Keep it somewhere safe — you'll reuse it on every
device.
What "running on Cornell's gateway" means
When Claude is set up this way:
- Your prompts go to Cornell's gateway (
api.ai.it.cornell.edu), not to Anthropic's
consumer service. Billing and access are handled by Cornell.
- Optional telemetry, error reporting, and experimental features are turned off by
the settings in these guides. See Privacy — What We Turned Off and Why for exactly what's
disabled and why.
Do I need to install anything else? (Almost certainly no)
These guides use the self-contained installers, so there are no separate
prerequisites for most people:
- Node.js — not required. The installer bundles everything it needs. (Node.js is only
needed if you deliberately choose the
npm install method, which these guides do not
use.)
- Git — not required to use Claude. Install it only if you plan to have Claude work
inside code repositories; it is not needed for general use. (Windows note: older
versions of Claude Code needed "Git for Windows"; current versions do not — without it,
Claude runs shell commands through PowerShell instead. Installing Git for Windows is now
optional and only adds the Bash command tool.)
- Claude Desktop track — needs nothing extra; it's a normal app.
- VSCode track — the only added requirement is having VSCode itself installed.
If you're unsure, just follow your chosen guide top to bottom — it lists everything you
need at each step.
How to read these guides
- Mac and PC steps are shown side-by-side. Follow only the side that matches your
computer.
- Gray boxes are copy-paste blocks. Copy the whole block; only change the part the
guide tells you to (usually pasting your key).
- You may be asked for admin permission during install. On a PC, use your local
administrator account. On a Mac, open the Self Service app to grant yourself
temporary admin rights. Each guide flags exactly when this happens.
Need help?