[RockyMountainInfoTech]

Why

Preview 251.1+ (#2553) removed Claude CLI account login. Claude now requires an Anthropic API key, which bills Console API credits instead of a Claude plan. People who want claude auth login on this computer need an explicit choice, without a silent fallback to whichever credential happens to exist.

What

Device-local How Claude signs in in Settings → Agent setup → Harness defaults → Claude:

• Anthropic API key (default): unchanged. Native key store, fail-closed if missing, reviews use the key.
• Claude account: claude auth login / claude auth status --json. Turns do not request anthropic-api-key. Reviews use a separately pasted claude setup-token in the isolated review folder, or fail closed.

Switching methods does not delete a saved key or log out the CLI account. Idle sessions restart after a saved change. Remote agents still use the execution target's credentials.

Harness order is unchanged (Codex still leads).

Tests

pnpm exec vitest run src/bundled/claude-code src/bundled/agents src/features/agents src/features/navigation

2545 passed, 5 skipped at gork/claude-auth-choice (base 7f35bb14).

Deferred (human)

• Exercise both methods in the native app: API-only, CLI-only, both present, neither present.
• Confirm claude auth status --json on the bundled CLI version.
• Confirm a real setup-token review in account mode.
• Browser mocks cannot prove OS credential access or which account is billed.

Draft until that native pass is done.

Research

Voyager brief: RESEARCH/BUZZ_APP_CLAUDE_AUTH_OPTIONS_2026_11_09.md (inspected d74e0aa; this branch refreshes to current main).

[xarielx]

This is implemented by #2995, which also fixes #2993. Claude can use an API key or your Claude subscription (claude auth login), switchable in Settings → Agent setup → Harness defaults → Claude. If Claude Code is already signed in, Buzz reuses that login instead of opening the browser again. Security reviews keep using the API key. I've tested both ways in the app with a Max subscription.