Claude Code: `Account role 'user' does not meet requirements for scope 'org:create_api_key'` when `/login` tries to create a key (use an existing API key instead)

Context

Source(s): https://stackoverflow.com/questions/79629224 (related: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/441) Signal: accepted by the asker (24 votes); no comment explicitly says it worked; plain env-var answers drew "not working for me" comments. Status: reported working by source, not reproduced by us.

Problem

You already have an Anthropic API key, but /login in Claude Code wants to create a new key for your organization. Clicking Authorize fails with the error above because your org role can't create keys.

Error (redacted / normalized)

Account role 'user' does not meet requirements for scope 'org:create_api_key'

Not this when / boundary

You use a Pro/Max subscription (use /login with the Claude account option), or Bedrock/Vertex. (our inference: don't paste the key itself into settings.json; one answer does this, but the file is easy to commit or share.)

Root cause

Console login creates a new API key on your behalf, which needs the claude_code_user, developer, owner or admin role.

Fix

1. Put the key in an environment variable (for example ANTHROPIC_API_KEY in your shell profile or a .env file that is not committed).
2. In Claude Code's settings.json add an apiKeyHelper that prints that variable, for example "apiKeyHelper": "bash -c 'source .env && echo $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY'". Use bash -c: with plain source some systems fail with /bin/sh: 1: source: not found.
3. Start claude in the project and run /status. It should show API Key: apiKeyHelper.

How to verify

/status shows the helper as the key source, and requests work without /login.