Using Kimi K2 as a Claude backup

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KimiK2 can serve as a backup when Claude is experiencing downtime or other issues.

The Problem

Sometimes Claude has downtime or performance issues - and sometimes I just run out of tokens on $200/mo plan so it’s nice to have a backup plan that uses my same exact setup

The Solution: Kimi by MoonshotAI

Here’s how to quickly switch to Kimi while keeping the Claude interface:

  1. Sign up at https://platform.moonshot.ai/
  2. Generate an API key from the console
  3. Add credits to your account (just a few dollars)
  4. Set environment variables: 
    export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="https://api.moonshot.ai/anthropic"
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-…"
  5. Run Claude normally - you’ll see a message about the API overrides

That’s it! You’re now using KimiK2 through Claude’s interface.

Why This Matters

Having a backup AI model means you don’t have to stop working when Claude is down. At this point, I think writing code by hand just feels archaic, so I won’t do it and Cursor’s nice but CC is just better. Having this setup ready gives me peace of mind.

More Info

I shared this on X: https://x.com/arach/status/1945879399523385425

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