A carpool lane for Claude Code Max subscriptions

What it does

Claude Relay Service is a Node.js proxy that sits between your team and Anthropic’s API. You OAuth-link one or more Claude accounts into its admin panel, then issue isolated API keys to individual users so multiple people can share a single Max subscription. It is pitched primarily at developers in regions that can’t reach Claude directly and anyone who distrusts public mirror services with proprietary prompts.

The interesting bit

The project treats account rotation and error handling as first-class problems: if Anthropic throttles or 503s an account, the service automatically pauses that route for a configurable TTL before retrying, with per-account overrides for cooling periods. That level of failover logic is more thoughtful than your average API wrapper, though the README is refreshingly honest that using it probably violates Anthropic’s Terms of Service.

Key highlights

• Multi-account OAuth management with automatic rotation when one hits a limit or error
• Per-user API keys with rate limits, concurrency caps, model allowlists, and client restrictions
• Web dashboard for usage stats, token costs, and account health
• Granular upstream error handling: configurable cooldowns for 503s, 5xx, auth failures, and timeouts
• Docker Compose and shell-script deployment options with Redis for state

Caveats

• Versions v1.1.248 and below contain a serious admin authentication bypass; the authors urge updating to v1.1.249+ or migrating to their successor project, CRS 2.0 (sub2api)
• The README explicitly warns that using this likely violates Anthropic’s service terms, and the authors accept no liability for bans or interruptions
• Some cloud hosts—specifically Aliyun and Tencent Cloud overseas nodes—are reportedly blocked by Cloudflare and cannot reach the Claude API directly

Verdict

Worth a look for small teams in restricted regions who need cost-sharing and data sovereignty, but treat it as a stopgap rather than a long-term foundation: the maintainers are already steering users toward the next-generation rewrite.