Setting Up ARIA

Getting Your API Key

ARIA requires one API key to work: an Anthropic key for the Claude AI model. An NVIDIA key is optional — it unlocks 20+ protein analysis tools in Research mode.

Step 1: Get Your Anthropic API Key

Go to console.anthropic.com, create a free account, and generate a new API key. The key starts with sk-ant-.

Step 2: Open API Configuration

In ARIA, click the ⚙ Settings gear in the top-right, then select API Configuration.

Step 3: Paste Your Key and Choose a Model

• Claude Sonnet — Fast and affordable. Best for paperwork, forms, and quick questions.
• Claude Opus — Most capable. Best for deep research and complex variant analysis.
• Claude Haiku — Fastest and cheapest. Good for simple lookups.

Step 4: (Optional) Add NVIDIA API Key

For protein structure tools (AlphaFold, ESMFold, etc.), get a free NVIDIA API key from build.nvidia.com and paste it in the NVIDIA card.

API Costs

ARIA uses your personal API key — you pay Anthropic directly at their published rates. There is no ARIA subscription fee. Typical costs: appeal letter ~$0.01-0.03, research session ~$0.15-0.40.