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Three doors to Fable

Same model behind each — pick by how you work. If you're on a subscription plan, mind the June 22 date.

Door one: the Claude API

For builders. Fully available since June 9 at $10/$50 per million tokens — no waitlist, no window.

  1. Get an API key at platform.claude.com (Console → API keys).
  2. Install an SDK: pip install anthropic or npm install @anthropic-ai/sdk.
  3. Set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY in your environment — never in code.
  4. Make your first call with model="claude-fable-5".

Then go straight to the cookbook — especially prompt caching, which is what makes $10/MTok input affordable at scale.

Door two: Claude Code

For anyone who'd rather use Fable than call it. Fable 5 powers Claude Code — the terminal CLI, desktop app, web app, and IDE extensions.

  1. Install from claude.com/claude-code (or npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code).
  2. Run claude in a project directory and sign in.
  3. Give it a whole task — goal, constraints, what "done" looks like — in one well-written message. That's where Fable's long-horizon strength shows.

Door three: claude.ai subscriptions

The window: on Pro, Max, Team, and seat-based Enterprise plans, Fable 5 is included at no extra cost through June 22, 2026. From June 23 it requires usage credits, until capacity allows it back as standard. Treat the next two weeks as the free trial: run your hardest real task and decide if the credits will be worth it.
  1. Open claude.ai and pick Fable 5 in the model selector.
  2. Bring a real problem — Fable's difference shows on hard tasks, not greetings.

Which door?

You are…Take
Building a product or pipelineAPI — plus the cookbook
Writing or maintaining codeClaude Code
Everything else (analysis, writing, research)claude.ai — before June 22 if subscribed

Moral: doors don't matter much when it's the same room. Pick the one nearest your desk.