Build with Claude

Features overview

Explore Claude's advanced features and capabilities.

Core capabilities

These features enhance Claude's fundamental abilities for processing, analyzing, and generating content across various formats and use cases.

Feature	Description	Availability
1M token context window	An extended context window that allows you to process much larger documents, maintain longer conversations, and work with more extensive codebases.	Claude API (Beta) Amazon Bedrock (Beta) Google Cloud's Vertex AI (Beta) Microsoft Foundry (Beta)
Agent Skills	Extend Claude's capabilities with Skills. Use pre-built Skills (PowerPoint, Excel, Word, PDF) or create custom Skills with instructions and scripts. Skills use progressive disclosure to efficiently manage context.	Claude API (Beta) Microsoft Foundry (Beta)
Batch processing	Process large volumes of requests asynchronously for cost savings. Send batches with a large number of queries per batch. Batch API calls costs 50% less than standard API calls.	Claude API Amazon Bedrock Google Cloud's Vertex AI
Citations	Ground Claude's responses in source documents. With Citations, Claude can provide detailed references to the exact sentences and passages it uses to generate responses, leading to more verifiable, trustworthy outputs.	Claude API Amazon Bedrock Google Cloud's Vertex AI Microsoft Foundry
Context editing	Automatically manage conversation context with configurable strategies. Supports clearing tool results when approaching token limits and managing thinking blocks in extended thinking conversations.	Claude API (Beta) Amazon Bedrock (Beta) Google Cloud's Vertex AI (Beta) Microsoft Foundry (Beta)
Effort	Control how many tokens Claude uses when responding with the effort parameter, trading off between response thoroughness and token efficiency.	Claude API (Beta) Amazon Bedrock (Beta) Google Cloud's Vertex AI (Beta) Microsoft Foundry (Beta)
Extended thinking	Enhanced reasoning capabilities for complex tasks, providing transparency into Claude's step-by-step thought process before delivering its final answer.	Claude API Amazon Bedrock Google Cloud's Vertex AI Microsoft Foundry
Files API	Upload and manage files to use with Claude without re-uploading content with each request. Supports PDFs, images, and text files.	Claude API (Beta) Microsoft Foundry (Beta)
PDF support	Process and analyze text and visual content from PDF documents.	Claude API Amazon Bedrock Google Cloud's Vertex AI Microsoft Foundry
Prompt caching (5m)	Provide Claude with more background knowledge and example outputs to reduce costs and latency.	Claude API Amazon Bedrock Google Cloud's Vertex AI Microsoft Foundry
Prompt caching (1hr)	Extended 1-hour cache duration for less frequently accessed but important context, complementing the standard 5-minute cache.	Claude API Microsoft Foundry
Search results	Enable natural citations for RAG applications by providing search results with proper source attribution. Achieve web search-quality citations for custom knowledge bases and tools.	Claude API Amazon Bedrock Google Cloud's Vertex AI Microsoft Foundry
Structured outputs	Guarantee schema conformance with two approaches: JSON outputs for structured data responses, and strict tool use for validated tool inputs. Available on Sonnet 4.5, Opus 4.1, Opus 4.5, and Haiku 4.5.	Claude API (Beta) Microsoft Foundry (Beta)
Token counting	Token counting enables you to determine the number of tokens in a message before sending it to Claude, helping you make informed decisions about your prompts and usage.	Claude API Amazon Bedrock Google Cloud's Vertex AI Microsoft Foundry
Tool use	Enable Claude to interact with external tools and APIs to perform a wider variety of tasks. For a list of supported tools, see the Tools table.	Claude API Amazon Bedrock Google Cloud's Vertex AI Microsoft Foundry

Tools

These features enable Claude to interact with external systems, execute code, and perform automated tasks through various tool interfaces.

Feature	Description	Availability
Bash	Execute bash commands and scripts to interact with the system shell and perform command-line operations.	Claude API Amazon Bedrock Google Cloud's Vertex AI Microsoft Foundry
Code execution	Run Python code in a sandboxed environment for advanced data analysis.	Claude API (Beta) Microsoft Foundry (Beta)
Programmatic tool calling	Enable Claude to call your tools programmatically from within code execution containers, reducing latency and token consumption for multi-tool workflows.	Claude API (Beta) Microsoft Foundry (Beta)
Computer use	Control computer interfaces by taking screenshots and issuing mouse and keyboard commands.	Claude API (Beta) Amazon Bedrock (Beta) Google Cloud's Vertex AI (Beta)