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Yes—Claude Code can use Claude models through Amazon Bedrock in AWS GovCloud (US). AWS’s GovCloud-specific setup guide, published October 5, 2026, documents an interactive setup wizard and a manual environment-variable configuration. Before configuring the client, enable the chosen model through the linked standard AWS account and then in GovCloud; confirm the exact model, endpoint and region are supported for your account.
What you need before configuring Claude Code
AWS’s October 5, 2026 guide lists four prerequisites: an AWS GovCloud account with Bedrock access, suitable IAM permissions, access enabled for the selected Claude model, and AWS CLI credentials set up with short-term keys or AWS SSO. See the AWS GovCloud Claude Code guide.
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The guide lists these minimum permissions for bedrock-runtime:
bedrock:InvokeModelbedrock:InvokeModelWithResponseStreambedrock:ListInferenceProfilesbedrock:GetInferenceProfile
For Bedrock Mantle, it lists bedrock-mantle:CreateInference, bedrock-mantle:GetProject, bedrock-mantle:ListProjects and bedrock-mantle:ListModels, or the AmazonBedrockMantleInferenceAccess managed policy. Treat these as guide-level requirements, not a reason to grant broad access by default: scope permissions and resources to your organization’s controls.
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Enable the model before troubleshooting the client
- In the standard AWS account linked to your GovCloud account, accept the model’s EULA in
us-east-1orus-west-2. - Open the Bedrock Model Access page in the GovCloud account and enable the model there.
- Allow a few minutes for the entitlement to propagate before diagnosing a client-side access error.
Follow the current AWS model-access instructions and the GovCloud Bedrock guidance for the selected model. Do not assume the ordinary commercial-region access flow applies unchanged to GovCloud.
Choose the Bedrock endpoint and region
Bedrock service availability is not the same as availability of every model, endpoint feature or inference profile. AWS says Bedrock is offered in both GovCloud (US-West) and GovCloud (US-East), while its October 5 setup guide lists bedrock-runtime in both regions and Mantle only in US-West. Check the target account’s current model-region support before deployment.
| Decision | bedrock-runtime |
bedrock-mantle |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | AWS SDK InvokeModel and Converse APIs |
Anthropic Messages API natively |
| GovCloud availability in AWS’s October 5, 2026 guide | US-West and US-East | US-West |
| Bedrock Guardrails and invocation logging | Supported; AWS recommends this endpoint when these controls are needed | Not available according to the guide |
| When to consider it | When audit needs, Guardrails or invocation logging are required | When native Messages API support is needed and regional and feature limits fit |
Use the AWS GovCloud Bedrock service page for service-level availability, then check the model access page and current model-specific availability for the actual combination you plan to use. Availability and endpoint capabilities can change.
Set up Claude Code with the interactive wizard
- Install Claude Code using the current instructions for your operating system: Claude Code installation documentation. AWS’s guide lists macOS, Linux, WSL, Windows PowerShell, Windows CMD and Homebrew options; use the live installation documentation for current commands and platform support.
- Open Claude Code in your project and enter
/login. - Select 3rd-party platform, then Amazon Bedrock.
- Follow the wizard to choose authentication, region and model pins. AWS’s example region is
us-gov-west-1. - To revise Bedrock settings later, run
/setup-bedrock.
After setup, look for the Claude Code welcome message and run /status to check the selected provider and model.
Configure Bedrock with environment variables
For scripted setup, AWS’s October 5, 2026 example uses Bedrock runtime in GovCloud US-West:
export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK=1
export AWS_REGION='us-gov-west-1'
export ANTHROPIC_MODEL='us-gov.anthropic.claude-sonnet-5-5'The same guide gives us-gov.anthropic.claude-opus-5-5 as an example primary Opus model and shows ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL and ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL for pinning those aliases. These are example identifiers published on October 5, 2026—not a guarantee that the IDs remain available or that they are supported in every GovCloud region. Validate current IDs and inference-profile support before using them.
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To configure Mantle in GovCloud US-West, AWS shows:
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export AWS_REGION='us-gov-west-1'AWS says both CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK=1 and CLAUDE_CODE_USE_MANTLE=1 may be set when both surfaces are needed in a session. Choose the endpoint deliberately; if Guardrails or invocation logging is required, use bedrock-runtime because the guide says those features are exclusive to it.
Check inference routing and data residency
Do not infer where a request will run from an inference profile’s name or prefix alone. AWS distinguishes in-Region inference, which keeps requests within the specified Region, from geographic and global cross-Region inference. With an inference profile, requests may be routed to any destination Region included in that profile; prompts and results may be stored in opt-in Regions for abuse detection.
- Use
GetInferenceProfileor AWS’s supported Regions and models for inference profiles documentation to inspect destination Regions. - Align service control policies (SCPs) and IAM policies with the profile and the Regions your organization permits.
- For residency-sensitive workloads, validate the actual routing destinations and applicable policies against your data-handling requirements before enabling use.
Harden credentials, permissions and rollout
Use temporary, role-based access
AWS recommends IAM Identity Center and temporary role-based credentials rather than static access keys. Configure the AWS CLI for SSO and use the resulting session credentials for Claude Code. Keep permissions scoped to the necessary Bedrock actions, models and resources.
Pin models and monitor usage
Set ANTHROPIC_MODEL and the default Opus and Sonnet model variables intentionally instead of allowing an unpinned setup to choose a default. AWS’s current guide says Claude Code defaults to Opus 5.5 as primary; an unpinned deployment may therefore incur that model’s per-token rate. Check current pricing, review Bedrock request and token quotas for the expected number of active developers, and monitor token use as the rollout grows.
Assess Claude Code separately from Bedrock
Bedrock controls the inference layer, but Claude Code runs on local developer machines and has its own permissions and risk profile. AWS recommends a separate security assessment and points organizations toward managed permissions, invocation logging where applicable, per-user token controls and usage monitoring. A Bedrock configuration alone does not establish that a complete development workflow meets an organization’s security or compliance obligations.
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Consider a gateway only for centralized management
AWS separately documents a self-hosted Claude apps gateway with OIDC identity, PostgreSQL 14 or later, TLS, private-network deployment, managed settings, model access controls and telemetry export. Its documentation lists Claude Code v2.1.195 or later and Bedrock as a supported upstream. This is an optional centralized-management architecture, not a prerequisite for the basic GovCloud setup; confirm endpoint and regional compatibility with your deployment team before treating it as a GovCloud-ready path. See AWS’s Claude apps gateway setup documentation.
What this setup does—and does not—establish about compliance
AWS’s GovCloud Bedrock information includes service availability and links to model-specific certification status. That does not mean every Bedrock or Claude model, or every Claude Code workflow, automatically satisfies a particular compliance obligation. Certification or authorization applies to specific services and models; organizations still need to evaluate their system authorization, data classification, configuration and risk requirements. AWS’s own guide cautions that its approach may not suit every organization or compliance program.
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