“Anthropic refused this key” or “the key was not verified” in Senzoukria

What you see

In API Keys → Claude, saving shows either “Key verified with Anthropic and saved.”, “Saved, but Anthropic could not be reached — the key was not verified.”, or an error with Anthropic’s own message (fallback “Anthropic refused this key.”). In an assistant conversation, errors read “Unauthorized — check your Anthropic API key”, “Rate limited — wait a moment and retry”, “Anthropic error (HTTP {status}): …” or “Network error: …”.

Why it happens

The test asks Anthropic for its list of models with the key, with a 15-second limit. Only a 401 or 403 answer counts as a refusal: the key is then not saved, so a key that worked is not replaced by one that does not. Other answers (429, 5xx) or a network failure say the service or the connection is the problem, not the key, so the key is saved and flagged as unverified. The key is stored in the operating system keychain and used from this machine only; conversations are billed to your key by Anthropic.

How to fix it

• Copy the key again from console.anthropic.com without spaces and save it.
• If Anthropic’s message mentions billing or credits, check your Anthropic account.
• On “not verified”, save again once your connection is back to get a verified result.
• On rate limits in conversations, wait and retry, or use a local model or Groq as the engine.

What it is not

• Not a Senzoukria subscription issue: the assistant uses your own key.
• Not stored on Senzoukria’s servers: the key never leaves this machine except toward Anthropic.

When to contact support

If the message comes back after these steps, report it from Menu → Report a problem or on the Senzoukria Discord. Copy the message shown, never the key itself.