Our Usage Policy (also referred to as our “Acceptable Use Policy” or “AUP”) applies to anyone who submits inputs to Anthropic’s products or services, all of whom we refer to as “users.” This includes individuals using our apps (such as Claude.ai and Claude Code), developers and…
Anthropic Usage Policy → · 2026-10-22T00:52:12.685Z
+ Our Usage Policy (also referred to as our “Acceptable Use Policy” or “AUP”) applies to anyone who submits inputs to Anthropic’s products or services, all of whom we refer to as “users.” This includes individuals using our apps (such as Claude.ai and Claude Code), developers and businesses using our API and developer platforms, customers accessing Claude through cloud providers and authorized resellers, and the end users of products or services integrating Claude. The Usage Policy is intended to prevent our products and services from being used to create or contribute to real-world harm, and to promote the responsible use of our products and services. + **Please review this Usage Policy carefully before using our products or services.** + We will update our policy as our technology and the associated risks evolve or as we learn about unanticipated risks. + Our Usage Policy is divided into three categories: + * **Universal Usage Standards:** Our Universal Usage Standards are prohibitions that apply to all users and use cases. + * **High-risk Use Case Requirements:** Our High-risk Use Case Requirements apply to specific use cases that pose an elevated risk of harm to individuals. + * **Additional Use Case Guidelines:** Our Additional Use Case Guidelines apply to certain other use cases, including consumer-facing chatbots and agents, products serving minors, agentic use, and software listed in our directories. + Our Usage Policy focuses on _how_ our products and services are used. Its prohibitions and requirements do not categorically prohibit use by any particular industry or line of business, provided the use of our products and services complies with this Usage Policy. + Anthropic’s Safeguards Team implements detection and monitoring to enforce our Usage Policy. If we suspect that you may have violated our Usage Policy, we may warn you or throttle, limit, suspend, or terminate your access to our products and services. + Our products also include real-time safeguards that may block or limit certain outputs, but encountering a block does not by itself indicate a violation of the Usage Policy. For certain dual-use or high-risk use cases covered by real-time safeguards in select domains, we may offer programs where you can apply to be granted access to our products and services with adjusted safeguards, such as our Cyber Verification Program and Life Sciences Verification Program , subject to program-specific eligibility criteria. + If you believe that our model outputs are potentially inaccurate, biased, or harmful, please notify us at usersafety@anthropic.com, or report it directly in our product through the “report issues” thumbs down button or similar feedback features (where available). You can read more about our Safeguards practices and recommendations in our Safeguards Support Center . + _This Usage Policy is calibrated to strike an optimal balance between enabling beneficial uses and mitigating potential harms. Anthropic may enter into contracts with certain governmental customers that tailor use restrictions to that customer’s public mission and legal authorities if, in Anthropic’s judgment, the contractual use restrictions and applicable safeguards are adequate to mitigate the potential harms addressed by this Usage Policy._ - * Engage in erotic chats - Certain uses of our products and services can impact an individual’s health, legal rights, finances, livelihoods, or access to housing, education, or essential services. When our products are used for these high-risk use cases, we require that a qualified person remain accountable for what is delivered or decided, and that the impacted individual knows AI was involved in the advice or decision. These requirements apply to anyone who uses our products to make a High-risk AI Recommendation or control equipment capable of High-risk Physical Actions. - _These requirements for high-risk use cases are meant to protect individuals. However, they do not replace local legal requirements and restrictions. Users should always default to following local laws if those laws conflict with or add additional requirements to the requirements listed below. Our products and services may not be suitable for all use cases._ + * Engage in erotic chats - Additional legal obligations such as disclosure may still apply. A partial approval, reduced amount, or approval with conditions is not considered “wholly favorable.” - The below use cases — regardless of whether they involve High-risk AI Recommendations or Physical Actions — must comply with the additional guidelines provided. - * **All consumer-facing chatbots or AI agents that communicate directly with external users** must **disclose** to users that they are interacting with AI rather than a human. This disclosure must be provided at a minimum at the beginning of each chat session or in the product interface. The disclosure does not need to identify Anthropic, Claude, or the model used. * **Products serving minors,** including organizations providing minors with the ability to directly interact with products that incorporate our API(s), must comply with the **additional guidelines** outlined in our Support article and all applicable laws. * **Agentic use cases** must comply with the Usage Policy. Users are responsible for ensuring that agents they build or deploy, including actions those agents take through tools, browsers, or connected systems, comply with this Usage Policy. * **Software** listed in our Directories must comply with our Software Directory Policy . - We also provide additional informational resources in our Safeguards Support Center , including: - * Our Child Safety Guidance for Developers for detailed guidance on identifying and mitigating child safety risks. * Additional information about our mental health safeguards on Claude.ai. + Additional legal obligations such as disclosure may still apply. A partial approval, reduced amount, or approval with conditions is not considered “wholly favorable.”