Best AI Tools for Claude Code in 2026
Call AI models directly from Claude Code for tasks like embeddings generation, image creation, or running parallel inference. These APIs give you programmatic access to the best AI models available.
GPT models, DALL-E, Whisper, embeddings, and assistants.
npm install openaiClaude models - chat, vision, tool use, and extended thinking.
npm install @anthropic-ai/sdkVector database for embeddings, similarity search, and RAG.
npm install @pinecone-database/pineconeOpen-source vector database with built-in vectorisation and hybrid search.
npm install weaviate-clientGenerate speech, clone voices, and manage audio from Claude Code.
claude mcp add elevenlabs -- uvx elevenlabs-mcpAI-powered research and answers with source citations.
claude mcp add perplexity -- uvx perplexity-mcpFrequently asked questions
Why would I call OpenAI from Claude Code?
Some tasks benefit from specialised models. You might use OpenAI for embeddings, DALL-E for image generation, or Whisper for audio transcription as part of a larger Claude Code workflow.
Can Claude Code call itself recursively?
Yes. Using the Anthropic API, you can spawn sub-tasks to other Claude instances for batch processing, parallel analysis, or content generation pipelines.
Which AI API has the best developer experience?
Both the OpenAI and Anthropic SDKs are excellent. They handle streaming, retries, and rate limiting out of the box. Anthropic's SDK has particularly clean TypeScript types.