diff --git a/hermes_cli/config.py b/hermes_cli/config.py
index 7a932d9e43..bdde858d34 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/config.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/config.py
@@ -1092,6 +1092,13 @@ def save_anthropic_oauth_token(value: str, save_fn=None):
     writer("ANTHROPIC_API_KEY", "")
 
 
+def use_anthropic_claude_code_credentials(save_fn=None):
+    """Use Claude Code's own credential files instead of persisting env tokens."""
+    writer = save_fn or save_env_value
+    writer("ANTHROPIC_TOKEN", "")
+    writer("ANTHROPIC_API_KEY", "")
+
+
 def save_anthropic_api_key(value: str, save_fn=None):
     """Persist an Anthropic API key and clear the OAuth/setup-token slot."""
     writer = save_fn or save_env_value
diff --git a/hermes_cli/main.py b/hermes_cli/main.py
index 3d910907d7..8bae440b57 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/main.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/main.py
@@ -1586,8 +1586,30 @@ def _model_flow_api_key_provider(config, provider_id, current_model=""):
 
 def _run_anthropic_oauth_flow(save_env_value):
     """Run the Claude OAuth setup-token flow. Returns True if credentials were saved."""
-    from agent.anthropic_adapter import run_oauth_setup_token
-    from hermes_cli.config import save_anthropic_oauth_token
+    from agent.anthropic_adapter import (
+        run_oauth_setup_token,
+        read_claude_code_credentials,
+        is_claude_code_token_valid,
+    )
+    from hermes_cli.config import (
+        save_anthropic_oauth_token,
+        use_anthropic_claude_code_credentials,
+    )
+
+    def _activate_claude_code_credentials_if_available() -> bool:
+        try:
+            creds = read_claude_code_credentials()
+        except Exception:
+            creds = None
+        if creds and (
+            is_claude_code_token_valid(creds)
+            or bool(creds.get("refreshToken"))
+        ):
+            use_anthropic_claude_code_credentials(save_fn=save_env_value)
+            print("  ✓ Claude Code credentials linked.")
+            print("    Hermes will use Claude's credential store directly instead of copying a setup-token into ~/.hermes/.env.")
+            return True
+        return False
 
     try:
         print()
@@ -1596,6 +1618,8 @@ def _run_anthropic_oauth_flow(save_env_value):
         print()
         token = run_oauth_setup_token()
         if token:
+            if _activate_claude_code_credentials_if_available():
+                return True
             save_anthropic_oauth_token(token, save_fn=save_env_value)
             print("  ✓ OAuth credentials saved.")
             return True
diff --git a/run_agent.py b/run_agent.py
index 002ed05535..419b56929e 100644
--- a/run_agent.py
+++ b/run_agent.py
@@ -2645,6 +2645,11 @@ class AIAgent:
         self._anthropic_api_key = new_token
         return True
 
+    def _anthropic_messages_create(self, api_kwargs: dict):
+        if self.api_mode == "anthropic_messages":
+            self._try_refresh_anthropic_client_credentials()
+        return self._anthropic_client.messages.create(**api_kwargs)
+
     def _interruptible_api_call(self, api_kwargs: dict):
         """
         Run the API call in a background thread so the main conversation loop
@@ -2661,7 +2666,7 @@ class AIAgent:
                 if self.api_mode == "codex_responses":
                     result["response"] = self._run_codex_stream(api_kwargs)
                 elif self.api_mode == "anthropic_messages":
-                    result["response"] = self._anthropic_client.messages.create(**api_kwargs)
+                    result["response"] = self._anthropic_messages_create(api_kwargs)
                 else:
                     result["response"] = self.client.chat.completions.create(**api_kwargs)
             except Exception as e:
@@ -3299,7 +3304,7 @@ class AIAgent:
                     tools=[memory_tool_def], max_tokens=5120,
                     reasoning_config=None,
                 )
-                response = self._anthropic_client.messages.create(**ant_kwargs)
+                response = self._anthropic_messages_create(ant_kwargs)
             elif not _aux_available:
                 api_kwargs = {
                     "model": self.model,
@@ -4050,7 +4055,7 @@ class AIAgent:
                     from agent.anthropic_adapter import build_anthropic_kwargs as _bak, normalize_anthropic_response as _nar
                     _ant_kw = _bak(model=self.model, messages=api_messages, tools=None,
                                    max_tokens=self.max_tokens, reasoning_config=self.reasoning_config)
-                    summary_response = self._anthropic_client.messages.create(**_ant_kw)
+                    summary_response = self._anthropic_messages_create(_ant_kw)
                     _msg, _ = _nar(summary_response)
                     final_response = (_msg.content or "").strip()
                 else:
@@ -4080,7 +4085,7 @@ class AIAgent:
                     from agent.anthropic_adapter import build_anthropic_kwargs as _bak2, normalize_anthropic_response as _nar2
                     _ant_kw2 = _bak2(model=self.model, messages=api_messages, tools=None,
                                      max_tokens=self.max_tokens, reasoning_config=self.reasoning_config)
-                    retry_response = self._anthropic_client.messages.create(**_ant_kw2)
+                    retry_response = self._anthropic_messages_create(_ant_kw2)
                     _retry_msg, _ = _nar2(retry_response)
                     final_response = (_retry_msg.content or "").strip()
                 else:
diff --git a/tests/test_anthropic_oauth_flow.py b/tests/test_anthropic_oauth_flow.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3b52831aa3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_anthropic_oauth_flow.py
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+"""Tests for Anthropic OAuth setup flow behavior."""
+
+from hermes_cli.config import load_env, save_env_value
+
+
+def test_run_anthropic_oauth_flow_prefers_claude_code_credentials(tmp_path, monkeypatch, capsys):
+    monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_HOME", str(tmp_path))
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        "agent.anthropic_adapter.run_oauth_setup_token",
+        lambda: "sk-ant-oat01-from-claude-setup",
+    )
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        "agent.anthropic_adapter.read_claude_code_credentials",
+        lambda: {
+            "accessToken": "cc-access-token",
+            "refreshToken": "cc-refresh-token",
+            "expiresAt": 9999999999999,
+        },
+    )
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        "agent.anthropic_adapter.is_claude_code_token_valid",
+        lambda creds: True,
+    )
+
+    from hermes_cli.main import _run_anthropic_oauth_flow
+
+    save_env_value("ANTHROPIC_TOKEN", "stale-env-token")
+    assert _run_anthropic_oauth_flow(save_env_value) is True
+
+    env_vars = load_env()
+    assert env_vars["ANTHROPIC_TOKEN"] == ""
+    assert env_vars["ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"] == ""
+    output = capsys.readouterr().out
+    assert "Claude Code credentials linked" in output
+
+
+def test_run_anthropic_oauth_flow_manual_token_still_persists(tmp_path, monkeypatch, capsys):
+    monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_HOME", str(tmp_path))
+    monkeypatch.setattr("agent.anthropic_adapter.run_oauth_setup_token", lambda: None)
+    monkeypatch.setattr("agent.anthropic_adapter.read_claude_code_credentials", lambda: None)
+    monkeypatch.setattr("agent.anthropic_adapter.is_claude_code_token_valid", lambda creds: False)
+    monkeypatch.setattr("builtins.input", lambda _prompt="": "sk-ant-oat01-manual-token")
+
+    from hermes_cli.main import _run_anthropic_oauth_flow
+
+    assert _run_anthropic_oauth_flow(save_env_value) is True
+
+    env_vars = load_env()
+    assert env_vars["ANTHROPIC_TOKEN"] == "sk-ant-oat01-manual-token"
+    output = capsys.readouterr().out
+    assert "Setup-token saved" in output
diff --git a/tests/test_anthropic_provider_persistence.py b/tests/test_anthropic_provider_persistence.py
index fd55d21b7a..4c2c472808 100644
--- a/tests/test_anthropic_provider_persistence.py
+++ b/tests/test_anthropic_provider_persistence.py
@@ -17,6 +17,21 @@ def test_save_anthropic_oauth_token_uses_token_slot_and_clears_api_key(tmp_path,
     assert env_vars["ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"] == ""
 
 
+def test_use_anthropic_claude_code_credentials_clears_env_slots(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    home = tmp_path / "hermes"
+    home.mkdir()
+    monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_HOME", str(home))
+
+    from hermes_cli.config import save_anthropic_oauth_token, use_anthropic_claude_code_credentials
+
+    save_anthropic_oauth_token("sk-ant-oat01-token")
+    use_anthropic_claude_code_credentials()
+
+    env_vars = load_env()
+    assert env_vars["ANTHROPIC_TOKEN"] == ""
+    assert env_vars["ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"] == ""
+
+
 def test_save_anthropic_api_key_uses_api_key_slot_and_clears_token(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
     home = tmp_path / "hermes"
     home.mkdir()
@@ -24,8 +39,8 @@ def test_save_anthropic_api_key_uses_api_key_slot_and_clears_token(tmp_path, mon
 
     from hermes_cli.config import save_anthropic_api_key
 
-    save_anthropic_api_key("sk-ant-api03-test-key")
+    save_anthropic_api_key("sk-ant-api03-key")
 
     env_vars = load_env()
-    assert env_vars["ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"] == "sk-ant-api03-test-key"
+    assert env_vars["ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"] == "sk-ant-api03-key"
     assert env_vars["ANTHROPIC_TOKEN"] == ""
diff --git a/tests/test_run_agent.py b/tests/test_run_agent.py
index 44a315cefb..c3673eb1e8 100644
--- a/tests/test_run_agent.py
+++ b/tests/test_run_agent.py
@@ -2145,6 +2145,31 @@ class TestAnthropicCredentialRefresh:
         old_client.close.assert_not_called()
         rebuild.assert_not_called()
 
+    def test_anthropic_messages_create_preflights_refresh(self):
+        with (
+            patch("run_agent.get_tool_definitions", return_value=_make_tool_defs("web_search")),
+            patch("run_agent.check_toolset_requirements", return_value={}),
+            patch("agent.anthropic_adapter.build_anthropic_client", return_value=MagicMock()),
+        ):
+            agent = AIAgent(
+                api_key="sk-ant-oat01-current-token",
+                api_mode="anthropic_messages",
+                quiet_mode=True,
+                skip_context_files=True,
+                skip_memory=True,
+            )
+
+        response = SimpleNamespace(content=[])
+        agent._anthropic_client = MagicMock()
+        agent._anthropic_client.messages.create.return_value = response
+
+        with patch.object(agent, "_try_refresh_anthropic_client_credentials", return_value=True) as refresh:
+            result = agent._anthropic_messages_create({"model": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514"})
+
+        refresh.assert_called_once_with()
+        agent._anthropic_client.messages.create.assert_called_once_with(model="claude-sonnet-4-20250514")
+        assert result is response
+
 
 # ===================================================================
 # _streaming_api_call tests