Introduction to Bedrock Integration

Claude on Amazon Bedrock

Amazon Bedrock is AWS's fully managed AI foundation model service. By running Claude through Bedrock, you access the same Claude models available through the Anthropic API — but via AWS infrastructure, with AWS billing, IAM security, VPC networking, and native integration with other AWS services.

Why Use Bedrock Instead of the Anthropic API Directly?

The choice between Bedrock and the direct Anthropic API usually comes down to your infrastructure context:

• AWS ecosystem: If your infrastructure lives in AWS, Bedrock means one vendor relationship, consolidated billing, and native IAM security without managing an additional API key secret
• Compliance: Bedrock data processing agreements are within AWS's compliance framework (HIPAA, SOC 2, etc.) — valuable for regulated industries
• Networking: Call Bedrock from within your VPC without traffic leaving AWS's network
• AWS integration: Native integration with Lambda, ECS, SageMaker, and other AWS services

If you're not already on AWS or don't have specific AWS-compliance requirements, the direct Anthropic API is simpler to get started with.

Bedrock Model Availability

Not all Claude models are available in all AWS regions. Claude on Bedrock is available in us-east-1, us-west-2, eu-west-1, ap-southeast-1, and others. Check the Bedrock console for current model availability in your region — availability expands regularly.

What Stays the Same

The Claude models themselves are identical. Your prompts, system instructions, and response parsing all work the same way. Bedrock is an access layer, not a different model. The main differences are authentication (IAM vs. API key), the SDK/endpoint, and pricing structure.