“We have rules for a reason,” said Brad ‘The Block’ Miller, Anthropic’s VP of Door Security, while polishing his knuckles. “You cannot just put a fake mustache on 500 people, shove them in a beige coat, and tell me you are the official ‘Claude Code’ client. That is not how the guest list works.” This scene follows real reports that Anthropic has implemented strict technical safeguards to stop third-party apps from spoofing their official coding client to snag better pricing and limits. “If you want the VIP treatment, you have to buy a bottle like everyone else,” Miller added, staring at the lumpy coat.

“It is a safety issue, mostly,” explained Susan Wu, Director of Vibe Curation. “When too many cheap users sneak in through the back door, the dance floor gets crowded. The music slows down. The latency gets weird. It ruins the night for the high-paying enterprise customers who actually bought a table.” She pointed to a sad pile of confiscated disguises near the trash can. “We caught one app yesterday trying to wear a blonde wig and claim it was a ‘research partner.’ It was actually just three thousand students trying to cheat on their history homework.” The developer in the trench coat tried to argue that he was simply “optimizing workflows,” but the bouncer poked the coat with a stick. A user fell out of the sleeve and immediately asked for Python help before being tossed onto the sidewalk.

At press time, the bouncer was seen tackling a suspicious “toddler” who turned out to be three startups in a raincoat trying to split one subscription.

Inspired by the real story: Anthropic has implemented technical blocks to prevent third-party tools from spoofing its official client to access cheaper model pricing. Read the full story.