diff --git a/registry/coder/modules/claude-code/README.md b/registry/coder/modules/claude-code/README.md
index d3264256f..d68cfa402 100644
--- a/registry/coder/modules/claude-code/README.md
+++ b/registry/coder/modules/claude-code/README.md
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ Install and configure the [Claude Code](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/agent
 ```tf
 module "claude-code" {
   source            = "registry.coder.com/coder/claude-code/coder"
-  version           = "5.0.0"
+  version           = "5.1.0"
   agent_id          = coder_agent.main.id
   anthropic_api_key = "xxxx-xxxxx-xxxx"
 }
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ module "claude-code" {
 Provide exactly one authentication method:
 
 - **Anthropic API key**: get one from the [Anthropic Console](https://console.anthropic.com/dashboard) and pass it as `anthropic_api_key`.
+- **API key helper script** (`api_key_helper`): a script that prints a short-lived Anthropic API key to stdout. Recommended for production deployments where keys come from Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, or cloud IAM. See [Short-lived credentials via api_key_helper](#short-lived-credentials-via-api_key_helper).
 - **Claude.ai OAuth token** (Pro, Max, or Enterprise accounts): generate one by running `claude setup-token` locally and pass it as `claude_code_oauth_token`.
 - **Coder AI Gateway** (Coder Premium, Coder >= 2.30.0): set `enable_ai_gateway = true`. The module authenticates against the gateway using the workspace owner's session token. Do not combine with `anthropic_api_key` or `claude_code_oauth_token`.
 
@@ -47,7 +48,7 @@ locals {
 
 module "claude-code" {
   source            = "registry.coder.com/coder/claude-code/coder"
-  version           = "5.0.0"
+  version           = "5.1.0"
   agent_id          = coder_agent.main.id
   workdir           = local.claude_workdir
   anthropic_api_key = "xxxx-xxxxx-xxxx"
@@ -78,7 +79,7 @@ resource "coder_app" "claude" {
 ```tf
 module "claude-code" {
   source            = "registry.coder.com/coder/claude-code/coder"
-  version           = "5.0.0"
+  version           = "5.1.0"
   agent_id          = coder_agent.main.id
   workdir           = "/home/coder/project"
   enable_ai_gateway = true
@@ -95,6 +96,50 @@ Claude Code then routes API requests through Coder's AI Gateway instead of direc
 > [!CAUTION]
 > `enable_ai_gateway = true` is mutually exclusive with `anthropic_api_key` and `claude_code_oauth_token`. Setting any of them together fails at plan time.
 
+### Short-lived credentials via api_key_helper
+
+For production deployments we recommend `api_key_helper` over a static `anthropic_api_key`. The module writes the helper script into the workspace and registers it via Claude Code's [`apiKeyHelper` setting](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/settings#available-settings) at `/etc/claude-code/managed-settings.d/20-coder-apikeyhelper.json`. Claude invokes the script whenever it needs a key and caches the result for `ttl_ms` milliseconds (default 5 minutes), so the credential never lands in Terraform state, the agent environment, or `~/.claude.json`.
+
+```tf
+module "claude-code" {
+  source   = "registry.coder.com/coder/claude-code/coder"
+  version  = "5.1.0"
+  agent_id = coder_agent.main.id
+  workdir  = "/home/coder/project"
+
+  api_key_helper = {
+    script = <<-EOT
+      #!/bin/sh
+      exec vault kv get -field=key secret/anthropic
+    EOT
+    ttl_ms = 300000
+  }
+}
+```
+
+Or, sourcing from AWS Secrets Manager:
+
+```tf
+module "claude-code" {
+  source   = "registry.coder.com/coder/claude-code/coder"
+  version  = "5.1.0"
+  agent_id = coder_agent.main.id
+  workdir  = "/home/coder/project"
+
+  api_key_helper = {
+    script = <<-EOT
+      #!/bin/sh
+      exec aws secretsmanager get-secret-value \
+        --secret-id anthropic/api-key \
+        --query SecretString --output text
+    EOT
+  }
+}
+```
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> `api_key_helper` is mutually exclusive with `anthropic_api_key`, `claude_code_oauth_token`, and `enable_ai_gateway`. The script runs as the workspace user, so any CLI it calls (`vault`, `aws`, `gcloud`) must already be installed and authenticated in the workspace, for example via Workload Identity, IRSA, or a `pre_install_script`.
+
 ### Advanced Configuration
 
 This example shows version pinning, a pre-installed binary path, a custom model, and MCP servers.
@@ -102,7 +147,7 @@ This example shows version pinning, a pre-installed binary path, a custom model,
 ```tf
 module "claude-code" {
   source   = "registry.coder.com/coder/claude-code/coder"
-  version  = "5.0.0"
+  version  = "5.1.0"
   agent_id = coder_agent.main.id
   workdir  = "/home/coder/project"
 
@@ -166,7 +211,7 @@ Downstream `coder_script` resources can wait for this module's install pipeline
 ```tf
 module "claude-code" {
   source            = "registry.coder.com/coder/claude-code/coder"
-  version           = "5.0.0"
+  version           = "5.1.0"
   agent_id          = coder_agent.main.id
   workdir           = "/home/coder/project"
   anthropic_api_key = "xxxx-xxxxx-xxxx"
@@ -252,7 +297,7 @@ resource "coder_env" "bedrock_api_key" {
 
 module "claude-code" {
   source   = "registry.coder.com/coder/claude-code/coder"
-  version  = "5.0.0"
+  version  = "5.1.0"
   agent_id = coder_agent.main.id
   workdir  = "/home/coder/project"
   model    = "global.anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929-v1:0"
@@ -309,7 +354,7 @@ resource "coder_env" "google_application_credentials" {
 
 module "claude-code" {
   source   = "registry.coder.com/coder/claude-code/coder"
-  version  = "5.0.0"
+  version  = "5.1.0"
   agent_id = coder_agent.main.id
   workdir  = "/home/coder/project"
   model    = "claude-sonnet-4@20250514"
diff --git a/registry/coder/modules/claude-code/main.test.ts b/registry/coder/modules/claude-code/main.test.ts
index 6b1367551..b60841175 100644
--- a/registry/coder/modules/claude-code/main.test.ts
+++ b/registry/coder/modules/claude-code/main.test.ts
@@ -435,4 +435,51 @@ describe("claude-code", async () => {
     ]);
     expect(resp.stdout.trim()).toBe("ABSENT");
   });
+
+  test("api-key-helper", async () => {
+    const helperBody = "#!/bin/sh\nvault kv get -field=key secret/anthropic\n";
+    const { id, coderEnvVars, scripts } = await setup({
+      moduleVariables: {
+        api_key_helper: JSON.stringify({ script: helperBody, ttl_ms: 60000 }),
+      },
+    });
+    expect(coderEnvVars["CLAUDE_CODE_API_KEY_HELPER_TTL_MS"]).toBe("60000");
+
+    await runScripts(id, scripts, coderEnvVars);
+
+    const installLog = await readFileContainer(
+      id,
+      "/home/coder/.coder-modules/coder/claude-code/logs/install.log",
+    );
+    expect(installLog).toContain("Configuring api_key_helper");
+    expect(installLog).toContain(
+      "Wrote api_key_helper script to /home/coder/.claude/coder-api-key-helper.sh",
+    );
+    // api_key_helper counts as authentication, so onboarding bypass runs.
+    expect(installLog).not.toContain("skipping onboarding bypass");
+    expect(installLog).toContain("Standalone mode configured successfully");
+
+    const helper = await execContainer(id, [
+      "bash",
+      "-c",
+      "cat /home/coder/.claude/coder-api-key-helper.sh && stat -c '%a' /home/coder/.claude/coder-api-key-helper.sh",
+    ]);
+    expect(helper.exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(helper.stdout).toContain("vault kv get -field=key secret/anthropic");
+    expect(helper.stdout).toContain("700");
+
+    const managed = await readFileContainer(
+      id,
+      "/etc/claude-code/managed-settings.d/20-coder-apikeyhelper.json",
+    );
+    expect(managed).toContain('"apiKeyHelper"');
+    expect(managed).toContain("/home/coder/.claude/coder-api-key-helper.sh");
+
+    const claudeConfig = await readFileContainer(
+      id,
+      "/home/coder/.claude.json",
+    );
+    const parsed = JSON.parse(claudeConfig);
+    expect(parsed.hasCompletedOnboarding).toBe(true);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/registry/coder/modules/claude-code/main.tf b/registry/coder/modules/claude-code/main.tf
index 346930db9..f4fb6cce6 100644
--- a/registry/coder/modules/claude-code/main.tf
+++ b/registry/coder/modules/claude-code/main.tf
@@ -62,7 +62,8 @@ variable "disable_autoupdater" {
 
 variable "anthropic_api_key" {
   type        = string
-  description = "API key passed to Claude Code via the ANTHROPIC_API_KEY env var."
+  description = "API key passed to Claude Code via the ANTHROPIC_API_KEY env var. Prefer api_key_helper for short-lived credentials."
+  sensitive   = true
   default     = ""
 }
 
@@ -118,6 +119,25 @@ variable "enable_ai_gateway" {
   }
 }
 
+variable "api_key_helper" {
+  type = object({
+    script = string
+    ttl_ms = optional(number, 300000)
+  })
+  description = "Script that prints an Anthropic API key to stdout. Written to ~/.claude/coder-api-key-helper.sh and registered via the apiKeyHelper setting in /etc/claude-code/managed-settings.d/. Use for short-lived credentials from Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, cloud IAM, etc. ttl_ms is how long Claude Code caches each key (default 5 minutes)."
+  default     = null
+
+  validation {
+    condition     = var.api_key_helper == null || (var.anthropic_api_key == "" && var.claude_code_oauth_token == "")
+    error_message = "api_key_helper cannot be combined with anthropic_api_key or claude_code_oauth_token. Use exactly one authentication method."
+  }
+
+  validation {
+    condition     = var.api_key_helper == null || !var.enable_ai_gateway
+    error_message = "api_key_helper cannot be combined with enable_ai_gateway. AI Gateway authenticates using the workspace owner's session token."
+  }
+}
+
 resource "coder_env" "claude_code_oauth_token" {
   count    = var.claude_code_oauth_token != "" ? 1 : 0
   agent_id = var.agent_id
@@ -163,6 +183,13 @@ resource "coder_env" "anthropic_base_url" {
   value    = "${data.coder_workspace.me.access_url}/api/v2/aibridge/anthropic"
 }
 
+resource "coder_env" "api_key_helper_ttl" {
+  count    = var.api_key_helper != null ? 1 : 0
+  agent_id = var.agent_id
+  name     = "CLAUDE_CODE_API_KEY_HELPER_TTL_MS"
+  value    = tostring(var.api_key_helper.ttl_ms)
+}
+
 locals {
   workdir = var.workdir != null ? trimsuffix(var.workdir, "/") : ""
   install_script = templatefile("${path.module}/scripts/install.sh.tftpl", {
@@ -173,6 +200,7 @@ locals {
     ARG_MCP                    = var.mcp != "" ? base64encode(var.mcp) : ""
     ARG_MCP_CONFIG_REMOTE_PATH = base64encode(jsonencode(var.mcp_config_remote_path))
     ARG_ENABLE_AI_GATEWAY      = tostring(var.enable_ai_gateway)
+    ARG_API_KEY_HELPER_SCRIPT  = var.api_key_helper != null ? base64encode(var.api_key_helper.script) : ""
   })
   module_dir_name = ".coder-modules/coder/claude-code"
 }
diff --git a/registry/coder/modules/claude-code/main.tftest.hcl b/registry/coder/modules/claude-code/main.tftest.hcl
index 08e0c005b..b9116930a 100644
--- a/registry/coder/modules/claude-code/main.tftest.hcl
+++ b/registry/coder/modules/claude-code/main.tftest.hcl
@@ -283,3 +283,77 @@ run "test_workdir_optional" {
     error_message = "workdir should default to null when omitted"
   }
 }
+
+run "test_api_key_helper" {
+  command = plan
+
+  variables {
+    agent_id = "test-agent-helper"
+    workdir  = "/home/coder/test"
+    api_key_helper = {
+      script = "#!/bin/sh\nvault kv get -field=key secret/anthropic\n"
+      ttl_ms = 60000
+    }
+  }
+
+  assert {
+    condition     = coder_env.api_key_helper_ttl[0].name == "CLAUDE_CODE_API_KEY_HELPER_TTL_MS"
+    error_message = "api_key_helper_ttl env var name should be CLAUDE_CODE_API_KEY_HELPER_TTL_MS"
+  }
+
+  assert {
+    condition     = coder_env.api_key_helper_ttl[0].value == "60000"
+    error_message = "api_key_helper_ttl env var value should match ttl_ms"
+  }
+}
+
+run "test_api_key_helper_default_ttl" {
+  command = plan
+
+  variables {
+    agent_id = "test-agent-helper-default"
+    workdir  = "/home/coder/test"
+    api_key_helper = {
+      script = "#!/bin/sh\necho key\n"
+    }
+  }
+
+  assert {
+    condition     = coder_env.api_key_helper_ttl[0].value == "300000"
+    error_message = "ttl_ms should default to 300000 (5 minutes)"
+  }
+}
+
+run "test_api_key_helper_validation_with_api_key" {
+  command = plan
+
+  variables {
+    agent_id          = "test-agent-validation"
+    workdir           = "/home/coder/test"
+    anthropic_api_key = "sk-test"
+    api_key_helper = {
+      script = "echo key"
+    }
+  }
+
+  expect_failures = [
+    var.api_key_helper,
+  ]
+}
+
+run "test_api_key_helper_validation_with_ai_gateway" {
+  command = plan
+
+  variables {
+    agent_id          = "test-agent-validation"
+    workdir           = "/home/coder/test"
+    enable_ai_gateway = true
+    api_key_helper = {
+      script = "echo key"
+    }
+  }
+
+  expect_failures = [
+    var.api_key_helper,
+  ]
+}
diff --git a/registry/coder/modules/claude-code/scripts/install.sh.tftpl b/registry/coder/modules/claude-code/scripts/install.sh.tftpl
index bd142c5d3..9bebc43f6 100644
--- a/registry/coder/modules/claude-code/scripts/install.sh.tftpl
+++ b/registry/coder/modules/claude-code/scripts/install.sh.tftpl
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ ARG_CLAUDE_BINARY_PATH="$${ARG_CLAUDE_BINARY_PATH//\$HOME/$HOME}"
 ARG_MCP=$(echo -n '${ARG_MCP}' | base64 -d)
 ARG_MCP_CONFIG_REMOTE_PATH=$(echo -n '${ARG_MCP_CONFIG_REMOTE_PATH}' | base64 -d)
 ARG_ENABLE_AI_GATEWAY='${ARG_ENABLE_AI_GATEWAY}'
+ARG_API_KEY_HELPER_SCRIPT=$(echo -n '${ARG_API_KEY_HELPER_SCRIPT}' | base64 -d)
 
 export PATH="$${ARG_CLAUDE_BINARY_PATH}:$PATH"
 
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@ printf "ARG_CLAUDE_BINARY_PATH: %s\n" "$${ARG_CLAUDE_BINARY_PATH}"
 printf "ARG_MCP: %s\n" "$${ARG_MCP}"
 printf "ARG_MCP_CONFIG_REMOTE_PATH: %s\n" "$${ARG_MCP_CONFIG_REMOTE_PATH}"
 printf "ARG_ENABLE_AI_GATEWAY: %s\n" "$${ARG_ENABLE_AI_GATEWAY}"
+printf "ARG_API_KEY_HELPER_SCRIPT: %s\n" "$${ARG_API_KEY_HELPER_SCRIPT:+(set)}"
 
 echo "--------------------------------"
 
@@ -144,11 +146,40 @@ function setup_claude_configurations() {
 
 }
 
+function setup_api_key_helper() {
+  if [ -z "$${ARG_API_KEY_HELPER_SCRIPT}" ]; then
+    return
+  fi
+
+  echo "Configuring api_key_helper for short-lived credentials..."
+
+  mkdir -p "$HOME/.claude"
+  local helper_path="$HOME/.claude/coder-api-key-helper.sh"
+  printf '%s' "$${ARG_API_KEY_HELPER_SCRIPT}" > "$${helper_path}"
+  chmod 0700 "$${helper_path}"
+
+  local dropin_dir="/etc/claude-code/managed-settings.d"
+  local target="$${dropin_dir}/20-coder-apikeyhelper.json"
+  if command_exists sudo; then
+    sudo mkdir -p "$${dropin_dir}"
+    printf '{"apiKeyHelper":"%s"}\n' "$${helper_path}" | sudo tee "$${target}" > /dev/null
+    sudo chmod 0644 "$${target}"
+  elif mkdir -p "$${dropin_dir}" 2> /dev/null; then
+    printf '{"apiKeyHelper":"%s"}\n' "$${helper_path}" > "$${target}"
+    chmod 0644 "$${target}"
+  else
+    echo "Warning: cannot write to $${dropin_dir} (no sudo and not writable); api_key_helper will not be registered"
+    return
+  fi
+
+  echo "Wrote api_key_helper script to $${helper_path} and registered via $${target}"
+}
+
 function configure_standalone_mode() {
   echo "Configuring Claude Code for standalone mode..."
 
-  if [ -z "$${ANTHROPIC_API_KEY:-}" ] && [ -z "$${CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN:-}" ] && [ "$${ARG_ENABLE_AI_GATEWAY}" = "false" ]; then
-    echo "Note: No authentication configured (anthropic_api_key, claude_code_oauth_token, enable_ai_gateway), skipping onboarding bypass"
+  if [ -z "$${ANTHROPIC_API_KEY:-}" ] && [ -z "$${CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN:-}" ] && [ "$${ARG_ENABLE_AI_GATEWAY}" = "false" ] && [ -z "$${ARG_API_KEY_HELPER_SCRIPT}" ]; then
+    echo "Note: No authentication configured (anthropic_api_key, claude_code_oauth_token, enable_ai_gateway, api_key_helper), skipping onboarding bypass"
     return
   fi
 
@@ -189,4 +220,5 @@ EOF
 
 install_claude_code_cli
 setup_claude_configurations
+setup_api_key_helper
 configure_standalone_mode