Get an API Key

An API key is your only credential for calling the gateway. An organization can create multiple keys for different apps or environments.

Create

1. Sign in to the console and open API Keys.
2. Click Create API Key and give it a name (to tell uses apart).
3. A plaintext key like sk-xxxxxxxx is shown.

Plaintext shown only once

The full plaintext is shown only once, at creation. Copy it immediately into a password manager or your server's secret config. After you leave the page you cannot view it again — you can only rotate a new one.

Use

Put the key in the Authorization header:

Authorization: Bearer sk-your-key

• Claude native endpoints also accept x-api-key: sk-your-key.
• Gemini native endpoints also accept the URL query parameter ?key=sk-your-key.

See Auth & Base URL.

Configurable options

Option	Description
Model scope	Restrict which models this key can call. Empty means all models in the key's plan are allowed.
Monthly limit	The most this key can spend per month. On reaching it, calls return 402 api_key_quota_exceeded. Use it to cap a single app.
Plan	The plan the key is bound to (decides available models and price multiplier), assigned by the platform. See Models & plans.

Org vs key limits

The monthly limit is per key. If you have several keys, per-key caps don't replace overall spend control — overall spend is bounded by wallet balance. When balance runs out, all keys return 402 billing_shortfall.

Rotate, disable, delete

• Rotate: generate a new plaintext; the old one is invalidated immediately. Use when you suspect a leak.
• Disable / enable: temporarily stop a key without deleting its usage history.
• Delete: permanent. Historical request logs are still searchable by request id.

All of these require confirmation and are written to the audit log.

Security tips

• Don't hardcode keys into front-end code or commit them to git.
• On the server, inject via environment variables or a secret manager.
• Give different apps different keys with their own monthly limits, so usage is easy to attribute and cap.
• Suspect a leak? Rotate immediately.