Get API keys
Every provider in the Space follows the BYOK (Bring Your Own Key) model: you create the account and the API key with the provider, and paste the key into the Space — where it’s encrypted locally with AES-256-GCM and never stored on our servers. This page tells you exactly where to get each key, what the key looks like, and what free tier (if any) each provider gives you.
Not sure why these keys work? Read AI concepts from scratch — a key is your credential to call a model provider’s token-by-token API. For the vault/BYOK mechanics, see Models & API keys.
How BYOK works here
Section titled “How BYOK works here”- You go to the provider, create an account (and, for paid usage, add billing).
- The provider gives you an API key — a secret string that authorizes requests on your account.
- You paste it into the Space (
/space/models→ API Keys & Providers). It’s encrypted locally and optionally synced to the cloud only with your explicit per-provider opt-in. - The Space calls that provider using your key, billed directly between you and the provider.
A few rules worth knowing:
- Never share a key — anyone with it can spend on your account. Treat it like a password.
- Key prefixes help you detect the provider. The Space auto-detects the provider from the key prefix (e.g.
sk-…,sk-ant-…,gsk_…,sk-or-…). - If you ever suspect a leak, regenerate/revoke the key in the provider console — the Space will pick up the new one you paste.
Chat & language-model providers
Section titled “Chat & language-model providers”OpenAI (GPT-5, GPT-4o, o-series)
Section titled “OpenAI (GPT-5, GPT-4o, o-series)”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Console | platform.openai.com/api-keys |
| Key format | sk-… (project-scoped keys → sk-proj-…) |
| Free tier | None by default; you must add credits/usage. (Older org keys had trial credits; new accounts typically bill pay-as-you-go.) |
Steps: sign in at platform.openai.com → API keys → Create new secret key → name it, copy it once (it’s shown only once) → paste into the Space under OpenAI.
OpenAI keys are project-scoped these days. If your key starts with
sk-proj-, that’s normal.
Anthropic (Claude)
Section titled “Anthropic (Claude)”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Console | console.anthropic.com → API Keys (under Settings) |
| Key format | sk-ant-api03-… |
| Free tier | None for production; you add credits or a plan. Occasional promo credits exist on registration. |
Steps: console.anthropic.com → Settings → API Keys → Create Key → copy (shown once) → paste into the Space under Anthropic.
Google Gemini (Gemini 2.5, 2.0)
Section titled “Google Gemini (Gemini 2.5, 2.0)”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Console | aistudio.google.com/apikey (Google AI Studio) |
| Key format | AIza… (a Google API key) |
| Free tier | Yes — an extremely generous free tier with daily request quotas for many models (Gemini Flash historically ~1,500 req/day) via AI Studio. Adding a billing account raises limits. |
Steps: sign in at Google AI Studio with a Google account → accept terms → Create API key (optionally scope it to a Google Cloud project) → copy → paste into the Space under Google Gemini / Gemini. No credit card required for the free tier.
Groq (Llama, Mixtral, DeepSeek R1 — ultra-fast)
Section titled “Groq (Llama, Mixtral, DeepSeek R1 — ultra-fast)”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Console | console.groq.com/keys |
| Key format | gsk_… |
| Free tier | Yes — a free tier with daily limits; popular for fast inference. |
Steps: sign in at console.groq.com → API Keys → Create API Key → copy gsk_… → paste into the Space under Groq.
xAI (Grok)
Section titled “xAI (Grok)”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Console | console.x.ai (xAI API) |
| Key format | xai-… |
| Free tier | Yes — new accounts typically receive ~$25 of promotional credits (per month in the original beta), then pay-as-you-go. |
Steps: sign in at console.x.ai → API Keys → Create API Key → copy → paste into the Space under xAI / Grok.
DeepSeek
Section titled “DeepSeek”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Console | platform.deepseek.com → API Keys |
| Key format | sk-… |
| Free tier | None guaranteed; you top up credits. (Historically low pricing — popular for cheap strong models.) |
Steps: sign in at platform.deepseek.com → API Keys → create + top up credits → copy sk-… → paste into the Space under DeepSeek.
Mistral (Mistral Large, Codestral, Small)
Section titled “Mistral (Mistral Large, Codestral, Small)”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Console | console.mistral.ai → API Keys |
| Key format | … (classic keys; newer might be hyphenated) |
| Free tier | Limited free tier for experimentation (their “Experiment” plan) with reduced limits; then pay-per-token. |
Steps: sign in at console.mistral.ai → API Keys → Create new key → copy → paste into the Space under Mistral.
OpenRouter (300+ models via one key)
Section titled “OpenRouter (300+ models via one key)”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Console | openrouter.ai/keys |
| Key format | sk-or-v1-… |
| Free tier | $1 of free credits to try; credits never expire; per-model pricing with no minimum purchase. OpenRouter also supports bring-your-own-key (BYOK) per provider. |
Steps: sign in at openrouter.ai → Keys → Create Key (pick permissions) → copy sk-or-v1-… → paste into the Space under OpenRouter. Great if you want one key for many models, including free :free endpoints.
Perplexity (Sonar — web-search grounded)
Section titled “Perplexity (Sonar — web-search grounded)”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Console | perplexity.ai/settings/api |
| Key format | pplx-… |
| Free tier | Limited/none for heavy use — Perplexity is prepaid credits; you load credits before the key works. |
Steps: sign in at Perplexity → Generate API key → load credits (Prepaid → Add Credits) → copy pplx-… → paste into the Space under Perplexity.
Cerebras (ultra-fast inference)
Section titled “Cerebras (ultra-fast inference)”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Console | cloud.cerebras.ai → API Keys (or inference-docs.cerebras.ai/console/api-keys) |
| Key format | … (Cerebras secret) |
| Free tier | Trial/free inference tier available on registration for many models; paid accounts select a project the key inherits rate limits from. |
Steps: sign in at cloud.cerebras.ai → API Keys → Create API Key → copy → paste into the Space under Cerebras.
Cohere (Command R+, Command)
Section titled “Cohere (Command R+, Command)”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Console | dashboard.cohere.com/api-keys |
| Key format | … (Cohere trial/paid key) |
| Free tier | Yes — a free trial tier (e.g. Developer/Trial keys) with rate limits, then production keys via billing. |
Steps: sign in at dashboard.cohere.com → API Keys → Create API key → copy → paste into the Space under Cohere.
Azure OpenAI (deployments)
Section titled “Azure OpenAI (deployments)”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Console | Azure Portal → Azure OpenAI resource → Keys and Endpoint (or ai.azure.com / Azure AI Foundry) |
| Key format | Azure API key (opaque) + your endpoint + deployment name |
| Free tier | Free tiers of the Azure OpenAI service are limited/retired for new accounts in many regions; typically pay-as-you-go with a subscription. |
Steps: in your Azure OpenAI resource, open Keys and Endpoint → copy one of the keys → in the Space under Azure, also paste the endpoint URL and the deployment names for gpt-4o-style models (this provider needs resource config, not just a key — the Space shows the extra fields automatically).
Xiaomi MiMo
Section titled “Xiaomi MiMo”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Console | Xiaomi MiMo API platform (OpenAI-compatible) |
| Key format | … |
| Free tier | Check the platform for current free quota (MiMo models target 1M context). |
Steps: create an account on the MiMo API platform → generate an API key → paste into the Space under Xiaomi MiMo.
Kimi (Moonshot)
Section titled “Kimi (Moonshot)”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Console | platform.moonshot.ai → API Keys |
| Key format | sk-… (OpenAI-compatible) |
| Free tier | Free tier available for testing (models like Kimi K2); then prepaid credits. |
Steps: sign in at platform.moonshot.ai → API Keys → Create API Key → copy sk-… → paste into the Space under Kimi / Moonshot.
Z.AI / GLM (Zhipu)
Section titled “Z.AI / GLM (Zhipu)”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Console | Zhipu AI Open Platform (open.bigmodel.cn) → API Keys |
| Key format | OpenAI-compatible |
| Free tier | Free trial quota for several GLM models; then prepaid. |
Steps: register at the Zhipu open platform → API Keys (控制台 → API Key) → create a key → paste into the Space under Z.AI / GLM. Note the console is primarily in Chinese; model docs use OpenAI-compatible endpoints.
Qwen (Alibaba)
Section titled “Qwen (Alibaba)”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Console | Alibaba Cloud Model Studio (bailian.console.aliyun.com) → API-KEY |
| Key format | OpenAI-compatible (bearer) |
| Free tier | Free tier for testing several Qwen models (DashScope/Model Studio), then pay-per-token. |
Steps: sign in at Alibaba Cloud Model Studio → API-KEY → Create API Key → copy → paste into the Space under Qwen / Alibaba. (You can also create keys at qwen.ai/apiplatform where available.)
Local & OpenAI-compatible engines (no key needed)
Section titled “Local & OpenAI-compatible engines (no key needed)”| Provider | Notes |
|---|---|
| Ollama | Runs models locally — no API key. Point the Space at your local Ollama endpoint. |
| LM Studio | Local server, no key. |
| Jan | Local, no key. |
| llama.cpp | Local server, no key. |
| Custom / OpenAI-compatible | If you self-host or use any OpenAI-compatible gateway (vLLM, LiteLLM, OpenRouter BYOK…), you supply a base URL + key. |
You can use open models entirely on your own hardware for free and private inference — the Space treats them like any provider.
Media / content generation (fal.ai)
Section titled “Media / content generation (fal.ai)”The fal.ai provider powers image/video/audio/3D generation in the Content Studio. It uses the same vault as chat providers.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Console | fal.ai/dashboard/keys |
| Key format | … (fal API key) |
| Free tier | Yes — fal offers free credits on registration (and historically Firecrawl-keyless-style no-account access for some endpoints); paid tiers scale with usage. |
Steps: sign in at fal.ai → Dashboard → Keys → Create Key → copy → paste into the Space under fal.ai. Generation costs run against your fal billing (BYOK) — the platform never resells media credits. See Content studio.
Web, browser & scraping services
Section titled “Web, browser & scraping services”The Space ships a Web plugin with its own set of BYOK providers, configured in the Plugins tab of Integrations. These provide the web-search and page-fetch (scraping) capabilities agents use to answer questions grounded in the live web. Some are keyless (free, no account); the BYOK ones need a key you create with each provider.
These are web tooling keys, different from model-provider keys. They unlock search/fetch/scratch for agents, not chat backends. Check Plugins → Web in the Space to see the live list and per-provider status.
The providers the Web plugin supports, in the order they appear:
Smart Auto Cascade (keyless — recommended default)
Section titled “Smart Auto Cascade (keyless — recommended default)”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Console | none — baked in |
| Key format | none |
| Free tier | Free & resilient by design |
This isn’t a provider you configure: it routes each request through a resilient cascade — Parallel → TinyFish → Firecrawl → DuckDuckGo — falling back automatically if one source is blocked or rate-limited. Zero setup, no key, no card. It’s the default, and it’s all most people need.
Parallel Search (keyless / BYOK)
Section titled “Parallel Search (keyless / BYOK)”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Console | platform.parallel.ai (key only if you need higher paid limits) |
| Key format | par_live_… |
| Free tier | Yes — the Search MCP is free with no API key for exploration and light use; create a Parallel account for higher rate limits / production workloads. |
What it does: Parallel Search is consistently ranked as the top-accuracy web search API for AI agents. It returns dense, agent-optimized results in native markdown and can bypass CAPTCHAs. In the Space it works keyless out of the box.
If you want a paid key: sign in at platform.parallel.ai → create an account → API Keys → generate a key (par_live_…) → paste it into the Web plugin’s Parallel card to lift the rate ceiling.
TinyFish / Monid (keyless / BYOK)
Section titled “TinyFish / Monid (keyless / BYOK)”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Console | agent.tinyfish.ai/api-keys |
| Key format | tf_live_… |
| Free tier | Yes — free tier with ~30 search/min and ~150 fetch/min (real browser rendering), no credit card. Getting an optional key gives you higher, more stable limits. |
What it does: TinyFish does both web search and page fetch with real headless-browser rendering, so it can read pages behind JavaScript gates. It’s one of the few providers with a genuinely usable free fetch tier.
Steps: sign up at agent.tinyfish.ai/sign-up (or via Monid) → open API Keys at agent.tinyfish.ai/api-keys → Create API Key → copy tf_live_… → paste into the Web plugin’s TinyFish card. No card required.
Firecrawl (search & scrape)
Section titled “Firecrawl (search & scrape)”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Dashboard | firecrawl.dev/app → API Keys (after sign-up) |
| Key format | fc-… |
| Free tier | Yes — 1,000 free credits/month (search, scrape, interact). Firecrawl launched “Keyless” giving ~1,000 free credits/month with no account; higher limits require an API key and a paid plan. |
What it does: Scrapes a URL into markdown, crawls a site, searches the web (with LLM-optimized highlights), and can even drive a headless browser — so it handles JavaScript-rendered pages. Credits are consumed per page (scrape, crawl, map, monitor = 1 credit/page; search = 2 credits/10 results; interact = 2 credits/browser minute).
Steps: sign up at firecrawl.dev → App → API Keys → copy fc-… → paste into the Web plugin’s Firecrawl card.
Firecrawl is open source, so you can also self-host it and use your own endpoint + key — useful for fully private scraping or to avoid per-page credit costs.
Tavily (BYOK)
Section titled “Tavily (BYOK)”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Dashboard | tavily.com → sign-in → dashboard |
| Key format | tvly-… |
| Free tier | Yes — 1,000 searches/month free, no credit card. |
What it does: Tavily is a search API purpose-built for AI agents and RAG pipelines — it returns pre-summarized, RAG-ready answers with source citations, plus a context-extraction endpoint and domain filtering.
Steps: sign up at tavily.com (no card needed for the free tier) → open your dashboard → API Keys (or Settings → API Keys) → Generate API key → copy tvly-… → paste into the Web plugin’s Tavily card.
Exa AI (BYOK, neural search)
Section titled “Exa AI (BYOK, neural search)”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Dashboard | dashboard.exa.ai |
| Key format | exa_… |
| Free tier | Yes — $20 free credits at sign-up plus $10 free credits every month, no payment method required (roughly ~2,800 searches to start). |
What it does: Exa (formerly Metaphor) is a neural / semantic search API — it matches by meaning via deep embeddings, so you can find pages even when exact keywords don’t overlap, and it returns similar-URL and content-highlight features.
Steps: sign up at exa.ai → the dashboard → API Keys → Create API key → copy exa_… → paste into the Web plugin’s Exa card.
Serper (BYOK, Google SERP)
Section titled “Serper (BYOK, Google SERP)”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Dashboard | serper.dev/playground |
| Key format | serper_… |
| Free tier | Yes — 2,500 free queries on sign-up, no credit card, no monthly subscription (pay-as-you-go afterward, ~$1/1k). |
What it does: Serper returns real Google organic search results as JSON — useful when you specifically want the Google index, including Knowledge Graph and precise geo/location targeting.
Steps: sign up at serper.dev → you get 2,500 free credits instantly → find your key in the playground/dashboard → copy serper_… → paste into the Web plugin’s Serper card.
Jina Reader (keyless / BYOK)
Section titled “Jina Reader (keyless / BYOK)”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Console | jina.ai/reader |
| Key format | jina_… (optional) |
| Free tier | Yes — ~20 RPM without a key; ~500 RPM with a free key. |
What it does: Jina Reader converts a URL into clean, LLM-ready markdown and can bypass Cloudflare/JS walls. It’s a fetch provider (URL→text), not a search engine.
Steps: just use the keyless path first. For the higher free rate limit: sign up at jina.ai → API Keys in your dashboard → create a key (jina_…) → paste into the Web plugin’s Jina card.
Brave Search API (BYOK)
Section titled “Brave Search API (BYOK)”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Dashboard | api-dashboard.search.brave.com |
| Key format | BSA… |
| Free tier | Metered — ~$5/month of free credits; set a $5 monthly spend cap in the dashboard to stay free. |
What it does: Brave runs an independent web index (not Google), focused on privacy and neutrality, with a Goggles filtering system. Good when you want a source that isn’t Google.
Steps: register at brave.com/search/api → open the API dashboard → activate a plan (Free/metered) → API Keys → Add API Key → copy BSA… → paste into the Web plugin’s Brave card. Note: Brave removed its all-free plan in 2026 — it’s now metered with a monthly credit.
DuckDuckGo (keyless fallback)
Section titled “DuckDuckGo (keyless fallback)”| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Console | none — built-in |
| Key format | none |
| Free tier | Unlimited, IP rate-limited |
DuckDuckGo is the always-available last-resort fallback in the cascade — no registration, no tracking, no key. You don’t configure it; it just catches requests when the other providers are blocked or exhausted.
Headless browser automation
Section titled “Headless browser automation”Beyond these API providers, agents can also drive a real headless browser through the sandbox/runtime capabilities (see Runtimes & bridge) rather than needing a separate scraping key.
Service tokens (integrations, not models)
Section titled “Service tokens (integrations, not models)”The Integrations tab stores service tokens — GitHub (OAuth), GitLab (PAT glpat-…), Cloudflare (API token), Slack (bot token xoxb-…) — in the same encrypted local vault. These aren’t model keys and don’t need a model provider account. See Integrations & MCP for where each comes from.
Quick-pick table
Section titled “Quick-pick table”| Provider | Console | Key prefix | Free tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAI | platform.openai.com/api-keys | sk- / sk-proj- |
No |
| Anthropic | console.anthropic.com | sk-ant- |
No |
| Google Gemini | aistudio.google.com/apikey | AIza |
Yes |
| Groq | console.groq.com/keys | gsk_ |
Yes |
| xAI Grok | console.x.ai | xai- |
~$25 credits |
| DeepSeek | platform.deepseek.com | sk- |
No |
| Mistral | console.mistral.ai | — | Limited |
| OpenRouter | openrouter.ai/keys | sk-or-v1- |
$1 |
| Perplexity | perplexity.ai/settings/api | pplx- |
Prepaid |
| Cerebras | cloud.cerebras.ai | — | Trial |
| Cohere | dashboard.cohere.com | — | Trial |
| Azure OpenAI | Azure Portal → Keys + Endpoint | opaque | Limited |
| Xiaomi MiMo | MiMo platform | — | Check |
| Kimi/Moonshot | platform.moonshot.ai | sk- |
Free tier |
| Z.AI/GLM | open.bigmodel.cn | — | Trial |
| Qwen | bailian.console.aliyun.com | — | Free tier |
| ollama / LM Studio / Jan / llama.cpp | local | — | Local/free |
| fal.ai (media) | fal.ai/dashboard/keys | — | Free credits |
| Parallel (web) | platform.parallel.ai | par_live_ |
Keyless / free |
| TinyFish/Monid (web) | agent.tinyfish.ai/api-keys | tf_live_ |
~30/min |
| Firecrawl (web) | firecrawl.dev/app | fc- |
1k/mo |
| Tavily (web) | tavily.com → dashboard | tvly- |
1k/mo |
| Exa (web) | dashboard.exa.ai | exa_ |
$20 + $10/mo |
| Serper (web) | serper.dev/playground | serper_ |
2.5k |
| Jina Reader (web) | jina.ai/reader | jina_ |
500 RPM free |
| Brave (web) | api-dashboard.search.brave.com | BSA |
~$5/mo |
| DuckDuckGo (web) | built-in | none | Free |
Tip: when a provider offers a free tier, grab the key there first to test the Space at zero cost — Gemini, Groq, Cerebras, Cohere and OpenRouter are the usual fastest chat wins; Parallel, TinyFish, Tavily, Serper and Jina are the fastest web wins.
Still stuck?
Section titled “Still stuck?”- The Space auto-detects your provider from the key prefix as you paste — if it looks wrong, double-check you pasted into the correct provider card.
- If a key is rejected, regenerate it in the provider console (keys are often shown only once) and re-paste.
- For billing/sign-in issues with a specific provider, use that provider’s own support — SynthHires never holds or processes your provider payments (that’s the BYOK contract).