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Configuring API Keys

By default, your workspace uses Machined's platform key — no setup required. If you'd prefer to use your own API key (BYOK), this guide explains how to set that up.

See API Modes for a full explanation of the difference.

Switching to BYOK​

  1. Go to Settings → API Keys
  2. Toggle on Use your own API keys
  3. Add a key for your chosen provider

API Keys settings with BYOK enabled

We recommend OpenRouter as your provider — it gives you access to all supported models (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and more) through a single API key.

OpenRouter is a unified API that routes requests to multiple AI providers. One key covers all writing, research, and image generation features in Machined.

  1. Sign up at openrouter.ai
  2. Go to Keys and create a new API key
  3. Paste the key into the OpenRouter field in Settings → API Keys
  4. Click Save

OpenAI​

  1. Sign up at platform.openai.com
  2. Go to API Keys and create a new secret key — leave permissions set to All
  3. Paste the key into the OpenAI field in Settings → API Keys
  4. Click Save
Note

Machined requires an OpenAI Platform account — a ChatGPT or ChatGPT Plus subscription will not work. Your Platform account must have billing enabled and be on Tier 1 or above.

Anthropic​

  1. Sign up at console.anthropic.com
  2. Go to API Keys and create a new key
  3. Paste the key into the Anthropic field in Settings → API Keys
  4. Click Save

Google​

  1. Go to aistudio.google.com
  2. Click Get API key and create a new key
  3. Paste the key into the Google field in Settings → API Keys
  4. Click Save

Troubleshooting​

If your key isn't being accepted, common causes are:

  • Incorrect key — copy it again directly from your provider's dashboard
  • Wrong account type — for OpenAI, you need a Platform account with billing enabled, not ChatGPT
  • Restricted key — make sure the key has full permissions, not restricted ones
  • Insufficient credits — check your provider account has a payment method and available balance

Intermittent errors​

AI provider APIs occasionally experience intermittent errors — slow response times, unresponsive models, or full outages. Check your provider's status page if you're seeing unexpected failures:

There is nothing Machined can do to work around provider-side outages — if a provider is down, wait for them to recover.

Rate limits​

Providers impose rate limits to prevent any one account from overwhelming their infrastructure. When a rate limit is hit, Machined uses an exponential backoff strategy — it pauses and retries automatically, as recommended by the providers. However, if the limit is hit too many times in a row, the article will fail with a final error.

If you're hitting rate limits frequently, upgrading your plan with the provider (moving to a higher usage tier) will raise your limits.

Key security​

Your API keys are encrypted at rest and in transit using AES-256. Once saved, a key is never stored or transferred in plain text — two separate security secrets stored on separate servers are required to decrypt it on each use.