Authentication

You can cover model costs with OpenRouter API keys.

Our API authenticates requests using Bearer tokens. This allows you to use curl or the OpenAI SDK directly with OpenRouter.

Using an API key

To use an API key, first create your key. Give it a name and you can optionally set a credit limit.

If you’re calling the OpenRouter API directly, set the Authorization header to a Bearer token with your API key.

If you’re using the OpenAI Typescript SDK, set the api_base to https://openrouter.ai/api/v1 and the apiKey to your API key.

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fetch('https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/chat/completions', {
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  method: 'POST',
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  headers: {
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    Authorization: 'Bearer <OPENROUTER_API_KEY>',
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    'HTTP-Referer': '<YOUR_SITE_URL>', // Optional. Site URL for rankings on openrouter.ai.
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    'X-Title': '<YOUR_SITE_NAME>', // Optional. Site title for rankings on openrouter.ai.
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    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
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  },
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  body: JSON.stringify({
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    model: 'openai/gpt-4o',
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    messages: [
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      {
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        role: 'user',
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        content: 'What is the meaning of life?',
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      },
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    ],
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  }),
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});

To stream with Python, see this example from OpenAI.

If your key has been exposed

OpenRouter is a GitHub secret scanning partner, and has other methods to detect exposed keys. If we determine that your key has been compromised, you will receive an email notification.

If you receive such a notification or suspect your key has been exposed, immediately visit your key settings page to delete the compromised key and create a new one.

Using environment variables and keeping keys out of your codebase is strongly recommended.