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Get your OpenAI API key

This is the regular key an app's connect box asks for. It starts with sk-proj-. It stays on your device and the app talks to OpenAI directly with it, billed to your own account.

Heads up: this is your API account, not ChatGPT. An OpenAI API account lives at platform.openai.com and has its own balance, separate from a ChatGPT subscription. The key only works once that balance has credit, so add a few dollars under Billing if your account is new.

Steps

A

Sign in to the OpenAI platform

Go to platform.openai.com and sign in, creating the account if you don't have one.

B

Open the API keys page

Go straight to platform.openai.com/api-keys, or click API keys in the dashboard sidebar.

Screenshot slot: API keys page
C

Create the key and copy it

Click Create new secret key, name it after the app you're connecting, keep the default project, and copy the sk-proj-... key right away. OpenAI shows it only once. If you lose it, delete it there and make a new one.

Screenshot slot: Create secret key dialog
D

Paste it into the app

Paste the key into the app's connect box. To cut the app off later, delete that key on the same OpenAI page.

If a key starts with sk-admin-, stop. That is an admin key. It controls your whole organization and no app should ever see it. Apps take sk-proj- keys; the admin key is only for connecting your account to Outlet.

Learn more

OpenAI's official quickstart: platform.openai.com/docs/quickstart.