Add your own key (/custom-key)

Do you have an API key with OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Groq, OpenRouter, xAI, Mistral or DeepSeek? Type /custom-key in Kaivo: a window lets you pick the provider, paste your key and choose the model (a common model is suggested, you can change it).

What's it for? When the Kaivo model reaches its limit or is overloaded, Kaivo retries the same request with your key, automatically, without you having to restart anything. A small “own key” marker appears at the bottom of the screen so you know your key is answering.

You can also add a custom provider: any OpenAI-compatible API (your own server, a lesser-known provider). It needs its address, a key and a model name.

Your key is saved only on your computer, in ~/.kaivo/keys.json, readable only by you. It's only sent to the provider it belongs to, never to Kaivo's servers. To remove it: /custom-key then “Delete”.

Careful: requests made with your key are billed by your provider, at its prices. Kaivo has no way to limit them for you.