Infrastructure
API Key
A password that lets your code access a paid AI service like Claude or OpenAI.
Also written as api keys
- Messages
- 134
- Members using it
- 50
- First seen
- Nov 24, 2025
What it means
A unique string that authenticates your application when it calls an AI provider's API. You pay based on usage tied to the key, so protecting it and setting spending limits matters. Leaking a key in your source code can result in unexpected bills if someone else uses it.
How it's used here
Members discuss rotating keys when hitting rate limits, scoping keys for partners, and avoiding hardcoding them. Comes up when troubleshooting agent failures or managing multi-key setups in tools like OpenClaw.
Seen in the wild
“Mostly try to avoid hardcoding them in your source code and setting limits on the api keys. There's no great solution yet from what I know..”
“Hmm. My clawdbot suddenly stopped working, dashboard doesn't show as well. But my claude is still working with the API key so it's not that.”
“On openclaw is there a way to have your agents switch Claude API keys automatically if they max out usage (or start getting API limit errors)?”