Personal OpenRouter Key

With a personal OpenRouter key, you can select individual compatible models from multiple providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, DeepSeek, Meta, Mistral, and more). This gives you direct control over provider, model identity, price, context size, speed, and specialized capabilities.

What is a Personal OpenRouter Key?

A personal OpenRouter key is your own API key from openrouter.ai — it starts with sk-or-... and is tied to your OpenRouter account.

When you use a personal key:

• You bypass the Yukkai account system entirely.
• Your requests go directly to OpenRouter using your key.
• You're billed by OpenRouter (not Yukkai Wallet).
• You have access to the full catalog of 300+ models.

How to Add Your OpenRouter Key

1. Get an API key from openrouter.ai/keys.
2. In Yukkai, go to Settings → API Keys.
3. Click Add Personal Key.
4. Paste your sk-or-... key.
5. The key is stored securely in the macOS Keychain.

Once added, your personal key becomes a selectable account in the model picker.

When to Use a Personal Key

Use a personal OpenRouter key when you want:

• Direct control over provider — pick a specific vendor (Anthropic, OpenAI, etc.).
• Direct control over model identity — know exactly which model answers.
• Direct control over price — see per-token costs upfront and choose accordingly.
• Direct control over context size — pick models with larger context windows.
• Direct control over speed — choose faster, lighter models for simple tasks.
• Access to specialized capabilities — vision, code, reasoning, etc.
• To use your existing OpenRouter credit — if you already have an OpenRouter account with balance.

What's Different from Yukkai Account Keys?

	Yukkai Account Key (yk_...)	Personal OpenRouter Key (sk-or-...)
Billing	Yukkai Wallet	OpenRouter account
Meta-models	✅ Fusion, Frontier, Free available	❌ Not available
Model catalog	Full 300+ catalog	Full 300+ catalog
Child keys	✅ Can create child keys	❌ No child key concept
Wallet integration	✅ Usage tracked in Wallet	❌ No Wallet involvement
Credit top-up	Via Stripe in Yukkai	Via OpenRouter website
Usage tracking	In Yukkai Settings → Credits	On OpenRouter website

Limitations

❌ No Yukkai Meta-Models

Fusion, Frontier, and Free are only available with a Yukkai account key (yk_...), not with a personal OpenRouter key. If you switch to a personal key, those meta-model options disappear from the model picker.

❌ No Yukkai Wallet

Personal OpenRouter keys don't have a Yukkai Wallet — your spend happens entirely outside Yukkai, against your own OpenRouter account, and never appears in the Yukkai Wallet ledger.

The "Add Credits" button in Settings → Credits will redirect to openrouter.ai's billing page instead of opening the Stripe checkout.

❌ No Child Keys

The master/child key system is Yukkai-account-only. Personal OpenRouter keys don't have child keys — if you need to create bounded, revocable sub-keys, you need a Yukkai account.

Checking Your OpenRouter Usage

Yukkai can query your OpenRouter key's usage and limits directly:

Via the yukkai_cloud Tool

yukkai_cloud(action:"openrouter_key_usage")

This calls OpenRouter's /key endpoint directly with your active key and returns:

• Current usage (in credits)
• Rate limit
• Total limit (if set)

Via the openrouter_key_usage Tool

openrouter_key_usage()

This is a standalone tool that returns the raw JSON response — no parameters needed.

Note: Both tools only work when a personal OpenRouter key is active. They do not work with a Yukkai account key (yk_...) — OpenRouter doesn't recognize yk_... and will reject it.

Switching Between Yukkai and Personal Keys

You can have both a Yukkai account key and a personal OpenRouter key configured, and switch between them:

1. Open the model picker.
2. Click the account selector (shows your active key).
3. Choose between your Yukkai account and personal OpenRouter key.

When you switch:

• The available models change (meta-models only appear for Yukkai keys).
• The billing method changes (Wallet vs OpenRouter).
• The Settings → Credits screen changes (Yukkai Wallet vs OpenRouter redirect).

Adding Other Provider Keys

Beyond OpenRouter, you can add provider-specific API keys (Replicate, Fal.ai, OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.) to the Vault and have Yukkai call a model directly for a specific task.

For example:

• Register your Replicate key to access dozens of video generation models.
• Register your Fal.ai key for fast image generation.
• Register your OpenAI key to use GPT models directly (bypassing OpenRouter).

These keys are stored in the macOS Keychain via the Vault tool, and Yukkai can use them for direct API calls.

Security

Key Storage

Your personal OpenRouter key is stored in the macOS Keychain — the same secure enclave that stores your passwords and certificates. It's never:

• Sent to Yukkai's servers.
• Logged or displayed in plain text.
• Accessible to other apps.

Key Masking

When Yukkai displays usage information, the active API key itself is never shown — usage responses explicitly mask it ("🔒 masquée").

Examples

User wants to check OpenRouter balance

User: "How much OpenRouter credit do I have left?"

Yukkai: [calls yukkai_cloud(action:"openrouter_key_usage")] "Your OpenRouter key has used 45,230 credits out of a 100,000 limit. You have 54,770 credits remaining."

User wants to add their OpenRouter key

User: "I have an OpenRouter API key. How do I use it with Yukkai?"

Yukkai: "Go to Settings → API Keys and click 'Add Personal Key'. Paste your sk-or-... key there. Once added, you can select it from the account selector in the model picker. Note that with a personal OpenRouter key, you won't have access to Yukkai Fusion, Frontier, or Free — those require a Yukkai account key."

User asks about billing

User: "If I use my own OpenRouter key, do I still need Yukkai credits?"

Yukkai: "No — when you use a personal OpenRouter key, you're billed directly by OpenRouter, not by Yukkai Wallet. Your usage won't appear in the Yukkai Wallet ledger, and the 'Add Credits' button will redirect you to OpenRouter's billing page instead."

Good to Know

• Personal keys give you full control — you pick the exact model, provider, and price point.
• You lose access to meta-models — Fusion, Frontier, and Free are Yukkai-account-only.
• Billing is separate — OpenRouter bills you directly; Yukkai Wallet is not involved.
• You can switch between accounts — keep both a Yukkai key and a personal key configured and switch as needed.
• Usage tracking is available — use yukkai_cloud(action:"openrouter_key_usage") to check your OpenRouter balance from within Yukkai.

Learn More

• Model Selector — Overview of all model options.
• Yukkai Fusion — Meta-model routing (Yukkai account only).
• Yukkai Wallet — How Yukkai billing works.
• Child API Keys — Creating sub-keys (Yukkai account only).