BYOK Setup

How to set up Bring Your Own Key with your OpenAI API key

Set up Bring Your Own Key to use your own OpenAI API key and pay raw API costs.

Prerequisites

Before setting up BYOK:

• Paid Smelt subscription (Starter, Growth, or Scale)
• BYOK billing mode selected
• OpenAI account at platform.openai.com
• OpenAI API key with credits

Getting Your OpenAI API Key

1. Go to OpenAI Platform

   Visit platform.openai.com

2. Sign Up or Log In

   Create an account or log in to existing account

3. Navigate to API Keys

   Go to Settings → API Keys (or directly to platform.openai.com/api-keys)

4. Create New Secret Key

   Click “Create new secret key”

   Give it a name like “Smelt Production”

5. Copy the Key

   Important: Copy immediately! The key is only shown once.

   It starts with sk-...

OpenAI only shows your API key once. If you lose it, you’ll need to create a new one.

Adding Your Key to Smelt

1. Go to Settings

   Click Settings in the Smelt sidebar

2. Click API Keys

   Navigate to the API Keys section

3. Click Add API Key

   Click the “Add API Key” button

4. Paste Your Key

   Paste your OpenAI API key (starts with sk-...)

5. Add a Label (Optional)

   Give it a label like “Production” or “Main”

6. Save

   Click Save to store your key securely

Verifying Your Key

After adding:

1. Smelt will validate the key format
2. You can click “Test” to verify it works
3. If valid, the key is ready to use

Test Results

Result	Meaning
✅ Valid	Key works and has credits
❌ Invalid	Key format wrong or revoked
⚠️ No credits	Key valid but no OpenAI credits

Managing Multiple Keys

You can add multiple API keys:

• Different keys for different purposes
• Backup keys
• Keys with different spending limits

Only one key is active at a time. Select which key to use in Settings.

OpenAI Credits

BYOK means you pay OpenAI directly for API usage.

Adding Credits

1. Go to platform.openai.com/account/billing
2. Add a payment method
3. Add credits or set up auto-recharge

Monitoring Usage

Check your OpenAI usage at:

• platform.openai.com/usage

Set up usage alerts in OpenAI to avoid running out of credits mid-job.

API Key Best Practices

Use a dedicated key for Smelt

Create a separate API key just for Smelt. Easier to track usage and revoke if needed.

Set spending limits

In OpenAI, set monthly spending limits to prevent unexpected costs.

Monitor regularly

Check your OpenAI dashboard periodically to track spend.

Rotate keys periodically

For security, consider rotating keys every few months.

Troubleshooting

”Invalid API key”

• Check for typos or extra spaces
• Ensure you copied the full key
• Try generating a new key

”Insufficient credits”

• Add credits in your OpenAI account
• Set up auto-recharge

”Rate limit exceeded”

• Wait a minute and retry
• Check your OpenAI tier limits
• Consider upgrading your OpenAI plan

Smelt handles rate limiting with automatic retries, but severe rate limits may still cause issues.