Bring Your Own OpenAI Key

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What it does

Two ways to keep working when the AI included in your plan runs out, instead of being stopped mid-task. First, attach your own OpenAI API key to your AgentsRoom account: once the included allowance is spent, the AI calls continue on your key, billed to you by OpenAI at cost, with no credits or quota taken from AgentsRoom. It covers voice dictation, Voice Mode, Read Aloud, agent suggestions, AI commit messages and the other AI helpers. Second, for dictation only, an on-device Whisper model that transcribes on your machine with no network and no credits.

Where to find it

  • Settings > Account > section Extra AI usage: the Voice credits card and the Your OpenAI API key card, side by side, with the list of what is included in your plan this month above them.
  • The out-of-credits dialog when dictation stops: checkbox Keep dictating without credits (offline model).
  • Settings > Composer > Offline dictation: the same offline engine, with its model size.

How to use it

  1. Create a key on platform.openai.com (the card has a link), paste it in Your OpenAI API key (it starts with sk-), click Save. The key is tested against OpenAI before it is stored, encrypted. It is never shown again: you can replace or remove it, not read it.
  2. Choose When to use your key: Only when the included amount runs out (default: your plan's allowance is spent first) or Always (every call runs on your key from the first one; the included allowance is never touched).
  3. Keep working. When OpenAI refuses the key (revoked, no balance), the card says so and the app falls back to the plan's limits.

Offline dictation: tick Keep dictating without credits when the dialog appears, or enable Offline dictation in Settings > Composer. The model downloads immediately with a progress bar (about 42 MB for the fast model, 78 MB for the accurate one); afterwards audio never leaves the machine. Fall back to on-device transcription uses it only when the server cannot; the always mode never sends audio at all.

Settings

  • localSttEnabled (global, Settings > Composer > Offline dictation): enable the on-device fallback.
  • localSttMode (global): fallback (only when credits or network are missing) or always.
  • localSttModel (global): tiny (Fast) or base (Accurate).
  • The OpenAI key and its mode are account settings stored server-side, managed from Settings > Account; they are not in the local settings file.

Agent tools (MCP)

None. The key is used by the AgentsRoom backend for the app's own AI helpers, never handed to agents. Agents' own API keys are managed in their CLIs, or through the Secret Manager.

Providers

Independent of the agent CLI: this key powers AgentsRoom's helper features (voice, suggestions, commit messages), not the coding agents.

Mobile

The phone has no key entry screen; a key attached from the desktop applies to phone dictation too, since the backend resolves it per account. Out of credits on the phone, dictation falls back to the device's native speech recognition.

Limits

  • Only OpenAI keys are accepted. Replacing the key keeps the chosen mode; removing it resets the mode to the default.
  • Calls on your key count for nothing on AgentsRoom (no credits, no quota) and are billed by OpenAI directly.
  • Internal features (support chat, site translation) always run on the platform key.
  • The offline model is less accurate than the online one, is dictation-only (no Voice Mode or Read Aloud offline), and the first download needs a network.
  • Pro plans show "Unlimited" for their allowances; the fair-use ceilings behind them are not displayed.

Common questions

  • Will attaching a key make me pay OpenAI right away? No: in the default mode your plan's allowance is spent first and the key only takes over afterwards. Pick Always if you want the reverse.
  • Voice credits or my own key? Credits pay only for voice (dictation, Voice Mode, Read Aloud). The key also covers agent suggestions and AI commit messages, which are limited by monthly quotas, not credits.
  • Can I read my key back? No. Once saved it is only replaceable or removable.
  • Dictation says the model could not be downloaded although I am online. Retry from Settings > Composer > Offline dictation; the setting stays off until a download succeeds.

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