What is BYOS?
BYOS stands for Bring Your Own Secret — the ability to connect your own API keys from AI providers directly to AskWek. When you use a BYOS key, AskWek acts as your AI interface but routes every request directly to the provider using your key. No credits are deducted. No markup is added.
This is a Platinum plan feature.
Supported providers
- OpenAI — GPT-4o, GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 Mini, GPT-5, o1, o3-mini
- Anthropic — Claude Haiku 4.5, Sonnet 4.6, Opus 4.8, Fable 5
- Google — Gemini 2.5 Pro, Gemini 2.0 Flash
- Groq — Llama 3.3, Mixtral, Gemma (ultra-fast inference)
Step-by-step setup
Step 1: Get your API key
For OpenAI:
- Go to platform.openai.com → API Keys
- Click "Create new secret key"
- Name it "AskWek BYOS" and copy the key (starts with sk-...)
For Anthropic:
- Go to console.anthropic.com → API Keys
- Click "Create Key"
- Copy the key (starts with sk-ant-...)
For Google:
- Go to aistudio.google.com → Get API key
- Create a new key in a project
- Copy the key (starts with AIza...)
Step 2: Add your key in AskWek
- Open AskWek web app or mobile app
- Go to Settings → API Keys (BYOS)
- Tap + Add provider
- Select your provider from the list
- Paste your API key and tap Save
Your key is encrypted before storage and never exposed in API responses or logs.
Step 3: Use it
Once added, any model from that provider is available in the model selector with a BYOS badge. Selecting a BYOS model routes the request directly to the provider and bypasses the credit system entirely.
You can mix and match — use BYOS for Anthropic models and AskWek-managed credits for OpenAI if you prefer.
What happens to your credits?
BYOS calls do not consume AskWek credits. Your credit balance is unaffected. You pay the provider directly through your API account at their standard rates.
Security
- Keys are encrypted at rest using AES-256
- Keys are never included in API responses or visible after the initial save
- You can rotate or delete keys at any time from Settings → API Keys
- If you suspect a key was compromised, delete it from AskWek and rotate it at the provider before re-adding
Tips for power users
- Set spending limits at your provider (OpenAI, Anthropic all have this) to cap unexpected costs
- Use Groq BYOS for tasks that need very fast responses — Groq's inference is 3-5x faster than standard OpenAI
- Keep a fallback — if your BYOS key hits its rate limit, AskWek will show an error. Keep credits on hand as a backup by staying on Platinum