API Keys

API keys authenticate your requests against the nikcli inference gateway. They follow the OpenAI convention.

Key format

nik_live_<base64-encoded-random-body>

Example: nik_live_7x9K2mNpQrS4tUvWxYz8LmN3OpQrStUvWx

Creating keys

Sign up at /sign-up
Go to Dashboard → API Keys
Click Create key and give it a name
Copy the key immediately — it’s never shown again

Key tiers

Tier	Purpose
`free`	Default tier for new users
`starter`	Higher rate limits
`pro`	Production workloads
`business`	Enterprise-scale

Using keys

Pass your key in the Authorization header:

curl https://inference.nikcli-ai.dev/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NIKCLI_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model":"nikseek","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Hello"}]}'

Key rotation

Revoke old keys and create new ones regularly. There’s no hard limit on total keys, but only 3 can be active on the free tier.

Security

Keys are hashed with SHA-256 before storage
Only the prefix (nik_live_AbCd...) is visible in the dashboard
The full plaintext is shown once at creation
Keys can be revoked instantly from the dashboard