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Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) lets you use your own Anthropic API key for every AI request in Hiveku. You stop drawing from Hiveku credits and start drawing from your Anthropic account directly.

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Why BYOK?

  • Never run out of credits — your Anthropic quota is the only limit
  • Direct cost control — see usage in the Anthropic console, pay Anthropic directly
  • Higher rate limits — use your own tier on Anthropic instead of Hiveku’s shared pool
  • Bonus: unlock Hiveku Max on the Hosting Only plan — see below
BYOK must be enabled by an account Owner or Admin. If you don’t see the option, ask your admin to turn it on in account settings.

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Get an Anthropic API Key

1

Go to the Anthropic Console

Visit console.anthropic.com and sign in (or sign up).
2

Create a key

Navigate to API Keys > Create Key. Give it a name like Hiveku so you can identify it later.Copy the key immediately — Anthropic only shows it once.
3

Make sure the key has credits

Check Billing in the Anthropic console. A new key has no credits by default — add a payment method and credits before continuing.

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Add Your Key to Hiveku

1

Open AI settings

Go to Settings > AI Credits & Billing.
2

Find the API Key (BYOK) section

Click Add API Key.
3

Paste and save

Paste your Anthropic key into the field and click Save & Verify.Hiveku sends a test request to Anthropic to confirm the key is valid. If verification succeeds, the key is stored and BYOK is active.
Your key is encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM and never shown in plaintext again. You’ll only see a masked preview (e.g., sk-ant-...abc123) going forward. Keep your original copy somewhere safe.
Once active, every AI request in Hiveku uses your key. No credits are deducted.

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Update or Remove Your Key

1

Update

In Settings > AI Credits & Billing, click Update next to your masked key. Paste the new key and save. The old key is overwritten.
2

Remove

Click the trash icon next to your key. BYOK is turned off and AI requests revert to the credit system.

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Bonus: Unlock Hiveku Max on Hosting Only

If you’re on the Hosting Only plan, you only have access to Hiveku Mini (the budget AI tier) by default. Adding a BYOK key unlocks Hiveku Max — full Claude Sonnet — because the cost is on your Anthropic account, not Hiveku’s. This is a great option if you want to keep your plan lean but occasionally need the stronger model.

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Verifying It Works

Open any project, ask the AI a quick question, and then:
  1. Check Settings > AI Credits & Billing — the credit balance should be unchanged
  2. Check your Anthropic console — you should see a request logged in the usage dashboard (Anthropic usage can lag by a minute or two)

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Troubleshooting

  • Confirm the key is still active in the Anthropic console (not revoked)
  • Confirm the Anthropic account has credits — a zero-credit key fails verification
  • Check for whitespace or accidental line breaks when you pasted
Anthropic applies per-minute and per-day limits based on your tier. If you hit them, wait for the window to reset or request a higher tier in the Anthropic console. Hiveku surfaces the Anthropic error message directly so you know which limit tripped.
Your account admin hasn’t enabled BYOK. Ask them to toggle it on in the account-level AI settings.
Click Update, paste the correct key, and save. The incorrect key is overwritten immediately — Hiveku doesn’t retain old keys.

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What’s Next?

AI Credits Reference

Plan tiers, credit model, and BYOK deep dive

Team Roles

Manage who can enable BYOK and change AI settings