OpenAI API key

If you pick OpenAI as your AI provider, every AI feature in Startica calls the OpenAI API with your own key. Usage is billed to your OpenAI account at OpenAI’s API rates. This page covers creating the key, setting a budget on OpenAI’s side, entering the key with a monthly budget in Startica, testing it and rotating it. (To use Claude instead, see Anthropic API key.)

Create the key

1. Go to the OpenAI platform at platform.openai.com and sign in or create an account.
2. Set up billing: add a payment method or buy credits in the billing settings.
3. Open platform.openai.com/api-keys and click Create new secret key. Give it a name you’ll recognize, such as Startica on my laptop. If you use projects, pick the one you want this usage billed under.
4. Copy the key. It starts with sk- (project keys start with sk-proj-). The platform shows the full key only once.

Set a spend limit on the platform

Startica has its own monthly budget (below), but it’s enforced by the app, using Startica’s own cost estimates. A limit on OpenAI’s side is a second, independent cap that holds even if something goes wrong in the app.

In the platform settings, open Limits for your organization or for Startica’s project and set a monthly budget at or above your Startica budget. Read what the page says about the budget: depending on the account and project, it can stop requests or only send you an email alert.

When a limit or your credit balance runs out, the API rejects requests. In Startica those jobs fail with the API’s error message, which you can see on the System page.

Add the key to Startica

On a fresh install, the welcome wizard asks for it first: on the Connect AI step, pick OpenAI, paste the key into OpenAI API key, set Monthly budget (USD) and click Save and continue. See First run.

If you skipped that step, or to change the key later:

1. Open Settings. In the AI card, click Add API key. If a key is already saved, the button reads Change keys or budget.
2. In the AI provider dialog, set Use to OpenAI.
3. Paste the key into OpenAI API key. It must start with sk-. An Anthropic key (sk-ant-) is refused here.
4. Set Monthly budget (USD). The default is $50. Any value from $1 to $10,000 is accepted.
5. Save.

The AI card now reads “Using OpenAI.” and “OpenAI API key: saved.” If you were using Claude before, every task on Claude’s models moves to OpenAI’s recommended models: GPT-6.1 Sol for strategy, research and drafting, GPT-6 Luna for scoring and the health check. See How Startica uses AI.

The key is encrypted with your OS keychain and stored on your computer; see how credentials are stored. It’s only ever sent to the OpenAI API (api.openai.com). Startica asks OpenAI not to store its responses.

When you change only the budget, leave the key fields blank to keep the saved keys.

Only for ad pictures

Ad creatives draw their pictures with OpenAI’s image models, whichever provider you use for everything else. To use Claude for the text and OpenAI only for pictures, open the AI provider dialog, keep Use on Claude, paste the key into OpenAI API key (optional for the provider not in use) and save. Your tasks stay on Claude; only the image task calls OpenAI. Without an OpenAI key you can still upload your own pictures. See The image task.

What the budget does

Before every AI call, Startica adds up the estimated cost of this calendar month’s calls (local time), to both providers. If that total has reached your budget, it doesn’t make the call. The job fails with “Monthly AI budget reached ($X of $Y)”, and a blocked entry is logged. Nothing is downgraded to a cheaper model. Calls simply stop until the next month or until you raise the budget.

The check runs before each call, so one call that’s already running can push the total slightly over. See Costs for prices and typical amounts.

Check that it works

The System page has a health check that runs one real call through the whole pipeline: queue, background worker, OpenAI, cost log.

1. Open System (bottom of the sidebar). The OpenAI API key card should say Configured.
2. Click Run test job.
3. Within a few seconds, a ping row appears under Job runs with status succeeded. Its result contains the model’s one-sentence reply.
4. Under AI calls, a ping row on GPT-6 Luna shows the tokens used and a cost of a fraction of a cent. OpenAI reports a dated model ID, such as gpt-6-luna-2026-09-01.

If the job fails, the error is in the Result / error column. Common causes:

Error	Fix
No OpenAI API key: add one in Settings → General → AI	Save the key in Settings → General → AI.
Incorrect API key provided	The key was revoked or mistyped. Create a new one and save it.
You exceeded your current quota	Your credit balance or a platform budget is used up. Check billing and limits on the platform.
Monthly AI budget reached	Startica’s own cap. Raise Monthly budget (USD) or wait for next month.

See Troubleshooting for more.

Rotate the key

1. On the platform, create a new key (same steps as above).
2. In Startica, open Settings → General → AI → Change keys or budget, paste the new key into OpenAI API key, and save. The next job uses it; no restart needed.
3. Click Run test job on the System page to confirm.
4. Back on the platform, delete the old key.

Do this if you think the key leaked, for example after pasting it somewhere public or sharing a copy of your data folder.

Remove the key

When Claude is in use and an OpenAI key is saved, the AI card shows Remove OpenAI key. It deletes the saved key. Tasks you routed to OpenAI models stop working until you add a key again. While OpenAI is the provider in use, replace the key instead, or switch to Claude first.

When you run from source

Development uses the same Settings as the installed app. There’s no environment variable for the key or the budget. The only exception is yarn eval, which takes OPENAI_API_KEY from your shell when you run it with an OpenAI model; see Prompts and evals.