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With your organisation’s own OpenRouter API key, Ankra serves the same default models and the same automatic failover chain through your OpenRouter account - including background and autonomous AI sessions. Usage on your own key never draws on the free monthly allowance, so AI features are never paused by AI_ALLOWANCE_EXHAUSTED.

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Prerequisites

  • You are an organisation admin with the ai.manage permission.
  • An OpenRouter account at openrouter.ai with credits available.

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Add the Key

1

Create an API key at OpenRouter

Sign in at openrouter.ai and create a new API key from the Keys page. Copy the key - it starts with sk-or-.
Set a credit limit on the key in OpenRouter. It caps what Ankra can spend through it, independently of Ankra’s own daily spend cap.
2

Open the AI provider settings in Ankra

Go to AI → Settings → Models.
3

Save the key

In the OpenRouter card, paste the sk-or-... key and save. Ankra validates the key live against OpenRouter before storing it. Two errors can come back:
  • Invalid key - the key was rejected by OpenRouter. Check you copied the full key and that it has not been revoked.
  • No remaining credits - the key is valid but its OpenRouter account has no credits left. Top up at OpenRouter, then save again.
4

Activate the provider

Select OpenRouter in the provider picker. From this point all AI usage - interactive and background - is billed to your OpenRouter account.
5

Verify

The card now shows a masked preview of the stored key (for example sk-or-...wxyz). Open the AI Assistant (⌘+J / Ctrl+J) and send a message - the response confirms the provider is serving requests, and the run appears in your OpenRouter activity.

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Rotating the Key

Save a new key over the old one in the same OpenRouter card. The new key goes through the same live validation, and the old one is replaced on save - no downtime and no provider switch needed.

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Removing the Key

Deleting the key switches the organisation back to the Ankra-managed provider, and the free monthly allowance rules apply again. If the allowance is already exhausted for the month, AI features pause until it resets or you add a key again.

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Security

  • The key is stored only in Vault - never in the database.
  • It is never shown again after saving; the UI only ever displays a masked preview like sk-or-...wxyz.
  • Viewing the preview, saving, and removing the key all require the ai.manage permission.
  • The key is never included in exports.