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Authentication
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The ChatGPT API authenticates with a Bearer API key, exactly like the official OpenAI API. The only change from an OpenAI setup is the base URL — reuse your existing key handling for everything else.
How do API keys work?
Generate a key in your dashboard and send it in the Authorization header as `Bearer YOUR_API_KEY`. Keep keys secret, never commit them to source control, and rotate a key from the dashboard if it is ever exposed.
Keep keys out of your code
As with the official API, store your key in an environment variable (for example `CHATGPT_API_KEY` in your shell profile) instead of hardcoding it. Pass it explicitly to the SDK, or let the SDK read it, and never ship a key to the browser.
Base URL
Point your SDK or HTTP client at our base URL instead of api.openai.com. Every other part of the request — paths, headers, body and streaming — stays identical.
# Store your key as an environment variable
export CHATGPT_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"
# Send it as a Bearer token, exactly like the official OpenAI API
Authorization: Bearer $CHATGPT_API_KEY
# Base URL — the only thing you change from an OpenAI setup
https://api.chatgpt-api.dev/v1