Use Your Own OpenAI or Anthropic API Key With Sortio (BYOK)

If you already pay for an OpenAI, Anthropic, or OpenRouter account, you can point Sortio at your own key instead of using its allowance. Here's how, and what actually changes when you do.

Everything lives under Settings, then AI. And notice this paragraph at the top, because it's the honest bit. By default, Sortio's AI runs in the cloud, and it tells you exactly what gets sent: your file names, and an excerpt of each file's contents. You've got three options. Sortio Cloud, which uses your allowance. A local model on your own machine. Or your own API key.

I'll pick Bring Your Own Key. And watch that paragraph, because it rewrites itself. It now says your files go to OpenAI, under your API key. Sortio isn't in the middle of it any more. Your requests, your account, your usage.

You choose the provider. OpenAI, Anthropic, or OpenRouter. Whichever you already have an account with. Switching here changes which key Sortio asks for, and which models it offers.

Then you paste your key into this field, and pick a model, or hit Load to pull the list your account has access to. Your key is stored in the macOS Keychain, not in a config file, and it's only ever used to call the provider you picked.

And that's the whole setup. The disclosure at the top and the indicator down in the corner both tell you which provider is live, so you're never guessing where your files are going. Two things worth knowing. Bring your own key isn't behind a paywall, it works on the free plan. And requests on your own key don't touch your Sortio allowance at all.