Get your API keys

The package does not have an AI model of its own. It sends your request to an AI provider: Anthropic (Claude), OpenAI (ChatGPT), Google (Gemini) or xAI (Grok). To do that it needs an API key of that provider.

You need a key for at least one provider. You can add more: for example Claude for the text and OpenAI for the images. See Multiple providers.

What is an API key?

An API key is a long, secret string of letters and numbers. It works like a password for your application: every request the package sends carries the key, and the provider uses it to know who you are and whose account to bill.

Anyone who has your key can use your account and spend your money. Treat it like a password. The section Keep your keys secret explains how.

A chat subscription is not an API key

This confuses many people, so read it before you start:

  • A ChatGPT Plus subscription does not include use of the OpenAI API. The API is billed separately, on platform.openai.com.
  • A Claude Pro or Max subscription does not include use of the Claude API. The API is billed separately, with credits on platform.claude.com.
  • A Google AI Pro or Ultra plan does not pay for calls to the Gemini API with a key. Those are billed through Google Cloud, or fall under the free tier.
  • Grok in the X app or a SuperGrok subscription is separate from the xAI API. The API uses its own prepaid credits on console.x.ai.

So even when you pay for a chat app already, you create a separate developer account and a key.

What “billed” means

Every time the package calls a provider, that call costs a small amount of money. The provider counts the text that goes in and out (in “tokens”, pieces of words) and charges your account. An image is a separate call and usually costs more than a text.

In these docs, a billed call means a request that costs money. The check with php artisan ai-generator:status only asks for the list of models and costs nothing. Generating a text or an image does cost money.

Set a spending limit at every provider you use. Then a bug in your code, for example a loop that generates the same article a thousand times, cannot empty your account. Each section below says where the limit is.

Claude (Anthropic)

  1. Go to platform.claude.com and sign up, or log in. The old address, console.anthropic.com, sends you there too.
  2. Buy credits: go to Settings, then Billing, and choose Buy credits. The API only works when your account has credits.
  3. Open Settings, then API keys, or go straight to platform.claude.com/settings/keys.
  4. Click Create key. Give it a name you will recognise later, for example my-shop-production.
  5. Copy the key right away and paste it into your .env file (see below). You may not be able to see it again. If you lose it, create a new one.

Is the Create key button greyed out? Then your role in the organisation may not create keys. Ask the administrator of the organisation.

  • Environment variable: ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
  • Spending limit: every usage tier has a monthly limit, shown under Settings, Billing. You can also turn auto-reload of credits off, so you never pay more than you loaded.
  • Revoke a key: on the same API keys page.

ChatGPT (OpenAI)

  1. Go to platform.openai.com and sign up, or log in. This is the developer platform, not chatgpt.com.
  2. Add a payment method and credits under Billing.
  3. Go to platform.openai.com/api-keys. Keys belong to a project; the default project is fine to start with.
  4. Click Create new secret key. Give it a name. You can choose “All” or “Restricted” permissions; “All” is the simple choice for this package. OpenAI recommends an expiry date.
  5. Copy the key right away and paste it into your .env file. You may not be able to see it again.
  • Environment variable: OPENAI_API_KEY
  • Spending limit: on the Limits page of your organisation or project you can set alerts and a monthly budget.
  • Revoke a key: on the API keys page. OpenAI says a revoked key stops working within seconds.

Gemini (Google)

  1. Go to aistudio.google.com/apikey and log in with a Google account.
  2. Click Create API key. Every key belongs to a Google Cloud project; a new account gets a default project, so you don’t have to set anything up in Google Cloud first.
  3. Copy the key and paste it into your .env file.

Google changed its keys in 2026. New keys made in AI Studio are a new kind of key, and Google has announced that the Gemini API stops accepting the older “standard” keys. Tutorials from before 2026 may show a key that looks different from yours; that is expected. When an old key is refused, create a new one in AI Studio.

  • Environment variable: GEMINI_API_KEY. The package reads only this one. Google’s own tools also read GOOGLE_API_KEY; the package does not.
  • Free tier: a new account starts on a free tier with limited models and rate limits. For more, click Set up billing in AI Studio and link a Cloud Billing account.
  • Spending limit: set a spend cap per project on the Spend page in AI Studio, and a budget alert in the Google Cloud console.
  • Revoke a key: create a new key first and put it in .env, then delete the old key in AI Studio or on the Credentials page of the Google Cloud console.

Grok (xAI)

  1. Go to console.x.ai and sign up, or log in.
  2. Load credits under Billing. The API only works when your team has credits.
  3. Open API Keys in the sidebar and create a key. Keys belong to a team; the default team is fine.
  4. Copy the key right away and paste it into your .env file. You may not be able to see it again.
  • Environment variable: XAI_API_KEY
  • Spending limit: under Billing, API spend management. Auto top-up has a monthly cap. Without auto top-up, requests simply stop when your credits run out.
  • Revoke a key: on the API Keys page, open the menu with three dots next to the key and disable or delete it.

Put them in .env

.env is a text file in the root folder of your Laravel application. It holds the settings that differ per machine and the secrets, such as database passwords and API keys. Laravel reads it when the application starts.

The easy way: the wizard 

php artisan ai-generator:install

The wizard asks which providers you have a key for, lets you paste each key, checks the key with the provider (this costs nothing), lets you pick the models, and writes everything to .env. See Installation.

By hand

Open .env and add a line per provider you use. Leave out the providers you don’t use.

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=paste-your-claude-key-here
OPENAI_API_KEY=paste-your-openai-key-here
GEMINI_API_KEY=paste-your-gemini-key-here
XAI_API_KEY=paste-your-grok-key-here
  • No spaces around the =.
  • No quotes needed: keys contain no spaces.
  • Save the file, then check the keys: php artisan ai-generator:status.

Keep your keys secret

  • Never commit .env. A new Laravel application lists .env in .gitignore, so git skips it. Check that the line is still there before your first commit.
  • Put empty values in .env.example. That file is committed, so other developers see which variables exist: ANTHROPIC_API_KEY= without the key.
  • Never put a key in your code, in a Blade view, in JavaScript or in a config file with the value written out. Code ends up in git, and JavaScript ends up in every visitor’s browser. Always use env() in a config file, and read the config in your code.
  • Use a different key per environment. One key for your laptop, one for the production server. When one leaks, you revoke only that one.
  • Set a spending limit at every provider, as described above.
  • On a server that caches its config (php artisan config:cache), run that command again after you change .env. Until then the application keeps the old values.

When a key has leaked

You pushed .env to GitHub, pasted a key in a chat or a screenshot, or you are not sure:

  1. Revoke the key at the provider right away, on the page where you created it.
  2. Create a new key and put it in .env (and on your server).
  3. Removing the key from git history is not enough: bots scan public repositories within minutes. Always revoke.
  4. Check the usage page of the provider for calls you did not make.