> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://notara.gitbook.io/notara-docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://notara.gitbook.io/notara-docs/byok.md). # BYOK (Bring Your Own Key) Notara requires you to provide your own LLM API key. This means you pay your AI provider directly for the tokens your team uses, giving you full cost transparency and control. ## Why BYOK? There are a few reasons Notara takes this approach rather than bundling an LLM key: 1. **Cost transparency**: you see exactly what you're spending on AI in your provider's dashboard. There's no markup hidden inside a Notara credit line item. 2. **Provider choice**: different teams have different needs. Some prefer Anthropic Claude's reasoning, others need OpenAI's tool use, others have compliance requirements that favor a specific provider. 3. **Rate limits**: your provider's rate limits are yours — Notara doesn't share capacity across customers. 4. **No key custody risk**: Notara never holds a key that could expose your AI usage if Notara were breached. ## Supported Providers | Provider | Models | Notes | | ----------------- | -------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | | **Anthropic** | Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Claude 3 Opus, etc. | Recommended — best reasoning performance | | **OpenAI** | GPT-4o, GPT-4-turbo, etc. | Fully supported | | **Google Gemini** | Gemini 1.5 Pro, Gemini Flash | Fully supported | | **Kimi** | Moonshot models | Fully supported | | **GLM** | ChatGLM models | Fully supported | | **DeepSeek** | DeepSeek-V2, DeepSeek-Coder | Fully supported | New providers are added regularly. Contact if your preferred provider isn't listed. ## How to Add Your Key 1. In the Notara dashboard, go to **Settings → BYOK**. 2. Select your provider from the dropdown. 3. Paste your API key into the input field. 4. Click **Verify** — Notara makes a small test call to confirm the key is valid and has the right permissions. 5. Click **Save**. You can update or rotate your key at any time by repeating these steps. The old key is replaced immediately. ## Key Security Your API key is encrypted at rest using **AES-256-GCM** with a workspace-specific encryption key. It is: * Never logged in plain text * Never included in error messages or audit logs * Never transmitted to any third party other than your chosen provider * Decrypted only at agent runtime when a call needs to be made, then discarded from memory ## Credits and Tokens Notara tracks your LLM usage as **credits** for plan enforcement: ``` 1 credit = 10,000 tokens (input + output combined) ``` This means: * A typical short Slack conversation might use 5,000 tokens = 0.5 credits * A long research task with many tool calls might use 50,000 tokens = 5 credits * The Pro plan includes 2,500 credits = 25 million tokens per billing period Only calls to your primary agent model count toward credits. Triage calls (lightweight classifier models used to route messages) are excluded from credit counting. Your token usage is visible in **Settings → Billing → Usage**. The credit gauge on the Overview page updates in near-real-time. ## What Happens If Credits Run Out When you reach your plan's credit limit: 1. The agent responds with a message saying your workspace has reached its usage limit for this billing period. 2. New requests are blocked until the next billing cycle begins (or you upgrade). 3. Your BYOK key is NOT charged beyond what was already used — credits are a Notara-side cap, not a provider-side cap. Credits reset on your billing cycle date (the anniversary of when you subscribed). ## Provider-Specific Guides * [Anthropic (Claude)](/notara-docs/byok/anthropic.md) — detailed setup for the recommended provider --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter: ``` GET https://notara.gitbook.io/notara-docs/byok.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.