Bring you own keys

[bricelb]

I want to use my own API keys to continue using OMI for free forever with my existing subscriptions to OpenAI, Anthropic and Gemini.

It seems to be possible as it's literally written in (very small typeface) (purple on black) in the modal window whenever you are out of the free plan 30 credits. And if you manage to see it and click it, you get to the Advanced setup pane where I see 4 keys fields that can be setup : OpenAI API Key, Anthropic API Key, Gemini API Key and Deepgram API Key.

However I could not find a single line in the documentation about this feature in

• https://help.omi.me/en/
• https://docs.omi.me/doc/developer/api/overview
• https://github.com/BasedHardware/omi
  This seems to be a very secret feature, or I can't use Google search anymore.
  Does anyone found any documentation on OMI BYOK ?

I already have the first 3 subscriptions but I wonder about getting the missing Deepgram API Key.
Do I need to fill al 4 API Keys for OMI to continue working for free forever or just an OpenAI key is enough ?

Once setup with my own API keys, will this setup be used also for iOS / iPadOS / WatchOS OMI apps ?
Did anyone make this setup successfully work already ?

[chicoenmascarado]

There's no docs page for it yet, so here is how it works on current main.

Where it is. Bring-your-own-keys is a desktop feature:

• macOS: Settings → Advanced → the "Bring your own keys" card (desktop/macos/Desktop/Sources/MainWindow/Pages/Settings/Sections/SettingsContentView+DeveloperKeys.swift).
• Windows: Settings → Advanced → developer keys (desktop/windows/src/renderer/src/components/settings/tabs/DeveloperKeysSection.tsx).

The keys stay on that computer: in the app's settings on macOS, encrypted with the OS keystore on Windows. The app sends them as X-BYOK-* headers on each request. The backend only stores a fingerprint of each key and checks the headers against it (backend/utils/byok.py).

Do you need all four? No. You need at least one LLM key: OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini or OpenRouter. Deepgram is optional. The backend rejects an enrollment that only has Deepgram (activate_byok_endpoint in backend/routers/users.py).

What each key unlocks:

• Any validated LLM key removes the limits on the AI features that run on your key.
• Desktop chat only runs on your own key with Anthropic (DESKTOP_CHAT_BYOK_PROVIDER = 'anthropic' in backend/utils/subscription.py). With OpenAI only, desktop chat still counts against Omi's chat limit. The settings card says this too.
• Transcription still uses Omi's Deepgram and stays on the free-tier allowance unless you also add a validated Deepgram key (_user_subscription_response in backend/routers/users.py).

Does it sync to iOS/iPadOS/watchOS? No. The mobile app doesn't send BYOK headers, and a request without them takes the normal path (the "fast path" in _validated_byok_keys). Requests from your phone use Omi's keys and your regular plan, even while BYOK is active on your Mac.

Practical setup for "free with my existing subscriptions":

1. Add your Anthropic key, so desktop chat uses it.
2. Optionally add OpenAI or Gemini.
3. Add a Deepgram key if you want transcription outside the free allowance.

The backend treats your BYOK enrollment as active for 7 days after the desktop app last confirmed it (BYOK_HEARTBEAT_TTL_SECONDS in backend/database/users.py).