API key
Also called API keys
A secret code that lets a program use an AI service on your account. Anyone who has it can run up charges in your name.
When an app talks to an AI model through an API, it proves who's paying with a key: a long string of letters and numbers, often starting with a recognisable prefix. The service treats whoever presents the key as you.
That makes keys valuable to steal, and AI keys are a prize because they can pay for someone else's app. Leaks are common: GitGuardian counted over 1.2 million secrets for AI services exposed in public code in a single year, up 81% on the year before.
AI coding tools add to the problem when they paste a key straight into the code to make something work. Keep keys out of code, give each project its own, and set a spending cap so a leak costs little.
For example
A hobby project's key ends up in a public code repository, and within days someone uses it to run their own app on the owner's bill.
Put it to use
Where you'll meet API key in ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude, how to use it there, and the mix-up most people make.
Daily Bytes Plus is in the Android app.