Bring Your Own API Key (BYOK)
By default, Vulcan uses a shared platform API key for all AI chat sessions. If you want to use your own Anthropic account instead, you can add your own key in Vulcan Settings.
Why you might want this
- Your own quota. You're not sharing throughput with other platform users.
- Cost attribution. API usage appears in your own Anthropic account dashboard.
- Specific model access. If your account has access to models not available on the shared key.
How to add your key
- Open Vulcan Settings (your avatar or the gear icon in the top-right corner of the IDE)
- Go to the API Key section
- Enter your Anthropic API key — it must start with
sk-ant- - Click Save
Your key is validated when you save it. If the format is wrong, you'll see an error and it won't be stored.
How it works
Your key is encrypted at rest using AES-256-GCM before being stored. The unencrypted value is never written to any log, database, or chat history. Only a masked hint (last 4 characters) is stored alongside it so you can confirm which key is active.
When you start a chat session, Vulcan checks whether you have a saved key. If you do, it decrypts it and uses it for that session. If anything goes wrong during decryption, Vulcan silently falls back to the shared platform key — your session is never interrupted.
Removing your key
To remove your key:
- Open Vulcan Settings
- Go to the API Key section
- Click Remove
After removal, your sessions use the shared platform key again.
Security notes
- Your key is never included in app code, templates, or AI-generated content
- It is stored per-user and is not shared with other Vulcan users or visible to platform admins
- Removing the key from Vulcan does not revoke it from Anthropic — you need to do that separately at console.anthropic.com if you want to fully deactivate it
Questions
Reach out in #eng_product_platform_team if you have questions about key management or usage attribution.