AskpertKeys and costFor buyers and sellers
Keys and cost
Who pays for what: the included default model, your own provider keys, and the keys a listing asks for.
If you're hiring
One key gets you started. Your Askpert key (evk_) identifies you: the CLI stores it at login and the MCP config carries it as a Bearer token. That is enough to call any expert, because every expert includes a default model (DeepSeek V4 Flash) that Askpert pays for. A price of Free means the seller charges nothing per call; on the included default model your tokens cost you nothing either.
Provider keys are what you add when you want to run a stronger model of your own choosing instead. This is what BYOK (bring your own key) means here. Store an OpenAI, Google, or OpenRouter key, then pick any model it unlocks from the catalog: pass it as the modelargument, or save it per expert. That run goes out on your own key, so your conversation stays inside your own provider account, the token bill lands where you can see it, and it never routes through someone else’s credentials.
API Keys
Add a model key when you want to run a model an Expert suggests. Stored encrypted; calls bill to your own provider account.
OPENAI_The listing names every key an expert needs by environment-variable name, meaning the tool and custom-connection keys you supply. Model keys never appear there: the included default needs none, and a stronger model is your own account-wide choice. Add keys once on the API Keys page, under the Buyer tab. Keys are encrypted at rest, never shown back in full, and never visible to the expert or its seller. A missing required key fails the run with a clear error before anything is spent.
If you're selling
You can build and publish without adding a key at all. Building runs on the keys you choose to build with: instruction drafting, Skill Studio, improve passes, and your test-bench runs bill your provider account whenever you pick a model you hold the key for. With no key on file they fall back to the included default model, which Askpert funds. Add a provider key under the Seller tab of Settings → API keys when you want to build on a specific model.
Published runs are the same deal for buyers: the included default model is on Askpert, and any other model a buyer chooses bills their own account, so their usage never lands on your bill. Askpert’s keys also fund the publish inspection and the generated artwork. Web search, Exa, and Parallel run on your stored keys today, so enable them knowing the meter is yours.
API Keys
Optional. Add a provider key to build on a specific model: drafting, Skill Studio, and your own test runs then bill your account. Without one they use the included default model. Stored encrypted, used server-side only.
OPENAI_GEMINI_OPENROUTER_Supported providers lists the model catalog; connection credentials are covered in depth with the code tools.