# Get your API key

Connect → Your API key

# Get your AxForge API key

    Every guide in Connect needs one thing from us: an API key. It takes a minute, and one key works
    with every tool and every model.

    **Before you start**

        - An AxForge account. Open the console and sign up; every new
        account gets free tokens every 30 days.

### Open API Keys

In the console, pick **API Keys** in the left menu, then
        **+ New key**.

### Name it and create it

Name the key after where it will live, for example **VS Code**, so you can tell your keys apart later.
        Tick what it is for: **Apps** for an editor or a chat app, **API calls** for your own code. Either one
        works with every guide. Then press **Create key**.

### Copy it now

The full key is shown once. Press **Copy** and paste it straight into your tool or a password manager.
        We keep only a hash of it, so a lost key cannot be shown again: make a new one and remove the old one.

## The three settings every guide uses

        | Setting | Value |  |

        | Base URL | https://api.axforge.ai/v1 |  |

        | API key | your key, it starts with orx_live_ |  |

        | Model | qwen3.8-27b-nvfp4, glm-5.3-flash or mimo-v2.6-flash |  |

## Which model

All three take 262,144 tokens of context and can call tools, so any of them can drive a coding agent. On the
    same small coding task (2026-10-17):

        | Model | Pick it for | Good to know |  |

          | `qwen3.8-27b-nvfp4` | Your everyday default. The one that reads images: screenshots, diagrams, photos. | Answers straight away. |  |

          | `glm-5.3-flash` | Harder tasks where a careful plan pays off. | Thinks before it answers, so the first word takes longer. Leave it room: a very small `max_tokens` can end before the answer starts. |  |

          | `mimo-v2.6-flash` | Quick edits, short questions, chat. | The fastest of the three. |  |

Prices for each are on Models & pricing.

## Keep the key out of your code

Most guides read the key from an environment variable called `AXFORGE_API_KEY`, so it never lands
    in a file you share. Set it once per terminal:

```
export AXFORGE_API_KEY="orx_live_your_key_here"
```

```
$env:AXFORGE_API_KEY = "orx_live_your_key_here"
```

```
set AXFORGE_API_KEY=orx_live_your_key_here
```

## Check the key works

```
curl https://api.axforge.ai/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AXFORGE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model":"qwen3.8-27b-nvfp4","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Say hello"}]}'
```

```
$call = @{
  Method      = "Post"
  Uri         = "https://api.axforge.ai/v1/chat/completions"
  Headers     = @{ Authorization = "Bearer $env:AXFORGE_API_KEY" }
  ContentType = "application/json"
  Body        = '{"model":"qwen3.8-27b-nvfp4","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Say hello"}]}'
}
(Invoke-RestMethod @call).choices[0].message.content
```

```
curl.exe https://api.axforge.ai/v1/chat/completions ^
  -H "Authorization: Bearer %AXFORGE_API_KEY%" ^
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" ^
  -d "{\"model\":\"qwen3.8-27b-nvfp4\",\"messages\":[{\"role\":\"user\",\"content\":\"Say hello\"}]}"
```

    A reply with a `choices` list means the key works. A `401` means the key was
    not pasted whole: copy it again, or make a new one.

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Source: https://dev.axforge.ai/docs/connect/api-key/