API Keys panel

Settings → API Keys is the central place to manage credentials. AI Enhancement and Cloud Transcription both pull from this panel.

For provider-specific walkthroughs (creating a Groq account, finding your OpenAI key, etc.), see API Key Setup. This page covers the panel UI.

Layout

Each supported provider gets a collapsible card, ordered: OpenAI, Anthropic, Groq, Deepgram, Google, OpenRouter, Together, Custom.

Screenshot

Settings → API Keys panel showing the provider list with OpenAI expanded, displaying two saved keys with a radio-button active selector

A card header shows:

• Provider icon and name.
• Key-count badge: green with the count if you have keys, "No keys" otherwise.
• Chevron that rotates when you expand or collapse.

Click anywhere on the header to toggle.

Adding a key

1. Expand the provider.
2. Click Add [Provider] Key (dashed-border button at the bottom).
3. A modal sheet opens.
4. Fill in:
   • Name — a label for yourself (e.g., "Personal," "Work," "Team project").
   • Key value — paste the key from the provider's dashboard. Masked by default; toggle visibility if you need to compare.
5. The form validates as you type.
6. Click Save.

The provider card auto-expands and the new key becomes focused.

Multiple keys per provider

You can save more than one key per provider — useful if you have separate personal and work accounts, or different keys for different projects.

When a provider has 2+ keys, a radio button appears next to each. The selected radio is the active key — the one that AI Enhancement (and Cloud Transcription, by default) will use for that provider.

To switch active keys, click the radio button on the key you want. The change applies immediately; no app restart.

Heads-up: Cloud Transcription has its own separate key chooser in Settings → Models → Cloud API → [Model card] → Key. By default it follows the same active key you set here, but you can override it per model — useful if you want to transcribe with one key and enhance with another.

Editing or deleting

Hover any key row to reveal:

• Pencil — opens the editor with the current values.
• Trash — deletes after a confirmation dialog.

Deletion confirmation shows the key name and warns it can't be undone. If you delete the active key, Whiskers falls back to another saved key for that provider, or marks the provider as "No keys" if none remain.

Custom providers

The Custom card is for anything that speaks the OpenAI chat-completions protocol — self-hosted endpoints, Azure OpenAI, LM Studio, Ollama, etc.

Adding a custom key:

1. Expand Custom.
2. Click Add Custom Key.
3. Fill in the name and key value as usual.

The key shows up in the list with "Custom provider key" metadata.

To actually use a custom provider for AI Enhancement, you also need to add the provider itself — that's done in Settings → AI Enhancement → Add custom provider, where you set the base URL and authentication scheme. The custom provider links to a key saved here.

Screenshot

Add Custom Key modal with fields for Name and Key value, and a Save button

Storage and security

The footer note (lock icon, centered) reads: Keys are stored securely in macOS Keychain.

That means:

• Keys never sit in plain-text config files.
• macOS encrypts the keychain with your login password.
• Whiskers can read your keys without prompting because it owns them; other apps cannot.
• If you back up your Mac via Time Machine or migrate to a new Mac, your keychain (and so your keys) come along.

Where keys are used

Empty state

Brand-new install with no keys saved: every provider card shows "No keys," and the panel is fully usable — you just can't activate any cloud feature until you add at least one key.