Keys and limits

Every API key has its own spending, rate and model limits, which you set on the dashboard.

Every key has limits. The dashboard shows them on each key, and you can change them there.

The API keys section of the OptiQ Cloud dashboard: each key with its label, what it spent this month against its monthly limit, its request limits, the models it may call, when it was last used, and Edit and Revoke buttons. — Each key shows its spending against its limit.

Limit	Default	What happens at it
Spending per key	$100 a month	The key is refused until next month, or until you raise it. A call that started under the limit finishes.
Requests per key	60 a minute	HTTP 429 with a `Retry-After` header
Calls at once per key	10	HTTP 429 until one finishes
Models	All	A model the key may not call is refused
Expiry	None	An expired key is refused
Call length	10 minutes	Fixed
Request size	4.4 MB	HTTP 413; compact the conversation or crop the image

You can remove a key's spending limit, narrow it to some models, or give it an expiry date. Keys made by optiq cloud login get the same defaults.

Creating a key on the dashboard: a label field, the monthly spending limit with a No limit checkbox, requests per minute, calls at once, an optional expiry date, and the models it may call. — A new key starts with the defaults shown, which you can change before creating it.

Credit and top-up

New accounts get $2 of credit for 14 days. Credit is bought $20 at a time and lasts 12 months. A call is accepted while the balance is above zero and billed afterwards, so the last call can take it slightly below zero.

Auto top-up is off unless you turn it on. When on, it adds $20 when the balance falls below a threshold you set, and it adds at most $1,000 a month unless you change that limit.

Auto top-up on the dashboard: the threshold below which $20 is added, and the most it can add in a month, $1,000 by default.

Seeing what you spent

The dashboard shows your balance, this month's spend, and every recent task with its calls, input, cached and output tokens, and cost. Calls are grouped into a task by the session id the client sends; OptiQ Code and Claude Code send one, and other clients' calls are listed one by one.

The usage table on the dashboard: recent tasks with their number of calls, input, cached and output tokens, and cost.