# Bring your own AI keys

> Use your own Anthropic or OpenAI account for Notate's AI features instead of an AI plan.

Source: https://notate.md/docs/ai/bring-your-own-keys/

Category: AI & transcription

Updated: 2026-08-15

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If you already pay Anthropic or OpenAI directly, you can point Notate at your
own accounts instead of buying the AI plan. Notate uses your key, the provider
bills you, and nothing is drawn from a Notate AI allowance.

This is an option on the **Sync** plan. It needs an account because your keys
are stored on the server, which is also what lets the CLI and MCP use them.

## Which key turns on what

There are two, and they do different jobs. Most people have one, not both, so
it is normal for some AI features to be on and others off.

| Your key | What it turns on |
| --- | --- |
| **Anthropic** | Chat with your notes, writing tools (completions, rewrite, summaries), auto-tagging, AI image descriptions, and the Meeting Assistant |
| **OpenAI** | Audio transcription, including live meeting transcription |

An Anthropic key does nothing for transcription, and an OpenAI key does nothing
for chat. Settings lists each feature under the key that powers it, so you can
see at a glance what is on and what is not.

**Semantic search is included either way.** It runs on Notate's own embeddings
provider and costs a few cents a year per person, so we cover it rather than
ask you for a third key that almost nobody has.

## Adding a key

1. Open **Settings → AI**.
2. Paste your key next to the provider and choose **Save**.
3. Notate checks the key against the provider before storing it, so a typo
   fails right away instead of turning into a broken feature later.

Once saved, a key is never shown again. You will see a masked fingerprint like
`sk-ant…4f2a`, which is enough to tell two keys apart. Keys are encrypted
before they are written to the database.

Remove a key any time from the same screen. AI features that depended on it
switch off immediately.

## Choosing a Claude model

With an Anthropic key you can pick which Claude model to use: Sonnet 4.6 (the
default), Sonnet 5, Opus 5, or Haiku 4.5. The setting appears once a key is
saved, and applies only to your Anthropic key.

Model choice is not offered on the AI plan, where Notate manages the model.

## What this does not change

- **End-to-end encryption still turns AI off.** With encryption on, the server
  cannot read your notes, so there is nothing to send to a provider. That is
  true whether the key is yours or ours.
- **Your notes still pass through Notate's servers** on the way to the
  provider. Your key changes who pays, not where the request goes.
- **Provider costs are yours.** Notate does not mark anything up and does not
  see your provider bill.

## Getting a key

- Anthropic: [console.anthropic.com](https://console.anthropic.com/settings/keys)
- OpenAI: [platform.openai.com](https://platform.openai.com/api-keys)

Both require a funded account with that provider. If you would rather not
manage any of this, the **AI plan** includes everything above with no keys to
set up.