Authentication

Every request to Qevron is authenticated with an API key. This page explains how to obtain and send one.

What is an API key?

An API key is a secret string that proves a request is made on your behalf, starting with sk-. Each key belongs to a group; the group determines which models the key can access and its quota (see API Keys & Quota).

Creating a key

1. Sign in to the Qevron admin dashboard.
2. Go to the Keys / Tokens section.
3. Click Create new key; give it a name and (if applicable) select the model set / group it can access.
4. Copy the generated sk-... value immediately — the key is shown in full only once.
5. Store the key in an environment variable (see below).

TIP

Create separate keys for different apps/environments (development, production). That way revoking one doesn't affect the others.

Storing the key in an environment variable

macOS / Linux

export QEVRON_API_KEY="sk-..."
# add it to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc to make it persistent

Windows (PowerShell)

$Env:QEVRON_API_KEY = "sk-..."
# persistent: [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("QEVRON_API_KEY","sk-...","User")

.env file

# .env  — ADD this file to .gitignore
QEVRON_API_KEY=sk-...

Reading it in code: Python os.environ["QEVRON_API_KEY"], Node.js process.env.QEVRON_API_KEY.

Sending the key

The standard way is the Authorization header with the Bearer prefix:

Authorization: Bearer sk-aBcD1234...

For compatibility, Qevron also accepts a few alternative headers:

Header	Format	Use
Authorization	Bearer sk-...	Recommended. OpenAI/Anthropic standard.
Authorization	sk-...	Works without the Bearer prefix too.
x-api-key	sk-...	Anthropic SDK compatibility.
x-goog-api-key	sk-...	Google Gemini SDK compatibility.

TIP

Most SDKs (Python/JS openai, anthropic) send the right header automatically; you only set the key and base_url.

Forcing a specific provider (optional)

By default Qevron picks the best channel for your model. To force a specific channel, add the Qevron-Channel header:

curl https://app.qevron.ai/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $QEVRON_API_KEY" \
  -H "Qevron-Channel: openai" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "model": "verinova", "messages": [{"role":"user","content":"hi"}] }'

The value can be the channel name or its numeric ID.

Response headers

On successful requests Qevron returns informative headers:

Header	Meaning
Group	ID of the group that processed the request.
X-RateLimit-Limit-Requests	Allowed requests per period.
X-RateLimit-Remaining-Requests	Remaining requests.
X-RateLimit-Reset-Requests	When the limit resets (Unix).
X-RateLimit-Limit-Tokens / -Remaining-Tokens / -Reset-Tokens	Token-based limits.

Security

WARNING

• Don't embed the key in client-side code (browser, mobile app) — anyone can read it. Proxy requests through your own server.
• Store the key in an environment variable; never commit it.
• If you suspect a leak, revoke the key in the dashboard and create a new one.

A missing or invalid key returns 401 Unauthorized. See Errors for details.