Getting Your API Keys
How to get an OpenAI API key
Create a key on the OpenAI platform, add credit, and paste it in — step by step, with the two mistakes that catch everyone.
What an OpenAI key powers in Landio
One OpenAI key covers three separate jobs: GPT models for writing captions and post copy, GPT Image for generated images, and Sora for video. You add the key once and then choose, per job, whether OpenAI or another vendor handles it.
Before you start
You need an OpenAI account, and you need a payment method on it. These are two different things, and skipping the second is the single most common reason a freshly-created key fails on its first call.
A ChatGPT Plus subscription does not include API credit. They are billed separately, from different balances. Paying for ChatGPT and then creating an API key leaves you with a key that has no funds behind it.
Creating the key
The whole flow takes about two minutes once you have an account.
Go to platform.openai.com and sign in. This is the developer platform, not chatgpt.com — the same login works on both, but keys only exist on the platform side.
Screenshot: The OpenAI platform dashboard after signing in, with the settings gear in the top-right corner
Open the API keys page from the left sidebar, or go straight to platform.openai.com/api-keys.
Screenshot: The OpenAI API keys page listing existing keys, with the Create new secret key button at the top right
Click Create new secret key. Give it a name that says where it is used — "Landio" beats "key 1" when you come back in six months to work out what you can safely revoke.
If you're asked to pick a project and a permission level, the default project is fine. For permissions, choose a restricted key limited to model calls if the option is offered — it's the narrower grant.
Screenshot: The Create new secret key dialog showing the name field, project selector and permissions options
Copy the key that appears. It starts with sk- and is shown exactly once — close the dialog without copying it and you'll have to create another. Paste it somewhere safe before you navigate away.
Screenshot: The dialog showing the newly created secret key with a copy button, and the warning that it will not be shown again
Adding credit
Under Settings → Billing, add a payment method and buy an initial credit balance. OpenAI's API is prepaid — you top up a balance and calls draw it down.
Start small. Ten dollars is more caption generation than most workspaces get through in a month, and you can turn on auto-recharge later once you know your real usage.
If your first generation fails with a quota or billing message, this is almost always the step that was skipped — not a problem with the key.
Adding the key to Landio
Open AI Providers from the sidebar, find OpenAI in the vendor list, paste the key, and save. The same key is then available for text, images, and video; you pick which of those OpenAI handles.
Keys are encrypted at rest and write-only — after saving, the page only tells you that a key exists, never what it is. That also means there's no way to read a key back out of us later, so keep the copy you saved at the vendor.
Adding a key doesn't unlock a feature; it changes who bills you for it. Every plan already includes an AI allowance, so drafting works before you do any of this. With your own key, that usage bills from OpenAI at their rates instead of counting against the allowance.
You can add more than one key per vendor. Landio will either spread calls across them or treat the extras as failover spares, depending on how you configure that vendor — useful when one key is a paid account and the rest are backups.
If something goes wrong
An "incorrect API key" error usually means a partial copy — check for a missing character at either end, or a stray space.
An "exceeded your current quota" error means the key is valid but the balance is empty. Top up rather than making a new key; a new key draws on the same empty balance.
A rate-limit error on a brand-new account is normal — limits start low and rise with account age and spend.
Frequently asked questions
Does my ChatGPT Plus subscription include API access?
No. ChatGPT and the API are billed separately and draw on separate balances. A Plus subscription gives you nothing on the API side — you need a payment method and a credit balance on platform.openai.com specifically.
How much will API usage actually cost me?
For text, far less than people expect — captions are short, and a month of ordinary drafting typically lands in single-digit dollars. Image and especially video generation are the expensive ones, priced per generation rather than per word. Check OpenAI's pricing page for current rates, and set a monthly budget cap in their billing settings if you want a hard ceiling.
I lost my key. Can I see it again?
Not from OpenAI, and not from us — both sides show it exactly once. Create a new key, paste the new one in, then delete the old one from the OpenAI console so it stops working.
Can I use one key for several tools?
Technically yes, but a key per tool is worth the extra minute. When you revoke one, only that tool breaks, and per-key usage in OpenAI's dashboard tells you what each is actually costing you.
Is it safe to paste an API key into a third-party app?
Keys are encrypted before storage and never displayed again after you save them. That said, the honest general answer is: give any third party the narrowest key you can, and keep the ability to revoke it. Where a vendor supports scoped or restricted keys, use one limited to the models Landio actually calls, and rotate it from the vendor's console if you ever stop using us.
This walkthrough was last checked against the provider's live console on . Providers redesign their dashboards without notice — if what you see doesn't match, the button names have probably moved rather than the process changing.
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