The BYOK concept

BYOK — Bring Your Own Key means you configure your own API key. Browser Mate does not provide AI credits and does not pay calls for you: the contract, the limits and billing belong to your account at the provider.

Remote provider

Use OpenAI, Anthropic or OpenRouter. The authorized context leaves the device and goes to the provider. A chat subscription does not guarantee balance or API access.

Local model

Use Ollama or LM Studio. You need a running local server and a model that supports tools. Your computer’s resources determine speed and quality.

Providers available in the menu

The menu contains OpenRouter, OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama and Custom (OpenAI-compatible). For Google/Gemini models, this guide uses OpenRouter. There is no native Google option in this version.

Protecting the key

The key is stored encrypted in the browser’s local storage, not on the documentation website. A key that has already been saved can be kept by leaving the field empty when saving the same provider again.

Caution

The encryption does not require a password from you. Whoever has access to your browser profile and session may recover the key. Protect the device, use separate profiles and revoke compromised keys at the provider.

See LLM Model to configure and Costs to track estimates.