Account Setup & Onboarding

Creating Your OpenRouter Account

An OpenRouter account gives you immediate access to the unified API gateway that connects you to over 200 language models from more than a dozen providers. The registration flow has been optimized for developer speed without compromising security — you can go from zero to a working API integration in most cases under ten minutes.

Begin by navigating to the registration page and entering your email address along with a secure password. OpenRouter accepts both individual developer accounts and team workspace configurations directly through the signup flow. If you plan to invite team members immediately, select the team option during registration to configure workspace defaults during onboarding rather than after account creation.

Password requirements follow current security best practices: a minimum of twelve characters with a mix of character classes. OpenRouter also supports passkey registration for users who prefer biometric or hardware-based authentication from the start. After submitting your credentials, you will receive a six-digit verification code at the email address you provided. The code typically arrives within thirty seconds; check your spam folder if it does not appear in your inbox.

Email Verification and Security Confirmation

Verifying your email address confirms ownership and activates your account fully.

Click the confirmation link in the verification email to activate your account. If you don't receive the message within two minutes, you can request a resend from the verification page. Once confirmed, you'll be directed to your new dashboard where you can immediately begin exploring the model catalog, even before generating credentials. The platform allows browsing and comparison features without API keys, which is useful for evaluating models before committing to integration. Two-factor authentication can be enabled from the security settings panel at any point — it is recommended for accounts that will manage production API keys or team billing.

Generating Your First API Keys

API keys are the credentials that authenticate your requests to the OpenRouter platform.

Navigate to the API keys section of your dashboard and select Create Key. Each key can be assigned a descriptive name for tracking purposes — a practice that becomes valuable when managing multiple keys across development, staging, and production environments. During key creation, you configure scoped permissions: read-only keys for analytics access, full-access keys for API calls, and admin keys for account and billing management. OpenRouter displays each key only once at creation time. Store it securely in a password manager or secrets vault immediately; the platform never shows the raw key value again after the initial display.

Organizations with stricter security requirements can configure IP allowlisting at the account level after initial setup. This restricts API key usage to requests originating from specified IP ranges, adding a network-layer control that complements the cryptographic authentication already built into the key system. Reference documentation from NIST's AI standards program provides additional guidance on secure API key management practices for AI-integrated systems.

Workspace Configuration and Defaults

Your workspace determines default model preferences and spending guardrails for every project.

After generating credentials, configure your workspace preferences to match how you plan to use the platform. Set a default model that will be pre-selected in the playground and suggested in API examples. Establish spending limits to prevent unexpected charges — you can set both daily and monthly caps that automatically block further requests when the threshold is reached. For team accounts, you can predefine role templates that control which workspace members can generate keys, view usage data, or manage billing.

The workspace setup screen also lets you configure data retention preferences. By default, OpenRouter retains request logs for thirty days to power the analytics dashboard. You can extend this to ninety days or reduce it to zero if your use case requires strict data minimization. These controls give organizations the flexibility to align their OpenRouter configuration with internal compliance policies without needing to negotiate custom data processing agreements for standard configurations.

Setup Process Reference

The table below breaks down each onboarding step with estimated time commitments for a first-time user following the standard setup path.

Sending Your First API Request

With your account configured and API keys in hand, sending a test request validates that everything is working correctly. If you are coming from another AI provider, the transition is minimal: the OpenRouter chat completions endpoint uses the same request format as the OpenAI API, so you can switch by pointing your existing client code at the OpenRouter base URL and substituting your new API key.

A basic curl command is included in the dashboard immediately after key generation so you can copy, paste, and run it in your terminal. The response confirms not only that your key is valid but also shows the model routing information — which provider handled the request, what the token cost was, and how long the request took. This transparency from the very first API call distinguishes the platform experience from providers that obscure routing and cost details.

Developers who prefer SDK integration can install the OpenRouter client library for their language of choice. Client libraries are available for Python, JavaScript, Go, and several other popular languages, each maintained to track platform updates and new model availability. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau emphasizes the importance of understanding pricing before committing to any service — a principle that the transparent pay-per-token model directly supports by showing exact consumption costs from request one.

Frequently Asked Questions