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API keys

API keys

Hosted services under maintenance: Vinci Chat, Mobile, Platform and the managed API are under maintenance. The instructions below are retained for when the relevant features are available; they do not promise access or a return date. This notice does not apply to public model downloads or Vinci Code’s bring-your-own-key setup. See the current products page .

An API key lets software you use (or build) talk to Vinci on your behalf. If you only chat in the Vinci app, you don’t need one. If you want to use Vinci inside another tool — a coding assistant, a script, your own app — you do.

Don’t worry if you’ve never used an API key before: it’s just a long password that a program uses instead of a sign-in screen. Getting one takes about a minute.

Get a key

Keys live on the Vinci Platform — the developer home for your account, keys, and usage. It’s the same account as the Vinci app: sign in with the same email and password you already use.

  1. Sign in at platform.getsimpledirect.com.
  2. Open API keys.
  3. Choose Issue key.
  4. Choose any scopes the key needs: inference to call POST /chat/completions, models to call GET /models and GET /models/{model}, and usage to read usage data. You can choose one or more. If you select no scopes, the key has full access to all scopes; this is the default and keeps existing keys working.
  5. Choose whether the key expires after 30, 90, or 365 days, or never expires. Never expire is the default.
  6. What you’ll see: a pop-up with your new key — it starts with vinci_live_… — and a Copy button. Copy it now and paste it somewhere safe. This is the only time the full key is shown: we store only a scrambled fingerprint (a “hash”), so we genuinely can’t show it to you again later.
  7. Click Done. Your key now appears in the list — but only its first few characters.

Lost a key? No problem — revoke it and issue a new one. It takes seconds.

Scopes are enforced by Vinci: if a key lacks a required scope, the request gets HTTP 403 (permission_error). For example, a key without inference cannot call /chat/completions. When a key expires, it is rejected exactly like a revoked key with HTTP 401 (authentication_error).

Keep your key safe

  • Treat a key like a password. Anyone who has it can use Vinci as you, and their usage counts against your shared credit balance.
  • Don’t paste keys into emails, screenshots, or public code.
  • If a key is ever exposed — or you’re just not sure — revoke it (same API keys screen on the Platform) and issue a new one. Revoking takes effect immediately; the old key stops working on the very next request.

Use your key

Pointing a tool or your own code at Vinci is a developer task, and it’s documented step-by-step here:

Vinci’s API is OpenAI-compatible, so many existing tools work just by changing the base URL and pasting in your Vinci key. The developer docs explain the settings and show complete request examples. For coding tasks, Vinci Code ↗  connects through browser device pairing instead of an API key.

See what a key is using

The Platform’s Usage page ↗ shows usage across your whole account — web, mobile, API keys, and Vinci Code all share one USD credit balance. If your credits run out, the API returns HTTP 402 (budget_exhausted / insufficient_quota). HTTP 429 (rate_limit_error) means Vinci is briefly busy, not that your balance is empty. See Billing & limits.

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Account & sign-inBilling & limits