# BYOK > Bring Your Own Key — connect your AI provider API key so chat, ghost-text completion, and skill passes run on your account, with usage you can see in that provider’s dashboard. Also known as bring your own key ## In practice BYOK means you connect your own AI provider API key so chat, ghost-text completion, and skill passes can run on your account with usage you can see in that provider's dashboard. It is not limited to skill launches — those three surfaces are in scope when a key is connected and ready. Keys are stored encrypted and used for the AI calls you initiate. Hosted skill passes still work if you never connect a key, which matters for writers who want craft tools without managing provider billing. Choose the path that matches how your room budgets model usage across a season. Set expectations with collaborators: a connected key changes whose quota a pass consumes. Review Inkwell's security docs for what scoped context is sent — typically the scenes or lines in scope for the pass, not your entire library as a silent bundle shipped without asking. [Set up BYOK](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/guides/byok-setup) ## Common questions ### Do I need BYOK to try skills? No. Every plan includes hosted skill passes. BYOK is optional when you want your own provider account, quotas, and dashboard-visible usage. ### What does BYOK route through my key? Chat, ghost-text completion, and skills — not skills alone. If you connect a key, those AI surfaces can use your provider account. ### Are my API keys stored in plain text? No. Keys are stored encrypted and used for provider calls you initiate. See Security for the fuller data-handling story behind storage. ### Can I use Inkwell AI features without bringing a key? Yes. Hosted skills work without BYOK. Skip connecting a key if you prefer not to manage provider credentials or billing. ## Related terms - [AI skill](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/ai-skill): A structured AI pass that reads your document and proposes edits or findings in place — dialogue polish, continuity flags, coverage — as reviewable markup you accept or reject. - [Dialogue pass](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/dialogue-pass): A skill that proposes line-level dialogue improvements — tightening, rhythm, voice consistency — as inline markup you accept or reject one line at a time. - [Continuity check](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/continuity-check): A skill that reads your scenes and flags continuity problems — vanishing props, unexplained costume changes, location contradictions — as findings you accept or dismiss. --- Canonical page: