Getting AI Provider Keys¶

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Maestro runs on AI models you supply. You bring your own key from one of three providers: Anthropic, OpenAI, or Google Gemini. The Maestro software is free; the AI calls it makes are billed by your provider, to you, at cost.

You only need one provider to start. You can mix providers later by assigning different models to different agents (see Configuration).

This page covers how to create a key and set up billing with each provider. For where to enter the key, see Connect n8n credentials. Keys are entered in n8n only. They never go in your .env file.

What it costs¶

A typical tailored application (resume plus cover letter, with the critique and fact-check passes) costs roughly $0.06 to $0.12 in provider charges, depending on the models you choose. A few dollars of credit covers a lot of applications.

Maestro records the cost of every run in the model_usage tab of your database, so you can see exactly what you are spending.

Google Gemini (free tier available)¶

Gemini is the easiest way to try Maestro at no cost. Google offers a free tier through AI Studio that is enough to test the system on a few applications.

Go to aistudio.google.com/apikey and sign in with a Google account.
Select Create API key.
Copy the key and keep it somewhere safe.

The free tier has rate and usage limits. To raise them, enable billing on the associated Google Cloud project from the same AI Studio screen. Current limits and pricing are on Google's Gemini API pricing page.

Anthropic (Claude)¶

Sign up at console.anthropic.com.
Open Billing and add a small amount of credit. $5 to $10 is plenty to start.
Open API Keys, select Create Key, and copy the key. It begins with sk-ant-.

Anthropic is prepaid: you add credit, and calls draw it down. Current model pricing is on the Anthropic pricing page.

OpenAI¶

Sign up at platform.openai.com.
Open Billing (under Settings) and add a payment method or prepaid credit. OpenAI requires billing to be set up before API calls will succeed, even on a new account.
Open platform.openai.com/api-keys, select Create new secret key, and copy it. It begins with sk-.

Current model pricing is on the OpenAI pricing page.

After you have a key¶

Enter it in n8n, not in .env. The dashboard makes no AI calls itself; the keys live in n8n's Header Auth credentials, assigned to the Call LLM nodes. The exact header for each provider, and the step-by-step, are in Connect n8n credentials and the AI provider credentials reference.

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