Connect OpenAI to Reduz.

Nico uses his personal OpenAI key for daily summarization because he'd rather pay direct OpenAI pricing (cents per summary on GPT-5.4 Mini) than a vendor subscription markup. Anya uses BYOK so the prompts she runs on competitor articles don't route through a third-party AI assistant in the middle. This guide walks through connecting your OpenAI API key to Reduz so summaries go directly from your tab to OpenAI. No Reduz server in the middle. Setup takes about two minutes once you have a key.

Setup steps

1. 1

   Create an API key in the OpenAI platform console

   Open https://platform.openai.com/api-keys and sign in to your OpenAI account. Click "Create new key" (label varies by provider) and copy the key value. Most provider keys start with "sk-" and are 30+ characters long. Treat the key like a password. Anyone with the key can spend on your account.

2. 2

   Install Reduz from the Chrome Web Store

   If you haven't already, install the Reduz extension from the Chrome Web Store. The extension runs entirely on your device and uses click-only access. It can only read a page when you click it.

3. 3

   Open Reduz extension settings

   Click the Reduz toolbar icon, then the settings gear. Scroll to the AI provider section. Each supported provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, DeepSeek, xAI) has its own row with a key field and a model selector.

4. 4

   Select Your own AI key as the active mode

   In the mode chooser, select Your own AI key. This tells Reduz to use your provider key instead of free credits. You can switch back to free credits at any time without losing your saved keys.

5. 5

   Paste the OpenAI key in the matching row

   Find the OpenAI provider row in extension settings and paste your API key. Make sure you paste it into the OpenAI row, not OpenAI or Anthropic. Keys in the wrong row will fail authentication. The key is stored in Chrome extension storage on your device and is never sent to a Reduz server.

6. 6

   Choose a OpenAI model

   Pick the model variant from the dropdown. See the Model selection section below for recommendations on which model fits which workload.

7. 7

   Run the built-in connection test

   Click "Test connection" on the provider row. Reduz sends a tiny test request to validate that the key is active, the account has usable balance, and the selected model is available. Success means you're ready to summarize.

8. 8

   Summarize a non-sensitive source first

   For your first BYOK request, pick a public article or a YouTube video with captions. Confirm the output quality matches expectations and check the response time. Once you're comfortable, scale up to PDFs and longer sources.

Why bring your own OpenAI key

OpenAI is the broadest model family for summarization: GPT-5.5 for hard technical content, GPT-5.4 Mini for daily-volume work, GPT-5.4 Nano for lightweight workflows. Using your own key means your prompts go directly from your tab to OpenAI's API. No extra server sees the source text. You pay OpenAI directly at API rates (no subscription markup), and your rate limits and tier upgrades come with your account rather than a vendor's.

Model selection

Reduz defaults to GPT-5.4 Mini for OpenAI as the daily-volume sweet spot. GPT-5.5 handles harder content (long technical PDFs, research papers) at a higher cost per call. GPT-5.4 Nano is the cheapest option for short articles and casual use. Switch models in extension settings without changing the source workflow.

Cost expectations

OpenAI bills usage to your OpenAI platform account at standard API rates. A typical 3,000-word article summary on GPT-5.4 Mini runs a few cents; a 30-page PDF on GPT-5.5 runs ~$0.10-0.30. Reduz does not add a subscription markup when you use your own AI key. You pay only what OpenAI charges. For tighter cost control on long PDFs and transcripts, use Reduz's content-limit setting to cap token usage per request. For tighter cost control on long PDFs and transcripts, use Reduz's content-limit setting to cap token usage per request.

Free tier availability

OpenAI does not offer a usable free API tier. You need to add a payment method at platform.openai.com/account/billing before any API call will succeed. Free credit grants for new accounts are time-limited and small. If you want a free path, use Reduz free credits (100 a month, no card) instead, or connect Google Gemini which has a usable free tier.

Privacy posture for source text

When you use your own AI key, your OpenAI API key stays in Chrome extension storage on your device. Reduz never sees it. Source text (article body, PDF text, YouTube transcript) goes directly from your tab to OpenAI's API. The Reduz server is not in the request path. OpenAI processes the request according to its standard API terms (notably, API content is not used to train OpenAI models by default, separate from the consumer ChatGPT product's data policies). For comparison, free credits send source text through Reduz (with an installation identifier for credit counting) to a hosted AI model. That is useful when you do not want to manage a provider key, but it is a different data path than using your own key.

Practical checklist

• Create the key at https://platform.openai.com/api-keys and copy it once. Most consoles only show full keys at creation time.
• Treat the key like a password. Do not paste it into shared documents, screenshots, or cloud notes.
• Paste the key into the OpenAI row in Reduz extension settings, not into a different provider row.
• Switch to your own AI key mode before running the first request.
• Pick the OpenAI model that fits your workload (see Model selection above).
• Run the connection test before summarizing real content.
• Summarize a non-sensitive source first to validate output quality and cost.
• Consider scoping the key to a small monthly budget at the provider for safety.

Frequently asked questions