BYOAIK (Bring Your Own AI Key) is a directory of AI tools that run on your own API key.

cognee

Memory for agents built as an ECL pipeline, with an Ollama path that needs no cloud key.

Website Source code

Category:
Knowledge Management
Maintenance:
Actively developed (last commit today)
Pricing:
Open Source
Open source:
Yes (Apache-2.0)
Self-hostable:
Yes
Local-first:
Yes
Platforms:
CLI, Self-hosted, Docker
AI providers (bring your own key):
OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Azure OpenAI, Ollama, Custom / OpenAI-compatible
API key storage:
Configured by environment variable
Key risk level:
LOW
Trust score:
87/100

cognee replaces ad-hoc RAG plumbing with an extract-cognify-load pipeline that turns documents and conversations into a queryable graph plus vector store. OPENAI_API_KEY or a local Ollama both work, so the pipeline can be run without a cloud credential. Memory systems accumulate: what goes in tends to stay, across sessions, which makes where they run a longer-lived decision than most. Apache-2.0.

How this tool was scored

Key handling 83/100 (where your key rests and who sees it, comparable across any licence) and verifiability 90/100 (how much of that BYOAIK could confirm, lower for closed source). Neither contains a popularity signal.

  • Key Safety 22/25: The key is supplied by an environment variable or local config file you control.
  • Request Routing 17/20: Requests go straight from you to the AI provider.
  • Transparency 20/20: Source is public under Apache-2.0, so anyone can check how the key is handled. Key handling was located in the published source.
  • Privacy 11/15: Local-first: it works without sending your data anywhere. Can be self-hosted, so the data path stays inside infrastructure you control. Analytics or error-reporting libraries are present; what they send was not established.
  • Maintenance 10/10: Actively developed, with commits within the last three months.
  • Verification Confidence 7/10: Key handling was found in the published source by BYOAIK's scanner.

What was checked

Verification tier SOURCE_VERIFIED, derived from the evidence below and not set by hand.

  • [REPORTED · RESEARCH] This listing was compiled by an AI-assisted research pass over the tool's public website, README and documentation. No person independently confirmed it.
  • [STRONG · SOURCE_SCAN] The user supplies their own OpenAI key: the project references its API key variable. source
  • [STRONG · SOURCE_SCAN] Supports a local model backend, so it can run with no cloud provider key at all. source
  • [CONFIRMED · SOURCE_SCAN] Ships a container definition, so it can be self-hosted on your own infrastructure. source
  • [REPORTED · SOURCE_SCAN] References PostHog, so some analytics or error reporting is present. This scan cannot tell whether it is opt-in or what it sends. source
  • [CONFIRMED · SOURCE_SCAN] Most recent commit 2026-09-29, about 0 month(s) ago. source

How your API key is handled

Your API key is supplied via an environment variable or local config file. Requests are sent directly to the AI provider. Because it can be self-hosted, your key never has to touch a third-party backend.

Setup

Install the tool, set your provider API key as an environment variable (or in its config file), and pick a model.