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

Crush

Glamourous terminal-native agentic coding agent that works with any LLM via your own API key.

Website Source code

Category:
Coding Assistants
Maintenance:
Actively developed (last commit today)
Pricing:
Open Source
Open source:
Yes (FSL-1.1-MIT)
Self-hostable:
No
Local-first:
No
Platforms:
CLI
AI providers (bring your own key):
OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Azure OpenAI, OpenRouter, Groq, Hugging Face, Ollama, Custom / OpenAI-compatible
API key storage:
Stored locally on device
Key risk level:
LOW
Trust score:
82/100

Crush is a terminal-based agentic AI coding assistant from Charm that bridges your terminal, your codebase, and the LLM of your choice. It uses LSP for additional code context, supports MCP servers over stdio/HTTP/SSE, manages per-project sessions, and lets you switch models mid-session while preserving conversation context. Users bring their own LLM provider API key, choosing from many named providers or connecting any OpenAI- or Anthropic-compatible endpoint (including local models) via configurable base URLs.

Why this trust score (82/100)

Trust measures how the tool treats your API key and how much of that has been verified. It contains no popularity signal.

  • Key Safety 23/25: The key is held on your own device.
  • Request Routing 20/20: Requests go straight from you to the AI provider. The provider endpoint is configurable, so you can point it at the provider or your own gateway.
  • Transparency 15/20: Source is public, though the licence is unclear or non-standard. Key handling was located in the published source.
  • Privacy 7/15: Nothing specific is known about its data handling beyond the key itself.
  • Maintenance 10/10: Actively developed: 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] The user supplies their own Anthropic key: the project references its API key variable. source
  • [STRONG · SOURCE_SCAN] The user supplies their own Google Gemini key: the project references its API key variable. source
  • [STRONG · SOURCE_SCAN] The user supplies their own OpenRouter key: the project references its API key variable. source
  • [STRONG · SOURCE_SCAN] The user supplies their own Groq key: the project references its API key variable. source
  • [STRONG · SOURCE_SCAN] The user supplies their own DeepSeek key: the project references its API key variable. source
  • [STRONG · SOURCE_SCAN] The user supplies their own Azure OpenAI key: the project references its API key variable. source
  • [STRONG · SOURCE_SCAN] The user supplies their own Hugging Face 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
  • [STRONG · SOURCE_SCAN] The provider endpoint is configurable, so requests can be pointed straight at the provider or at your own gateway. source
  • [CONFIRMED · SOURCE_SCAN] Most recent commit 2026-08-13, about 0 month(s) ago. source

How your API key is handled

Your API key is stored locally on your device. Requests are sent directly to the AI provider.

Setup

Open settings, paste your provider API key, choose a model, and start. The key stays on your device.