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

Forge

Open-source terminal AI pair programmer with BYOK access to 300+ models

Category:: Developer Infrastructure
Maintenance:: Maintained (last commit about 1 month ago)
Pricing:: Open Source
Open source:: Yes (Apache-2.0)
Self-hostable:: Yes
Local-first:: No
Platforms:: CLI, Self-hosted, Docker
AI providers (bring your own key):: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, OpenRouter, Groq, DeepSeek, xAI Grok, Custom / OpenAI-compatible
API key storage:: Configured by environment variable
Key risk level:: LOW
Trust score:: 86/100

Forge (forgecode) is an open-source, Apache-2.0 licensed AI pair programmer that runs entirely in the terminal/shell (written in Rust). It connects directly to your AI provider of choice using your own API keys: set up via the interactive `forge provider login` / `:login` flow, or via environment variables (OPENAI_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, OPENROUTER_API_KEY, now deprecated but auto-migrated to file-based storage on first run). It supports 300+ models across OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Vertex/Gemini, xAI Grok, DeepSeek, Groq, Amazon Bedrock, OpenRouter, Cerebras, and any OpenAI-compatible custom endpoint, with the ability to mix and match models mid-session. Users can also leverage existing ChatGPT Plus / Claude subscriptions instead of separate keys. An optional, supplementary 'ForgeCode Services' layer (enhanced codebase understanding, tool-call guardrails, semantic search) exists and requires no key, but model access itself is fully bring-your-own-key. The canonical repo is github.com/tailcallhq/forgecode (the antinomyhq/forgecode URL 301-redirects there; npm package @antinomyhq/forge), with 7421 stars, 1453 forks, actively maintained (pushed 2026-06-19).

Why this trust score (86/100)

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

Key Safety 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 10/15: Can be self-hosted, so the data path stays inside infrastructure you control.
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 OpenRouter key: the project references its API key variable. source
[STRONG · SOURCE_SCAN] The user supplies their own xAI Grok key: the project references its API key variable. source
[CONFIRMED · SOURCE_SCAN] Most recent commit 2026-08-08, 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.