BYOAIK (Bring Your Own AI Key) is a directory of AI tools that run on your own API key.
Open Deep Research (LangChain)
LangChain's open-source deep research agent you run with your own models and search/MCP tools.
- Category:
- Research Tools
- Maintenance:
- Maintained (last commit about 1 month ago)
- Pricing:
- Open Source
- Open source:
- Yes (MIT)
- Self-hostable:
- Yes
- Local-first:
- Yes
- Platforms:
- Self-hosted, Library/SDK, Docker
- AI providers (bring your own key):
- OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Azure OpenAI, OpenRouter, Groq, Mistral, Cohere, DeepSeek, Together AI, Ollama
- API key storage:
- User controls deployment
- Key risk level:
- LOW
- Trust score:
- 92/100
Open Deep Research is LangChain's fully open-source, configurable deep research agent built on LangGraph that automates multi-step web research and generates long-form, cited reports (ranked among the top systems on Deep Research Bench). You bring your own provider API keys via a .env file, and because it uses LangChain's init_chat_model() with provider:model strings, it works across a wide range of LLM providers (OpenAI and Anthropic are tested defaults; Google Gemini, Ollama local models, OpenRouter, plus other LangChain-supported providers like Azure OpenAI, Cohere, Mistral, Groq, Together, Bedrock, and DeepSeek). Search is pluggable: Tavily by default, plus native web search for Anthropic and OpenAI, and full Model Context Protocol (MCP) server compatibility. It runs self-hosted via a local LangGraph server / LangGraph Studio and can be deployed on LangGraph Platform or used as a Python library. MIT licensed.
Why this trust score (92/100)
Trust measures how the tool treats your API key and how much of that has been verified. It contains no popularity signal.
- Key Safety 21/25: The key lives in a deployment you run yourself.
- 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 20/20: Source is public under MIT, so anyone can check how the key is handled. Key handling was located in the published source.
- Privacy 14/15: Local-first: it works without sending your data anywhere. 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] 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
- [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
- [CONFIRMED · SOURCE_SCAN] Most recent commit 2026-08-10, about 0 month(s) ago. source
How your API key is handled
You self-host the app, so your API key lives in your own deployment. 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
Deploy it (Docker/compose), add your provider API key in the admin or environment config, then select models.