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

OpenAI Agents SDK

OpenAI's own agent framework, which also drives any OpenAI-compatible endpoint you point it at.

Website Source code

Category:
Agent Frameworks
Maintenance:
Actively developed (last commit today)
Pricing:
Open Source
Open source:
Yes (MIT)
Self-hostable:
Yes
Local-first:
Yes
Platforms:
CLI, Self-hosted, Local-only, Docker
AI providers (bring your own key):
OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, Ollama, Custom / OpenAI-compatible
API key storage:
Configured by environment variable
Key risk level:
LOW
Trust score:
90/100

The Agents SDK is OpenAI's lightweight framework for agents, handoffs, guardrails and tracing, and the successor to the Swarm experiment. Despite the publisher it is not locked to OpenAI: it drives any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, which in practice means local servers and other providers work too. Tracing is built in and is worth understanding before enabling, since traces carry the content of runs. MIT.

How this tool was scored

Key handling 88/100 (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 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, 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
  • [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.