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

vim-ai

Vim and Neovim completion and editing driven by a key you keep in a file you control.

Website Source code

Category:
IDE Plugins
Maintenance:
Stale (last commit about 7 months ago)
Pricing:
Open Source
Open source:
Yes (MIT)
Self-hostable:
No
Local-first:
No
Platforms:
CLI, Local-only
AI providers (bring your own key):
OpenAI, Ollama, Custom / OpenAI-compatible
API key storage:
Configured by environment variable
Key risk level:
LOW
Trust score:
78/100

vim-ai adds completion, in-place editing and chat to Vim and Neovim, working with OpenAI and any OpenAI-compatible endpoint including local servers. The key is read from a path you nominate rather than being pasted into your vimrc, which matters for a dotfile most people keep in public version control. Note the pace: the last commit was several months before review, so the maintenance badge on this listing reads accordingly. MIT.

How this tool was scored

Key handling 77/100 (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 7/15: Nothing specific is known about its data handling beyond the key itself.
  • Maintenance 5/10: Last commit was within the last year.
  • 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 2026-03-11, about 7 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.

Setup

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