Authentication

Most AI APIs make you sign up with an email, verify your identity, and hand over a credit card before you can send a single request. Solrouter skips all of that. You authenticate with an API key passed as a bearer token, and you get that key by connecting a Solana wallet — no email sign-up, no KYC (Know Your Customer identity checks), no card.

Fund a prepaid balance in USDC or $ROUTER, and you're making calls in minutes.

Getting your API key

Here's the full path from zero to your first authenticated request — four steps, all in the browser.

Using your API key

Once you have a key, you attach it to requests in one of two ways: through the SDK, which handles it for you, or directly over HTTP.

With the SDK

Pass your API key when you create the SolRouter client. From then on, the SDK attaches it to every request automatically — you never touch the header yourself.

import { SolRouter } from '@solrouter/sdk';

const client = new SolRouter({ apiKey: 'sk_solrouter_...' });

Direct HTTP (REST API)

If you're not using the SDK, send the key yourself as a bearer token in the Authorization header.

curl -X POST "https://api.solrouter.com/agent" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_solrouter_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"prompt": "Hello", "model": "gpt-oss:20b"}'

Authentication tiers

Solrouter offers three ways to authenticate, each suited to a different kind of caller. Pick the row that matches how your code runs.

The x402 tier is worth a closer look if you're building agents: instead of provisioning and storing a long-lived key, an agent pays for each call on the spot in USDC. That means it can authenticate and transact entirely on-chain, with no secret to leak.

Keeping your API key safe

Your key can spend real money, so treat it with the same care as a password. The practices below keep it out of the wrong hands.

• Never commit your API key to source control. Treat sk_solrouter_... like a password — keep it out of Git history, .env files that are checked in, and any public repository.

• Use environment variables. Store your key in SOLROUTER_API_KEY and read it at runtime so the secret never lives in your code:

  const client = new SolRouter({
    apiKey: process.env.SOLROUTER_API_KEY
  });

• Rotate compromised keys immediately. If a key is exposed, go to solrouter.com/sdk, revoke the affected key, and generate a new one.