API keys & connections

Connections are how Buildorado stores the credentials your workflow nodes use to talk to external services -- an API key for an AI provider, an OAuth grant for Slack or Google, a database connection string. You create a connection once, and every node that needs that provider can select it from a dropdown. The raw secret is encrypted at rest and never shown again after you save it; nodes reference the connection by name only.

You can manage connections in two places:

• Settings → Integrations (/dashboard/integrations) -- the central list of every connection in your workspace. Add, rename, and remove connections here, and see each connection's status.
• Inline from any node -- every node that needs a credential has a connection picker in its configuration panel. If the connection you need does not exist yet, use the picker's Add button to create it without leaving the canvas. It is saved to your workspace and appears in Settings → Integrations like any other connection.

AI nodes run on platform billing by default -- Buildorado provides the API keys and usage is billed to your wallet, so no key of your own is needed. Switch a node to My Key only if you want it to run on your own provider account instead; in that case you create the key in the provider's own console and paste it in. The sections below walk through that for each supported provider.

Before you start

The pattern is the same for every key-based provider:

1. Sign in to the provider's console (create an account first if you do not have one).
2. Open the provider's API key page.
3. Create a new key and copy it.
4. In Buildorado, open the node's connection picker and click Add (or go to Settings → Integrations → Add), paste the key, name it, and save.

Two things to know before you create your first key:

• Copy the key immediately. Several providers show the full key only once, at creation. If you lose it, delete the key and create a new one -- there is no way to view it again.
• Most providers require billing to be set up before API requests succeed. A key from an account with no payment method or credits will save fine in Buildorado but fail at execution time with an authorization or quota error.

Provider setup guides

Each guide below links straight to the provider's key page. The Buildorado side is always the same final step: paste the key into the connection picker's Add dialog on the node, or into Settings → Integrations → Add.

OpenAI

1. Sign in at platform.openai.com (this is the API platform -- a ChatGPT account is not enough on its own; you may need to complete API signup).
2. Open the API keys page.
3. Click Create new secret key, give it a name, and create it.
4. Copy the key right away -- OpenAI shows the full key only once, at creation.
5. In Buildorado, open the node's connection picker, click Add, paste the key, and save.

Anthropic

1. Sign in at console.anthropic.com.
2. Open the API keys page.
3. Click Create Key, name it, and create it.
4. Copy the key right away -- Anthropic shows the full key only once, at creation.
5. Paste it into the node's connection picker via Add, or Settings → Integrations → Add.

Google AI Studio

1. Sign in at aistudio.google.com with a Google account.
2. Open the API key page.
3. Click Create API key and copy the generated key.
4. Paste it into the node's connection picker via Add, or Settings → Integrations → Add.

Mistral

1. Sign in at console.mistral.ai.
2. Open the API keys page.
3. Click Create new key, name it, and create it.
4. Copy the key and paste it into the node's connection picker via Add, or Settings → Integrations → Add.

Groq

1. Sign in at console.groq.com.
2. Open the API keys page.
3. Click Create API Key, name it, and copy the key when it is shown.
4. Paste it into the node's connection picker via Add, or Settings → Integrations → Add.

Together AI

1. Sign in at api.together.ai.
2. Open the API keys page.
3. Create a key (or copy your existing one).
4. Paste it into the node's connection picker via Add, or Settings → Integrations → Add.

Fireworks

1. Sign in at app.fireworks.ai.
2. Open the API keys page.
3. Click Create API key and copy the key.
4. Paste it into the node's connection picker via Add, or Settings → Integrations → Add.

DeepSeek

1. Sign in at platform.deepseek.com.
2. Open the API keys page.
3. Click Create API key, name it, and copy the key when it is shown.
4. Paste it into the node's connection picker via Add, or Settings → Integrations → Add.

xAI

1. Sign in at console.x.ai.
2. In the console, open the API keys section.
3. Create a key, name it, and copy it.
4. Paste it into the node's connection picker via Add, or Settings → Integrations → Add.

OpenRouter

1. Sign in at openrouter.ai.
2. Open the API keys page.
3. Click Create Key, name it, and copy the key.
4. Paste it into the node's connection picker via Add, or Settings → Integrations → Add.

One OpenRouter key gives you access to models from many providers through a single account, which is convenient if you want to try several providers without creating an account with each one.

ElevenLabs

Used by the Text to Speech node.

1. Sign in at elevenlabs.io.
2. Open the API keys page.
3. Create a key (or copy your existing one).
4. Paste it into the node's connection picker via Add, or Settings → Integrations → Add.

Deepgram

Used by the Speech to Text node.

1. Sign in at console.deepgram.com.
2. In the console, open your project's API Keys section -- Deepgram keys are scoped to a project.
3. Click Create a New API Key, name it, and copy the key when it is shown.
4. Paste it into the node's connection picker via Add, or Settings → Integrations → Add.

Stability AI

Used by the Image Generation and Image Edit nodes.

1. Sign in at platform.stability.ai.
2. Open the API keys page.
3. Copy your key, or create a new one.
4. Paste it into the node's connection picker via Add, or Settings → Integrations → Add.

OAuth-based connections

Not every connection is a pasted key. Providers like Slack, Gmail, Google Sheets, Google Calendar, and other OAuth-based services connect through the provider's own sign-in and consent screen instead. For these, the connection picker shows a Connect button rather than an Add dialog:

1. In the node's connection picker (or Settings → Integrations), click Connect for the provider.
2. A popup opens on the provider's site. Sign in and approve the requested access.
3. The popup closes and the new connection appears in the picker, ready to select.

You never see or handle a key for OAuth providers -- the provider issues tokens directly to Buildorado, and they are stored encrypted like any other credential.

Fixing an expired or invalid connection

Connections stop working for ordinary reasons: a key was revoked or rotated in the provider's console, an OAuth grant expired or was withdrawn, or the provider account ran out of credits. When that happens, nodes using the connection fail at execution time with an authentication error.

To fix it:

1. Go to Settings → Integrations and find the connection -- its status shows whether it is healthy.
2. For an OAuth connection, reconnect it. For an API key, create a fresh key in the provider's console and add it as a new connection (the old saved key cannot be edited in place -- secrets are write-only once stored).
3. Open the affected node's connection picker and select the reconnected or new connection.
4. Run the workflow again to confirm the node succeeds.

If a key looks valid but requests still fail, check the provider's console for billing or quota problems -- an exhausted balance produces the same kind of error as a bad key.