Connecting an OpenRouter key
Updated Jul 28, 2026 · 1 min read
AI tagging is bring-your-own-key. Add an OpenRouter API key and you only ever pay your model provider, directly.
Meshory's AI tagging and semantic search are opt-in and run on your own OpenRouter API key. There's no Meshory AI subscription: you pay your model provider directly through OpenRouter, and only when you choose to run tagging.
Get a key from OpenRouter
- 1Sign up at openrouter.ai. One account gives you access to models from every major provider.
- 2Add a few dollars of credit on the Credits page. OpenRouter is prepaid, so you can never spend more than you've loaded.
- 3Create a key at openrouter.ai/keys, name it something like “Meshory”, and copy it. It starts with sk-or-. You can give the key its own spending limit as an extra guardrail.
New OpenRouter accounts include a very small free allowance, and some models have free rate-limited variants, enough for a first test run, though a real library will want a few dollars of credit.
Add it to Meshory
- 1Open Settings and go to the AI tagging section.
- 2Paste the key. It's stored encrypted in your system keychain and only ever shown redacted.
- 3Hit the test button to confirm the connection, pick a model, and you're set.
From there, run tagging on your whole library, a folder, or a selection, whenever you want. If a run fails immediately, re-check the key with the test button and make sure your OpenRouter account has credit.
Nothing AI-related happens until you add a key and start it. Without one, your library never talks to a model provider.