Can Claude Code see my key?

It uses the key without reading it. Each command names the variable, and your computer fills in the value. The skill tells Claude never to print it. If a key lands in a chat, delete it and make a new one.

Will this charge my card?

Not for free models, which cost $0 even with no credits bought. Paid models and video spend credits you added yourself. The credit limit on your key is the most it can ever spend.

What if the free model gets it wrong?

Claude reads every reply before you act on it and tells you what it would change. Free models trail the top paid ones. For hard work, ask Claude to do the job itself.

How do I turn it all off?

Delete the key at openrouter.ai/settings/keys and every request with it stops. Delete the openrouter folder from your skills folder to remove the skill.

From the video

You've used two AI models. Now let Claude Code call the free ones.

OpenRouter puts hundreds of models behind one key, and some of them cost nothing. This guide gets that key onto your computer without it ever landing in a chat, then gives Claude Code a skill that sends a job to the model you pick and brings the answer back. Claude does most of the typing. You sign in, copy the key, and choose.

One folder with one SKILL.md. It lists free models, sends a job to the one you pick, and covers paid video jobs.

Download the OpenRouter skill Skip to setup

Rewatch on Instagram

01Make a key with a credit limit and store it on your computer
02Unzip the skill into your Claude Code skills folder
03Ask for today's free models and send one a job

To call a free model: $0
For hundreds of models: 1 key
Steps, the last one optional: 7
The skill you download: 1 file

What you will have when you finish

A key you control, a skill that uses it, and one answer from a free model to prove it works.

An OpenRouter key with a credit limit you chose, stored on your computer and never pasted into a chat
The openrouter skill in Claude Code, so Claude can send a job to any OpenRouter model and read the answer
A live list of today's free models, with the ones that can use tools marked
One answer from a free model you picked, and the request on your OpenRouter activity page
If you want it later, a paid video job, with the price shown before anything is sent

Seven steps

Claude Code runs only Claude models, and Anthropic does not support pointing it at other models through a gateway, so the skill sends one job out on the side while Claude stays in charge. Each step has a prompt to paste and says what only you can do.

Claude Code, installed and signed in. Windows 10 or later, which has curl built in. Claude in Chrome is optional and only speeds up step two.

01
Know what you are making. An API key is a password for programs. It works like a hotel key card: it opens your OpenRouter account to whatever holds it, and you can cap what it spends or cancel it in seconds. Pressing Create Key makes a new card, shows it to you, and bills its use to your account.
Optional: have Claude Code explain it
```
Explain what an OpenRouter API key is in plain words, as if I have never used one. Tell me what happens when I press Create Key, what a credit limit on a key does, and what I should do if a key ever leaks. Do not open a browser or create anything yet.
```
Your part: nothing yet. Read the answer until the idea of a key and a credit limit makes sense.

Get the key. With Claude in Chrome set up, Claude Code opens the OpenRouter keys page and clicks through it for you. It stops at sign in and CAPTCHA, and it never reads the key.

Paste into Claude Code

Help me get an OpenRouter API key using your browser tools.

1. Open https://openrouter.ai/settings/keys in a new tab.
2. If I am not signed in, stop and tell me to sign in myself in that tab, including any CAPTCHA or code. Never type my email, password, or a code. Wait until I say I am signed in.
3. Click Create Key and name it claude-code.
4. Ask me what credit limit I want. Type only the amount I give you.
5. When the key appears, tell me to copy it myself. Do not read it, repeat it, screenshot it, or save it anywhere. Wait until I say I have copied it, then close the tab.

Your part: sign in or make the account, solve any CAPTCHA, choose the credit limit, and copy the key the moment it appears. Copy it before you close the page, and if you lose it, delete it and make another. No Claude in Chrome? Open openrouter.ai/settings/keys and do the same clicks yourself.

03
Store the key on your computer as an environment variable, a setting Windows hands to every program you start, Claude Code included. Open a new PowerShell window, separate from Claude Code, and run this yourself. It asks for the key, so the key never enters a chat or a file in your project.
Run in PowerShell yourself, not in Claude Code
```
[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('OPENROUTER_API_KEY', (Read-Host 'Paste your OpenRouter key'), 'User')
```
Your part: paste the key when it asks and press Enter. Then close every terminal and start Claude Code again, because open windows keep the old settings. Inside VS Code, restart VS Code. Key leaked, or not sure? Delete it at openrouter.ai/settings/keys, make a new one, and run this again.
04
Install the skill. Download it, then have Claude Code unzip it into your skills folder and confirm it can see the key without showing it.
Download the OpenRouter skill
Paste into Claude Code
```
I downloaded openrouter-skill.zip to my Downloads folder. Unzip it into my personal Claude Code skills folder so the file ends up at C:\Users\<me>\.claude\skills\openrouter\SKILL.md. Create the skills folder if it does not exist.

Then check whether OPENROUTER_API_KEY is set in your environment. Answer only yes or no. Never print its value, never ask me to paste it here, and never write it to a file.
```
Your part: approve the file commands when Claude Code asks. It picks up the skill without a restart, unless the skills folder is brand new; then restart it once. Type /openrouter to see it in the list. A no on the key means step three has not loaded yet: close the terminal and start again.
05
Ask for the free models. A model is free when its id ends in :free. The list changes week to week, so the skill reads it live from OpenRouter every time.
Paste into Claude Code
```
/openrouter List today's free models. Show each id, its context length, and whether it supports tools. Tell me how many there are. Do not pick one for me.
```
Your part: pick one. For jobs that need tools later, pick one marked as supporting them. Free models trail the top paid ones, and for plenty of everyday jobs that is enough.
06
Send your first job. Claude writes the request, the free model answers, and Claude brings the answer back with its own read on it.
Paste into Claude Code
```
/openrouter Send this to <the model id I picked>: "In three sentences, explain what OpenRouter does for someone who has only used ChatGPT and Claude."

Show me its answer and the model id that answered. Then tell me in one line what you would change about the answer.
```
Your part: swap in the model id you picked. Then open openrouter.ai/activity to see the request, the model, and what it cost. A 401 means the key did not load; restart the terminal. A 429 means you hit a free limit; wait and try again.
07
Optional, and it costs money: a video. OpenRouter lists video models from Veo, Kling, Runway and Seedance among others, on the same key. A video job runs in the background; the skill submits it, checks back until it finishes, and downloads the file.
Paste into Claude Code
```
/openrouter List the video models and what each would cost for a 5 second clip at 720p. Do not submit anything. I will tell you which one, if any, and you will show me the price again before you send the job.
```
Your part: decide whether to try it at all. No video model is free. You need credits in your OpenRouter account, and your key's credit limit still caps its total spend.

Every command that uses the key reads it from your computer. None of these prompts asks you to paste the key into Claude Code. If anything ever does, say no, and delete the key if you already did.

What we make

The guides are free. These two products are what we sell.

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What you get: Know which Reels held attention without digging through Insights
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The specifics

What it costs: Free models cost $0. Paid models and every video model spend OpenRouter credits you buy, capped by your key's credit limit.
Free model limits: 20 requests a minute. 50 a day until you have bought $10 of credits, then 1,000 a day. OpenRouter's docs, 18 September 2026.
Where your prompts go: To the provider serving the model you picked. Some may keep or train on prompts; OpenRouter's privacy settings let you exclude those, separately for free models.
How many models: OpenRouter says 500+. Its live catalog listed 445 on 18 September, from more than 80 providers, 22 of them free.
Tested on: Windows 11 against OpenRouter's live API: the free list, the request shape and the error replies. Not yet run: a keyed reply, and the Mac commands.

One-on-one session

Book a one-on-one: your tools, your workflows, your Claude Code.

The skill is free and the steps fit in one sitting. If you would rather do it together on your own computer, with the key stored right the first time, that is a $99 session. Nothing is charged until we confirm a time.

$99Per session

Questions people ask

Can Claude Code see my key?
It uses the key without reading it. Each command names the variable, and your computer fills in the value. The skill tells Claude never to print it. If a key lands in a chat, delete it and make a new one.
Will this charge my card?
Not for free models, which cost $0 even with no credits bought. Paid models and video spend credits you added yourself. The credit limit on your key is the most it can ever spend.
What if the free model gets it wrong?
Claude reads every reply before you act on it and tells you what it would change. Free models trail the top paid ones. For hard work, ask Claude to do the job itself.
How do I turn it all off?
Delete the key at openrouter.ai/settings/keys and every request with it stops. Delete the openrouter folder from your skills folder to remove the skill.