How to let users bring their own OpenAI or Anthropic API keys (without storing them in plaintext)

The article explains how AI apps can support customer-supplied OpenAI or Anthropic API keys securely.

It compares common BYOK patterns, from plaintext storage to a production-grade encrypted vault.

For hosted, multi-user products, it recommends server-side encryption with strict operational controls.

The goal is to avoid exposing live provider credentials while still enabling BYOK use cases.