Authentication

To ensure secure access to Portkey’s APIs, authentication is required for all requests. This guide provides the necessary steps to authenticate your requests using the Portkey API key, regardless of whether you are using the SDKs for Python and JavaScript, the OpenAI SDK, or making REST API calls directly.

Obtaining Your API Key

Create or log in to your Portkey account. Grab your account’s API key from the “Settings” page.

Based on your access level, you might see the relevant permissions on the API key modal - tick the ones you’d like, name your API key, and save it.

Virtual Keys

Learn how Portkey’s virtual key system works: use one Portkey API key to access multiple providers and models

JWT-based Authentication

You can also authenticate Portkey using JWT Tokens. Learn more here

Authentication with SDKs

Portkey SDKs

NodeJS SDK

import Portkey from 'portkey-ai'

const portkey = new Portkey({
    apiKey: "PORTKEY_API_KEY", // Replace with your actual API key
    virtualKey: "VIRTUAL_KEY"  // Optional: Use for virtual key management
})

const chatCompletion = await portkey.chat.completions.create({
    messages: [{ role: 'user', content: 'Say this is a test' }],
    model: 'gpt-4o',
});

console.log(chatCompletion.choices);

Python SDK

from portkey_ai import Portkey

client = Portkey(
    api_key="PORTKEY_API_KEY",  # Replace with your actual API key
    provider="@VIRTUAL_KEY"   # Optional: Use if virtual keys are set up
)

chat_completion = client.chat.completions.create(
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Say this is a test"}],
    model='gpt-4o'
)

print(chat_completion.choices[0].message["content"])

cURL

curl https://api.portkey.ai/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-portkey-api-key: $PORTKEY_API_KEY" \
  -H "x-portkey-virtual-key: $VIRTUAL_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "model": "gpt-4o",
    "messages": [
      { "role": "system", "content": "You are a helpful assistant." },
      { "role": "user", "content": "Hello!" }
    ]
  }'

OpenAI SDK

When integrating Portkey through the OpenAI SDK, modify the base URL and add the x-portkey-api-key header for authentication. Here’s an example of how to do it:

We use the createHeaders helper function from the Portkey SDK here to easily create Portkey headers.

You can pass the raw headers (x-portkey-api-key, x-portkey-provider) directly in the defaultHeaders param as well.

NodeJS

import OpenAI from 'openai';
import { PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL, createHeaders } from 'portkey-ai'

const openai = new OpenAI({
  apiKey: 'OPENAI_API_KEY',
  baseURL: PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL,
  defaultHeaders: createHeaders({
    provider: "openai",
    apiKey: "PORTKEY_API_KEY"
  })
});

async function main() {
  const chatCompletion = await openai.chat.completions.create({
    messages: [{ role: 'user', content: 'Say this is a test' }],
    model: 'gpt-4o',
  });

  console.log(chatCompletion.choices);
}

main();

Python

from openai import OpenAI
from portkey_ai import PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL, createHeaders

openai_client = OpenAI(
    base_url=PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL,
    default_headers=createHeaders(
        api_key="PORTKEY-API-KEY",
        provider="openai"
    )
)
response = openai_client.chat.completions.create(
        messages=[{'role': 'user', 'content': 'Say this is a test'}],
        model='gpt-4bo'
)

Read more here.

JWT-based Authentication

Portkey supports JWT-based authentication as a secure alternative to API Key authentication. With JWT authentication, clients can authenticate API requests using a JWT token that is validated against a configured JWKS (JSON Web Key Set).

This enterprise-grade authentication method is available as an add-on to any Portkey plan. JWT authentication provides enhanced security through:

• Temporary, expiring tokens
• Fine-grained permission scopes
• User identity tracking
• Centralized authentication management

JWT Token Authentication

Learn how to implement JWT-based authentication with Portkey

Interested in adding JWT authentication to your Portkey plan?

Contact our sales team to discuss pricing and implementation details.