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Desktop BYOK UI is in active development. The backend fully supports BYOK today — the CLI provides complete access. The desktop Settings panel for configuring your key directly from the chat panel is coming in an upcoming release.

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What BYOK Does

By default, Trace uses hosted models on AWS Bedrock — no setup needed, and usage counts against your Trace plan. Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) lets you point the AI at your own provider key instead:
  • You pay your provider directly (Anthropic, OpenAI, or Google)
  • Requests don’t consume your Trace quota (monthly budget or On-Demand credits are untouched)
  • Same pipeline — Trace’s EDA prompts, tool schemas, research tools, and local tool execution all work identically
  • Same quality — the AI reasoning, file editing, and validation workflow is unchanged
BYOK changes which model answers your requests. It does not change how Trace works, what tools are available, or how your files are handled.

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Supported Providers

ProviderDefault ModelNotes
Anthropicclaude-sonnet-4-6Same model family as Trace’s hosted default
OpenAIgpt-4oChat Completions API
Geminigemini-2.5-flashGoogle AI (google-genai SDK)
Trace (default)Claude Sonnet 4 via BedrockBilled to your Trace plan
You can specify any model your provider supports by setting the model ID explicitly. The defaults above are used when no model is specified.

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How It Works

  1. Your message is sent to the Trace backend along with your provider key
  2. The backend routes the model call to your provider using Trace’s EDA system prompt, tool schemas, and conversation history
  3. Your provider returns the response
  4. Tool calls (file reads, writes, DRC, etc.) still execute locally on your machine — identical to Trace-hosted
  5. The response streams back to you in real-time
Your API key travels with the request but is never stored on the Trace backend. It’s used for that single request and discarded.

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What Still Requires Trace Authentication

BYOK changes the billing target for AI requests, but you still need a Trace account because:
  • Tool execution requires the desktop app to be authenticated (the backend identifies you via JWT)
  • Conversation history is stored per-user
  • Mode access gating still applies — Free users cannot use Agent/Plan mode even with their own key (this is a product decision, not a billing one)
  • Research tools (web search, parts search, datasheet parsing) run on Trace’s infrastructure regardless of which model answers
BYOK bypasses the cost cap (your provider bills you directly), but it does not bypass mode access. Free users still can’t use Agent/Plan mode with BYOK — only paid plans (Pro, Ultra, On-Demand, Trial) unlock those modes.

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Using BYOK Today (via CLI)

Until the desktop Settings UI ships, you can use BYOK through the Trace CLI: 
# Store your Anthropic key and activate it
buildwithtrace byok set anthropic

# Or OpenAI
buildwithtrace byok set openai --key sk-...

# Switch between providers
buildwithtrace byok use anthropic
buildwithtrace byok use trace       # back to Trace-hosted

# Set a specific model
buildwithtrace byok model claude-sonnet-4-20250514

# Check current status
buildwithtrace byok status
Keys are stored in your OS keychain (macOS Keychain, Windows Credential Manager, or Linux libsecret). They are never written to plaintext config files. For full CLI BYOK documentation, see CLI BYOK Reference.

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Billing Implications

ScenarioWho paysTrace quota affected?
Default (Trace-hosted)Your Trace subscription or credit balanceYes
BYOK (your own key)Your provider account directlyNo
With BYOK active:
  • Your monthly Trace budget is not consumed
  • Your On-Demand credits are not deducted
  • Usage is still logged for analytics (request counts, timestamps) but no cost is recorded against your Trace profile
  • You still appear as an authenticated user in conversation history

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Desktop Settings UI (Coming Soon)

The desktop app will have a dedicated configuration panel:
  1. Open Settings in the chat panel (gear icon)
  2. Navigate to AI Provider
  3. Select your provider (Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, or Trace default)
  4. Enter your API key (stored in your OS keychain — same secure storage as your Trace auth token)
  5. Optionally specify a model ID
  6. Save — all subsequent requests route through your provider
No restart required. The change takes effect on the next message you send.
Follow the changelog for the desktop BYOK release announcement. The backend is fully wired — only the desktop UI configuration panel is pending.

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FAQ

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Does BYOK affect tool execution?

No. Tools always execute locally on your machine regardless of which model provider is active. The model provider only affects who generates the reasoning and tool call decisions.

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Can I use a different model than the default?

Yes. Each provider supports any model ID they offer. Set it via buildwithtrace byok model <model-id> (CLI) or the model ID field in Settings (desktop, when available).

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What if my provider key is invalid or rate-limited?

The backend falls back to Trace-hosted models gracefully. You’ll see a status message in the chat indicating the fallback occurred. Your Trace quota will be consumed for that request.

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Is my API key visible to Trace?

Your key transits through the Trace backend for the duration of one request (needed to call your provider), but it is never stored, logged, or persisted on Trace’s servers.

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Next Steps