Secure your gateway

Access keys authenticate every request to https://gateway.ngrok.ai. The AI Gateway validates each key before forwarding traffic. Upstream provider credentials are managed separately—see Access keys vs provider keys.

How it works

Create an access key in app.ngrok.ai or via the AI Gateway API
Send the key as Authorization: Bearer ng-xxxxx-g1-xxxxx (OpenAI-compatible APIs) or x-api-key (Anthropic native API)
The gateway validates the key on every request
Invalid or missing keys are rejected—requests do not reach providers

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://gateway.ngrok.ai/v1",
    api_key="ng-xxxxx-g1-xxxxx"  # Your access key
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="gpt-4o",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}]
)

The AI Gateway replaces your access key with provider credentials from your configuration before forwarding to the upstream provider.

Per-client keys

Create separate access keys for each client or application:

Revoke one client without affecting others
Track usage per key
Assign different configurations to limit scope per client

Create access keys with the Access Keys API. Authorize the request with your AI Gateway API key.

curl -X POST https://api.ngrok.ai/access-keys \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "name": "Production web app" }'

Delete access keys with the Access Keys API. Authorize the request with your AI Gateway API key.

curl -X DELETE https://api.ngrok.ai/access-keys/aigk_xxxxx \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY"

See the Access Keys API reference.

Deletion is permanent. Clients using the revoked key receive authentication errors immediately.

Protecting provider keys

Store provider keys in app.ngrok.ai and reference them in configurations. Clients only ever hold the access key. See Provider Keys.

Next steps

Access Keys: Create and manage keys
Access Key Configurations: Scope and credentials per key
Error Codes: Authentication errors

Concepts

Getting Started With

SDKs

Agents

Guides

Observability

Examples

Reference

API Reference

How it works

Per-client keys

Protecting provider keys

Next steps

​How it works

​Per-client keys

​Protecting provider keys

​Next steps

How it works

Per-client keys

Protecting provider keys

Next steps