Authentication

Mesh API uses standard HTTP Authorization headers with a Router Service Key (RSK). All requests must be made over HTTPS.

Key Types

Router Service Keys (`rsk_...`)

Your primary method of interacting with the API. These are the keys you create in the dashboard.

Authorization: Bearer rsk_<RANDOM_CHARACTERS>

What they control:

Access to all inference endpoints (/v1/chat/completions, /v1/embeddings, etc.)
Per-key spend caps — set a maximum USD limit to prevent cost overruns
Per-key rate limits — configurable Requests Per Minute (RPM), Requests Per Day (RPD), and Tokens Per Minute (TPM)
Optional default model — a fallback model used when none is specified in the request

Provider Keys (BYOK)

If you supply your own API keys for upstream providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, AWS Bedrock, Google Vertex AI), Mesh securely stores and uses them on your behalf. You never reference these directly in your API calls — Mesh handles routing transparently. See Bring Your Own Keys for setup instructions.

Security Best Practices

Never expose rsk_ keys in client-side code — browsers, mobile apps, or public repositories. Always proxy through your backend.

1. Set spend caps on every key. This limits your blast radius if a key is compromised — the attacker can only spend up to your cap. 2. Use environment variables — never hard-code keys in source files.

# .env
MESH_API_KEY=rsk_...

3. Rotate immediately if you suspect a leak. Deactivate the compromised key in the dashboard and generate a new one. Old keys are invalidated instantly. 4. Use separate keys per environment — one for development, one for staging, one for production. This gives you clean audit trails and granular rate limiting. 5. Monitor per-key usage in the dashboard Logs section. Unexpected spikes often signal misuse before your spend cap triggers.

Using the key

All examples in this documentation use rsk_YOUR_KEY as a placeholder. Replace it with your actual key:

curl
Python
Node.js

curl https://api.meshapi.ai/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer rsk_YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model": "openai/gpt-4o-mini", "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hi"}]}'

import os
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    api_key=os.environ["MESH_API_KEY"],
    base_url="https://api.meshapi.ai/v1",
)

import OpenAI from "openai";

const client = new OpenAI({
  apiKey: process.env.MESH_API_KEY,
  baseURL: "https://api.meshapi.ai/v1",
});

Introduction

Accounts & Access

Core Inference

Retrieval & Search

Multimodal

Operations

Mesh CLI

Platform

Reference

Key Types

Router Service Keys (`rsk_...`)

Provider Keys (BYOK)

Security Best Practices

Using the key

​Key Types

​Router Service Keys (rsk_...)

​Provider Keys (BYOK)

​Security Best Practices

​Using the key

Key Types

Router Service Keys (`rsk_...`)

Provider Keys (BYOK)

Security Best Practices

Using the key