Model keys · nth Labs help

Two of the eight checks call a model. The key is yours, the provider is yours, and the bill is yours: there is no markup because the call never comes through us.

Which checks need one

Site review and Test drive. Speed & errors, Re-checks and Report do not, and never will: they measure rather than judge.

Where to put it

During node cli.cjs init.
In the console, under Settings.
As an environment variable.

It is written to a key file with owner-only permissions and it stays on the machine.

It is not encrypted at rest

Owner-only file permissions and the account directory are what protect it. If that is not enough for your situation, use a key scoped to a project you can revoke, and revoke it when you are done.

Which model

node cli.cjs models

Every model you can run (Claude, GPT and Gemini) with its price, whether its key is set, and whether anyone has measured it against a known answer key here. That last column is the one to read: an unmeasured model is a guess about quality.

Spending less

Scope before you run. node cli.cjs scope HEAD~1 prints what a run would cover and starts nothing.
Use the free checks in the loop. watch defaults to the free one for exactly this reason.
Run one wander before a twelve-tester focus. The output shape is the same; the bill is not.
Pick a cheaper model for sweeps and a better one for the flow you actually care about. models shows the difference.

What a run cost

Every run records its real cost from the provider’s usage figures, not an estimate. It is on the run in the console and in node cli.cjs list.