How to Get a Groq API Key

Steps

1. Open Groq Console API Keys and select the project that should own the credential. (verified 2026-08-14)
2. Choose Create API Key, name it for one environment or service, and confirm. (verified 2026-08-14)
3. Copy the key immediately and store it securely; Groq treats the complete value as a secret. (verified 2026-08-14)
4. Use the free tier for initial testing or add a payment method to move to paid usage; charges and limits are managed at organization/project level. (verified 2026-08-14)
5. Store the value as GROQ_API_KEY in a server-side environment or secret manager, never in source control or browser code. (verified 2026-08-14)

Key facts

Rotate or revoke a key

First API call

javascript example using gpt-oss-20b; the key stays in GROQ_API_KEY and is never included in the snippet.

const client = new OpenAI({
  apiKey: process.env.GROQ_API_KEY,
  baseURL: 'https://api.groq.com/openai/v1',
});

const response = await client.chat.completions.create({
  model: MODEL,
  messages: [{ role: 'user', content: 'Say hello in one sentence.' }],
});

console.log(response.choices[0].message.content);

FAQ