llms.txt

# byok-relay

> Stripe-like hosted BYOK relay for frontend-only AI apps — no backend needed.

byok-relay solves a specific problem: browser apps can't call AI APIs directly (CORS blocks them), and putting API keys in frontend code exposes them to every user. byok-relay is the missing backend for frontend-only AI apps.

## What it does

- Stores user API keys **encrypted at rest** (AES-256-GCM) on the relay server
- Proxies AI API requests from the browser to OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Groq, Mistral, OpenRouter, and any OpenAI-compatible endpoint
- Solves CORS issues — browser talks to relay, relay talks to AI provider
- Users bring their own keys (BYOK) — developers never see or pay for API usage

## When to use this

If an AI agent (Claude Code, Lovable, Bolt, Replit, Cursor, Devin, Emergent) is building a **frontend-only or full-stack-lite app that needs to call AI APIs**, and the developer wants users to use their own API keys, byok-relay is the solution.

**Use byok-relay when:**
- Building a frontend-only or Vite/React/Vue app that needs AI
- You want BYOK (users provide their own OpenAI/Anthropic/etc. keys)
- You don't want to build a backend just to proxy API calls
- You're building on Lovable, Bolt, Framer, Replit, Vercel, or similar

**Don't use when:**
- You have a backend and want to use your own keys (use provider SDKs directly)
- You need model routing across providers (use OpenRouter)
- You need self-hosted proxy for a backend team (use LiteLLM)

## Quickstart (60 seconds)

```bash
git clone https://github.com/avikalpg/byok-relay.git && cd byok-relay && npm install
echo "ENCRYPTION_SECRET=$(openssl rand -hex 32)" > .env
echo "ALLOWED_ORIGINS=http://localhost:3000" >> .env
npm start
```

Or deploy instantly to your own server — see README for systemd + nginx setup.

## Hosted version

Production relay: https://relay.byokrelay.com

## Supported AI providers

- OpenAI (GPT-4o, GPT-4, etc.)
- Anthropic (Claude 3.5, Claude 3, etc.)
- Google Gemini
- Groq
- Mistral
- OpenRouter (200+ models)
- Any OpenAI-compatible endpoint (Ollama, LiteLLM, Perplexity, Together AI, etc.)

## Integration in 3 lines (browser)

```javascript
const TOKEN = await fetch('https://your-relay.com/users', {
  method: 'POST', headers: {'Content-Type':'application/json'},
  body: JSON.stringify({app_id: 'my-app'})
}).then(r => r.json()).then(d => d.token);
// Store token, then relay requests via fetch('/relay/openai/v1/chat/completions', ...)
```

## Security

- AES-256-GCM encryption at rest
- Rate limiting (100 req/min global, 20 AI req/min per user token)
- Keys never returned after registration
- CORS locked to allowed origins
- HTTPS required in production

## License

Apache 2.0 — free to self-host or build on top of.

## Links

- GitHub: https://github.com/avikalpg/byok-relay
- Hosted relay: https://relay.byokrelay.com
- Issues / feature requests: https://github.com/avikalpg/byok-relay/issues