Using API Keys

Once you have created an API key, use it to authenticate requests to RamaLama Cloud. Your API key provisions access to a variety of hosted API gateways, allowing you to access models from multiple providers through a unified interface.

Authentication

Include your API key in the Authorization header with the Bearer prefix:

Authorization: Bearer your-api-key

Accessing Models

Models are referenced using the format provider/model-name. This allows you to call models from different providers through the same API endpoint.

Example: Calling GPT-5.1

curl -X POST https://gateway.ramalama.com/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $RAMALAMA_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "openai/gpt-5.1",
    "messages": [
      {"role": "user", "content": "Hello, world!"}
    ]
  }'

import os
import requests

api_key = os.environ.get("RAMALAMA_API_KEY")

response = requests.post(
    "https://gateway.ramalama.com/v1/chat/completions",
    headers={
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {api_key}",
        "Content-Type": "application/json"
    },
    json={
        "model": "openai/gpt-5.1",
        "messages": [
            {"role": "user", "content": "Hello, world!"}
        ]
    }
)

print(response.json())

Environment Variables

Store your API key in an environment variable to avoid hardcoding it:

export RAMALAMA_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

Error Responses

Status Code	Meaning
401	Invalid or missing API key
403	API key does not have permission for this resource
429	Rate limit exceeded

Security Tips

Never expose API keys in client-side code
Use environment variables or secret management tools
Implement key rotation in production environments

Getting Started

Getting Started

Observability

Authentication

Accessing Models

Example: Calling GPT-5.1

Environment Variables

Error Responses

Security Tips

​Authentication

​Accessing Models

​Example: Calling GPT-5.1

​Environment Variables

​Error Responses

​Security Tips

Authentication

Accessing Models

Example: Calling GPT-5.1

Environment Variables

Error Responses

Security Tips