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Every Stats API request is authenticated with an API key sent as a Bearer token.

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Get a key

1

Request access

Sign in at the developer console and complete the access form. You describe your use case, the public URL where the data appears (if any), and whether you will credit LLM Stats. Access is granted automatically.
2

Create a key

Create keys from Settings → API keys (direct link). Keys are shown once — store them in a secrets manager.
3

Call the API

Send the key as Authorization: Bearer <key> on every request to https://api.llm-stats.com/stats/v1.
Keys starting with sk_ze_ (or the shorter ze_ prefix on older keys) are LLM Stats keys. The same key works for the Stats API and the Gateway API. For MCP, prefer OAuth sign-in.

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Keys belong to organizations

Keys are credentials, not quota pools. Every key you create belongs to your organization, and all of them draw from one organization-wide daily quota and burst limit. Creating another key does not increase your allowance, and revoking a key does not change your usage history. Your plan’s key allowance (how many Stats API keys you can have at once) is shown in the developer console.

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Official MCP keys

When you connect the MCP server with OAuth, the server provisions a key for you. The API identifies these keys server-side and reports their traffic as mcp in your usage breakdown. Traffic from keys you created yourself is reported as api. Any X-LLM-Stats-Client header you send is recorded as a declared value but does not change the classification.

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Authentication errors

Each error includes a help_url that points to the page where you can fix the problem. See Errors for the envelope.

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Keep keys safe

  • Never ship a Stats API key in browser or mobile code. Proxy requests through your backend, or use embeds and badges, which use public signed tokens that grant no API access.
  • Use one key per deployment so you can rotate a leaked key without touching the others.
  • Leaked keys are contained by the organization burst limit, so rotate first and then review usage in the developer console.