Authentication

Overview

nxusKit supports multiple authentication methods depending on the provider. This matrix shows which methods are available for each provider and how to configure them.

Provider Matrix

Provider	Auth Required	API Key	OAuth	Env Variable	Dashboard
OpenAI / GPT	Yes	Yes	—	`OPENAI_API_KEY`	platform.openai.com/api-keys
Anthropic / Claude	Yes	Yes	—	`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`	console.anthropic.com/settings/keys
Groq	Yes	Yes	—	`GROQ_API_KEY`	console.groq.com/keys
Mistral AI	Yes	Yes	—	`MISTRAL_API_KEY`	console.mistral.ai/api-keys
Fireworks AI	Yes	Yes	—	`FIREWORKS_API_KEY`	fireworks.ai/account/api-keys
Together AI	Yes	Yes	—	`TOGETHER_API_KEY`	api.together.ai/settings/api-keys
OpenRouter	Yes	Yes	—	`OPENROUTER_API_KEY`	openrouter.ai/settings/keys
Perplexity	Yes	Yes	—	`PERPLEXITY_API_KEY`	perplexity.ai/settings/api
Ollama	No	—	—	`OLLAMA_HOST`	—
LM Studio	No	—	—	`LMSTUDIO_HOST`	—

Legend: Yes = supported, — = not applicable

Authentication Methods

API Key

The standard authentication method for cloud providers. Obtain a key from the provider’s dashboard, then configure via any of these methods:

Environment variable (recommended for development and CI/CD):

export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."

Credential store (recommended for persistent local development):

nxuskit-cli provider set openai sk-...

This stores the key in the OS credential store (macOS Keychain, Windows Credential Manager, or Linux secret-service). Falls back to a file-based store with 0600 permissions if no system store is available.

Explicit parameter (for programmatic use):

provider = Provider.create("openai", api_key="sk-...")

OAuth

OAuth support is available for providers that require browser-based authorization. The current cloud providers use API keys, so most projects will not need this flow. When a provider requires OAuth, use:

# Start OAuth login
nxuskit-cli provider login <provider>

# Check auth status
nxuskit-cli provider status

The OAuth flow uses:

PKCE (SHA-256 code challenge) for security
Localhost callback on an ephemeral port
State/CSRF validation
Automatic browser launch

No Authentication

Local providers (Ollama, LM Studio) run on the local machine and do not require authentication. The host env variable is optional and defaults to localhost on the provider’s default port.

Credential Precedence

When multiple credential sources exist, the SDK uses this precedence order:

Priority	Source	Example
1 (highest)	Explicit API parameter	`Provider.create("openai", api_key="sk-...")`
2	Environment variable	`OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...`
3 (lowest)	OS credential store	Via `nxuskit-cli provider set`

Checking Auth Status

View authentication status for all providers:

nxuskit-cli provider status

For a specific provider:

nxuskit-cli provider status openai

JSON output (for scripts):

nxuskit-cli provider status --json

Example output:

Provider          Status              Source    Auth Methods
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
openai            Authenticated       env      api_key
claude            Authenticated       store    api_key
groq              Not authenticated   —        api_key
ollama            Not required        —        —
lm-studio         Not required        —        —

Managing Credentials

# Store a credential
nxuskit-cli provider set <provider> <api-key>

# Remove a stored credential
nxuskit-cli provider remove <provider>

# View status
nxuskit-cli provider status [provider]

Per-Language Configuration

Rust

use nxuskit::{auth_status, auth_set_credential, auth_resolve};

// Check status
let status = auth_status("openai")?;

// Store credential
auth_set_credential("openai", "sk-...")?;

// Resolve credential (follows precedence chain)
let resolution = auth_resolve("openai", None)?;

Go

import "github.com/nxus-SYSTEMS/nxuskit-go"

// Check status
status, err := nxuskit.AuthStatus("openai")

// Store credential
err = nxuskit.AuthSetCredential("openai", "sk-...")

// Resolve credential
resolution, err := nxuskit.AuthResolve("openai", "")

Python

from nxuskit import auth_status, auth_set_credential, auth_resolve

# Check status
status = auth_status("openai")

# Store credential
auth_set_credential("openai", "sk-...")

# Resolve credential
resolution = auth_resolve("openai")