References: API keys and the OAuth path

Source material

The lesson is anchored on three chapters from the Clawless knowledge base, the single source of truth for Clawless behavior. The KB is reachable inside the app: click the Help button above the message box and ask the knowledge base by name; answers cite the docs chapter they come from. The product itself lives at clawless.ai.

Clawless KB chapters cited:

PRIMARY (the OAuth path and the model-picker OAuth indicator)
• Clawless Knowledge Base, "Chat and Models" chapter
  Covers the chat surface, the model picker, Codex (sign in with ChatGPT
  to use OpenAI through your subscription), the OAuth indicator on
  OpenAI models in the picker, and the $0 (OAuth) line in the Usage
  dashboard.

PRIMARY (the four-step onboarding wizard and where the first key is added)
• Clawless Knowledge Base, "Getting Started with Clawless" chapter
  Covers first launch, the onboarding wizard's API Keys step, BYOK
  framing, and the Sign in with ChatGPT alternative offered during
  onboarding.

SUPPORTING (the default-agent-model rule when multiple providers connect)
• Clawless Knowledge Base, "Settings Reference" chapter
  Covers Settings panel layout, the API Keys section, the Models
  section where default-agent-model lives, and the rule that the
  default follows the first provider connected during onboarding.

Clawless documentation is open under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike
(CC BY-SA 4.0). This lesson follows the KB's framing on key handling and
the Codex OAuth path, expressed in original prose for a Clawdemy reader
adding their first provider.

Going deeper inside Clawless

Two follow-on KB chapters once the basics are in place.

Clawless Knowledge Base, “Usage and Cost” chapter. The Usage dashboard in detail. Cost breakdown by provider, model, and conversation. Useful when you have a few weeks of conversations behind you and want to know where the money (or the OAuth-free time) actually went.
Clawless Knowledge Base, “Agents and Overview” chapter. Each agent’s preferred model is editable in the agent’s settings. Worth a read after this lesson if you have connected multiple providers and want to change which agent defaults to which provider.

Going deeper outside Clawless

Three outside sources for readers who want context on what an API key actually is and why your operating system has a secure storage for credentials.

“What is an API key?” at Cloudflare Learning. The cleanest one-page explanation of API keys in general (not specific to AI), aimed at non-developers. Covers what a key is, why it is sensitive, and the rotation/revocation lifecycle. Useful background if “API key” felt like wizardry when you read the lesson.
“About Keychain Access on Mac” from Apple. The official documentation of macOS Keychain, the secure storage Clawless uses on Mac. If you want to see your saved AI provider keys with your own eyes, this is the path. The Anthropic, OpenAI, and other provider entries appear once you have connected them in Clawless.
“Manage Windows Credentials” from Microsoft. The Windows-side equivalent. Credential Manager is where Clawless stores keys on Windows.

Adjacent lessons on Clawdemy

Where this sits in the track.

Your first conversation and picking a model (lesson 2). The picker, the dock row, switching models mid-conversation. The “two visible cues” (OAuth indicator + $0 Usage row) you read about in this lesson sit on the model picker and Usage dashboard that lesson 2 introduced.
The Memory panel and how Clawless remembers (a later lesson). What persists across conversations, how the Memory panel surfaces and lets you control it. Distinct concern from API keys but lives in the same Settings area.
CostGuard and the local-first privacy posture (a later lesson). Setting a monthly spending cap so a runaway message loop on a BYOK pay-as-you-go account cannot surprise you. Closes the loop on “the provider bills you directly, so set a safety net.”