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OpenRouter API Authentication

How to authenticate OpenRouter API requests: one Bearer API key plus a connectionId. MindCloud stores your API key securely — set it once, never resend it.

Every OpenRouter API request through MindCloud needs two things: a MindCloud API Key and a connectionId for your OpenRouter account. This page covers both, plus exactly how to send them, so you do not need to visit any other page to get authenticated.

Steps to authenticate

  1. Create a MindCloud account at app.mindcloud.co if you do not already have one.
  2. Generate a MindCloud API Key in API Keys. This is the Bearer token you send on every request. Keep it on your server.
  3. Create a OpenRouter connection in Connections. OpenRouter uses an API key. You generate the key in your OpenRouter account, then paste it in when you create the connection — MindCloud stores it securely and never returns it in a response.
  4. Copy the connection’s connectionId — you will send it on every request alongside your MindCloud API Key.

How requests are authenticated

Authentication has two layers. Your MindCloud API Key authenticates the request to MindCloud, sent as a Bearer token in the Authorization header. The connectionId selects the connected OpenRouter account that should run the action. MindCloud stores and refreshes the OpenRouter credentials behind that connection, so you never send provider tokens with your requests.

Pass connectionId in the query string for GET and DELETE actions, and in the JSON body for POST, PUT, and PATCH actions.

For example, calling Get Current API Key with an OpenRouter connection looks like this:

curl --request POST \
  --url "https://connect.mindcloud.co/v2/universal/apps/openRouter/actions/get-current-api-key/run" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $MINDCLOUD_API_KEY" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data '{
  "connectionId": "$CONNECTION_ID",
  "arguments": {}
}'

The Authorization: Bearer <your MindCloud API Key> header authenticates you to MindCloud; the connectionId tells MindCloud which OpenRouter account to run the action against. Missing or invalid Authorization returns 401, and a missing or mismatched connectionId returns 400.

Create your OpenRouter API key

You need an OpenRouter account and enough credits or billing access for the models you plan to call.

  1. Open the OpenRouter keys page

    Sign in to OpenRouter and open the page where API keys are created and managed.

    Keys
  2. Create a new API key

    Create a key, give it a recognizable name, and optionally set a credit limit for this integration.

  3. Copy the API key

    Copy the full API key value immediately and keep it somewhere secure until the MindCloud connection is saved.

  4. Paste the key into MindCloud

    Return to the MindCloud connection form and paste the API key into the API key field.

Keep your key safe

Keep your MindCloud API Key on your server; do not ship it in browser code, mobile apps, public repositories, or logs. Anyone with the key can call the Universal API as your MindCloud account, across every connection you have created.