xai-auth

name	xai-auth
description	xAI Grok API authentication and setup. Use when configuring xAI API access, setting up API keys, or troubleshooting authentication issues.
version	1.0.0

xAI Grok API Authentication

Complete guide for setting up and managing xAI API authentication for Grok models with Twitter/X integration.

Quick Start

1. Get API Key

1. Go to console.x.ai
2. Sign in with your X (Twitter) account
3. Navigate to "API Keys" section
4. Click "Create API Key"
5. Copy and save the key (starts with xai-)

2. Set Environment Variable

# Add to .bashrc, .zshrc, or .env
export XAI_API_KEY="xai-your-key-here"

3. Test Connection

curl https://api.x.ai/v1/models \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $XAI_API_KEY"

Authentication Methods

Method 1: Environment Variable (Recommended)

import os
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    api_key=os.getenv("XAI_API_KEY"),
    base_url="https://api.x.ai/v1"
)

Method 2: Direct Key

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    api_key="xai-your-key-here",
    base_url="https://api.x.ai/v1"
)

Method 3: Using xai-sdk

from xai_sdk import Client

client = Client(api_key=os.getenv("XAI_API_KEY"))

API Compatibility

xAI API is fully compatible with OpenAI SDK:

# Just change base_url - everything else works the same
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    api_key=os.getenv("XAI_API_KEY"),
    base_url="https://api.x.ai/v1"  # Only difference
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="grok-3-fast",  # Use Grok models
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}]
)

Free Credits

$150/Month Free Credits

1. Go to console.x.ai
2. Navigate to Settings → Data Sharing
3. Enable data sharing opt-in
4. Receive $150/month in API credits

Credit Usage

Action	Cost
Grok 4.1 Fast (input)	$0.20/1M tokens
Grok 4.1 Fast (output)	$0.50/1M tokens
X Search / Web Search	$5/1,000 calls
Code Execution	$5/1,000 calls

Configuration File

Create .env.xai:

# xAI API Configuration
XAI_API_KEY=xai-your-key-here
XAI_BASE_URL=https://api.x.ai/v1
XAI_DEFAULT_MODEL=grok-3-fast

Error Handling

Common Errors

Error	Cause	Solution
no credits	No credits on account	Add credits or enable free tier
invalid_api_key	Wrong or expired key	Generate new key at console.x.ai
rate_limit_exceeded	Too many requests	Implement backoff, reduce frequency
model_not_found	Invalid model name	Check available models

Python Error Handling

from openai import OpenAI, APIError, RateLimitError

client = OpenAI(
    api_key=os.getenv("XAI_API_KEY"),
    base_url="https://api.x.ai/v1"
)

try:
    response = client.chat.completions.create(
        model="grok-3-fast",
        messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]
    )
except RateLimitError:
    print("Rate limit hit, waiting...")
    time.sleep(60)
except APIError as e:
    print(f"API error: {e}")

Security Best Practices

1. Never commit API keys to git
2. Use environment variables instead of hardcoding
3. Rotate keys regularly via console.x.ai
4. Use separate keys for dev/prod environments
5. Add to .gitignore:

   .env
   .env.*
   **/secrets.*
   

Rate Limits

Model	Requests/Min	Tokens/Min
Grok 4.1 Fast	60	100,000
Grok 4	30	50,000
Grok 3 Mini	100	200,000

Endpoints

Endpoint	Description
https://api.x.ai/v1/chat/completions	Chat completions
https://api.x.ai/v1/models	List available models
https://api.x.ai/v1/responses	Agent Tools API

Related Skills

• xai-models - Model selection guide
• xai-x-search - Twitter/X search
• xai-sentiment - Sentiment analysis

References

• xAI Console
• xAI Documentation
• API Overview