Bring Your Own Key: BYOK LinkedIn AI tool architecture

Bring Your Own Key is a billing and routing decision, not a writing style. The LinkedIn screens can look identical while the model call is paid by a completely different account.

Boykli ships two of those architectures on one product, plus the option of skipping the product and calling a model vendor yourself. BYOK is $29 a month: chat and images go out on your OpenRouter key, and Voice Agent plus captionless YouTube go out on your Google AI Studio key. Managed is $88 a month: the same screens call Boykli's platform keys, inside monthly caps. A raw ChatGPT, Claude, or OpenRouter tab is a third architecture. You hold the key, and you also hold the paste into LinkedIn. Why that paste usually reads like a topic prompt, and the note that fixes it, is why raw ChatGPT LinkedIn posts fail.

The product home, with both seats, is boykli.com.

Three ways the model bill is paid

Prices are the public monthly cards. A cancelled seat still works until current_period_end. An on_hold seat, and a cancel whose period has already ended, do not.

Free LinkedIn Utilities: Turn plain text into clean 1080x1350 multi-page PDF slides using the Free LinkedIn Carousel Generator, and test your post hook and dwell score on the Free LinkedIn Algorithm Grader.

Same screens, different payer

Both paid seats open the same workspace. Create posts has seven write modes: short, medium, long, YouTube, article, series, and document. The carousel page builds a PDF with a brand kit. Images, Voice Agent, Radar, the ideas library, Algorithm, Library, and Schedule are on the seat too. Logged-in visitors can browse Radar and Algorithm with no plan. The API refuses a write, a carousel, an image, a LinkedIn publish, or a schedule item until a generatable plan exists. The button in the interface is not the gate.

That split is why the name is literal. The founder note on why the cheaper seat exists at all is building Boykli: pay Boykli for the software, pay the providers for the tokens you actually spend. How a draft is shaped once a key is present is LinkedIn post generator. How the personal-profile queue works after the draft exists is LinkedIn scheduling tool.

A credit-bundle LinkedIn product is a fourth shape of the same choice, and it is the one most "AI writing included" pricing pages describe. Taplio's own cards, read on 21 October 2026, put scheduling and analytics on Starter at $39 a month and AI writing on Growth at $69. You are buying an allotment the vendor meters. You are not pointing that screen at an OpenRouter invoice you control. Recheck Taplio's pricing page before you treat those numbers as current. The narrower product comparison is Taplio alternative.

Which credential does which job

Routing follows the plan row. It does not follow a guess from a usage counter. On a BYOK row the server loads that account's two keys and attaches them to the call. On a Managed row those keys are not consulted.

Two practical consequences fall out of that table.

A missing OpenRouter key stops posts, carousels, images, and Voice Agent drafting. A missing Google AI Studio key stops the live interview and stops a captionless YouTube watch. The screen says which key is missing and links to Settings. It does not silently complete the call on Boykli's xAI, OpenAI, Anthropic, or Vertex credentials.

Grok capacity is the exception that is announced, not hidden. If OpenRouter reports that Grok 4.6 is at capacity, the post page tells you which model was used for that draft. That notice is a capacity fallback with a toast. It is not a license to send an arbitrary OpenRouter slug from the browser.

What the server does with the key

Settings → LLM API Keys is where the two credentials are saved. OpenRouter keys come from openrouter.ai/keys. Google AI Studio keys come from aistudio.google.com/app/apikey. The OpenRouter value is checked before it is stored. A string that does not look like an OpenRouter key is rejected, and a key OpenRouter itself rejects is not kept.

After that, the browser is the wrong place to look for the secret. The privacy page states the rule in one sentence: BYOK keys are stored encrypted and are not shown back in full. They are used to run that workspace. How that encrypted-key seat sits next to a self-hosted open-source scheduler, including the Mixpost edition that does not publish to LinkedIn, is open source LinkedIn scheduler. Generation requests are answered by the server, which decrypts for the outbound provider call and does not echo the raw key in the JSON the page receives. Deleting a key in Settings removes it. A later BYOK call then fails closed instead of borrowing the platform account.

The plan row is the switch. The server reads the paid seat, Managed or BYOK, and sends the call down that path only. An AppSumo lifetime code, redeemed at boykli.com/redeem, is also a BYOK seat. It is one code for one account, it is not a Dodo subscription, and an existing paid seat blocks redeem. After a lifetime code is on the account, Settings can still start a Managed checkout. Monthly BYOK checkout stays closed while that lifetime seat is the one in force. If a later Managed seat ends or its payment fails, the lifetime BYOK seat is what remains. A revoked code stays spent.

Caps follow the same switch. Managed decrements the five counters: 210 posts across the seven write modes, 150 carousels, 150 images, 25 Voice Agent sessions, and 130 post refinements. Each draft still allows only two refinements, on both seats. BYOK does not decrement a Boykli counter. "No cap" means Boykli will not stop you at 210 posts. It does not mean OpenRouter or Google is free, and it does not remove the $29.

Concurrency follows it too. One account may have three BYOK generations in flight, or one Managed generation. The shared Node process still has its own ceiling so one box cannot be flooded, but the number a single customer hits is the per-account lock: three or one. A LinkedIn publish is a separate queue. It claims one due item at a time for the connected personal profile. It does not also post comments, likes, invitations, or messages, and it does not post a company Page.

A credit bundle is a different contract

Included-credit tools sell a meter the vendor owns. You pay one invoice. You stop, or you buy more, when their counter says so. You do not bring an OpenRouter key, you do not bring a Google AI Studio key, and you cannot move that usage onto a bill you already have with those vendors.

That contract is reasonable when you want one vendor and a predictable ceiling. It is a poor fit when you already pay OpenRouter for other work and you do not want a second meter that expires unused. It is also a poor fit when the LinkedIn product you are comparing is mostly analytics, comments, or leads. Boykli's BYOK seat does not become those features because the key is yours. The writing surface is the writing surface. Shield-style post tracking, Taplio's lead outreach, and a Chrome extension that saves other people's posts are still different products. Those comparisons live on their own pages, starting from Taplio alternative.

Managed is Boykli's version of the included-credit contract, with the caps listed above and no user key. It is not a discounted Taplio, and BYOK is not "Managed with the caps removed and the models still on our bill." Removing the cap moves the token invoice to you.

The provider tab you already have

Calling Grok, Claude, or Gemini in their own product, then pasting into LinkedIn, is a real architecture. It wins when the job is one post, you already like that chat UI, and you do not want a scheduler or a carousel PDF.

It loses the parts that are the product rather than the model:

• Seven write modes with a length and a tone for that draft, and two refinements that stay on the draft.
• A carousel PDF with a brand kit, from the carousel page, published as a LinkedIn document with your caption. The generator path is LinkedIn carousel generator.
• Voice Agent: a live interview, a transcript, and three drafts. The interview credential and the draft credential are different keys on BYOK. That workflow is LinkedIn voice agent.
• A queue on the personal profile: weekdays, one time of day, one timezone. The free composer versus that queue is Schedule LinkedIn posts.
• A hard stop when YouTube has no captions and the watch fails, so the draft is not a paraphrase of the title.

None of those require you to surrender the provider account. On BYOK, that account is the one being called. The difference is that the call is shaped by the LinkedIn workflow and then handed to OAuth, instead of ending in a copy button.

Set up BYOK and publish one post

This is the path for a medium post on a new BYOK seat. The same key rules apply to the other six write modes.

1. Sign in and open Settings. Choose BYOK at $29 a month. If you hold an unused AppSumo code and you do not already have a paid seat, redeem it at /redeem first. One code, one account. A code that is already redeemed, revoked, or submitted by someone else does not become a second lifetime seat.
2. Create an OpenRouter key and a Google AI Studio key at the two links above. Put a little credit or billing on OpenRouter before you write. An empty provider balance fails the call the same way a rejected key does.
3. In Settings, under LLM API Keys, save each key. Wait for the saved confirmation. The page will not show the secret again in full. If OpenRouter rejects the paste, fix the key there. Do not keep retrying the post page against a key that never stored.
4. Open Create posts and choose Medium. Write the idea with a detail you would say out loud: a number you measured, a tool name, a timeframe, a thing that failed. Posts go to Grok 4.6 through OpenRouter. If the key is missing, the banner names OpenRouter and points at Settings.
5. Read the draft against the idea. Spend a refinement only on a specific change. You get two on this draft. There is no Boykli monthly refinement cap on BYOK. Each refinement is still an OpenRouter call.
6. Connect the personal LinkedIn profile from Settings if you have not. Publish now, or add the post to the queue. The queue needs weekdays, one time, and a timezone. Scheduling does not call OpenRouter again. Company Pages are not a destination.
7. Optional: open Voice Agent only after the Google key is saved. The live interview uses that key. The three drafts use OpenRouter. A missing OpenRouter key stops drafting even when the interview already finished.

If you would rather not hold either key, stop at step 1 and take Managed. The steps from Create posts onward are the same screens. The invoice and the caps change. The LinkedIn OAuth scope does not.

Who each architecture is for

Choose BYOK when you will actually create the two keys, you already watch a provider bill, and you do not want Boykli to cut the month off at 210 posts or 150 carousels. Heavy carousel and image weeks belong here only if you have accepted the OpenRouter line item.

Choose Managed when you want one invoice, a ceiling you can see in Settings, and no provider dashboard. The $88 includes the models up to the caps. Passing a cap means you wait for the period, or you switch seat. It does not mean the app quietly starts charging your personal OpenRouter account.

Choose the provider tab plus LinkedIn's composer when you are writing occasionally, you do not want a PDF or a queue, and another subscription is overhead. Choose a credit-bundle tool such as Taplio when the reason you pay is analytics, comments, or leads. Those are not hiding inside the BYOK key.

None of the four changes how LinkedIn distributes a post. Official OAuth is a statement about how the post leaves the app. It is not a reach upgrade. Distribution is covered in how LinkedIn impressions are distributed and in automated LinkedIn posting.

FAQ

Is BYOK just Managed at a lower price?

No. The $29 is the software. OpenRouter bills chat and images. Google AI Studio bills the live voice session and a captionless YouTube watch. A light week can cost less than $88 all-in. A week of constant regeneration, carousels, and images can cost more. Managed replaces that meter with the five caps and a single $88 charge.

Can I paste any model id from OpenRouter?

No. Create posts uses Grok 4.6. The carousel picker is limited to Grok 4.6, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Claude Sonnet 5, and gpt-5.6-terra. Other slugs are rejected. That allowlist is the same idea on both seats: the browser does not get to invent a route.

What if I only save one of the two keys?

Save the key for the job you will run. Posts, carousels, and images need OpenRouter. The live Voice Agent interview and a YouTube watch without captions need Google AI Studio. Voice Agent drafts need OpenRouter even after a successful interview. One key does not stand in for the other, and neither key stands in for Boykli's platform keys.

Where do the keys live after I click save?

On the server, encrypted, tied to the workspace. The privacy page is the public statement: they are not shown back in full, and they are used to run your workspace. They are not a browser setting someone can copy out of page source later.

Does an AppSumo code replace the $29?

A valid unused code redeemed on an account with no paid seat is a lifetime BYOK seat. You still bring both provider keys, and you still pay those providers. It is not a free Managed seat and not a free scheduler. An account that already pays monthly cannot redeem. Refunds are an admin revoke. A revoked code cannot be reused.

Can I switch from BYOK to Managed later?

Yes, from Settings, as a plan change. Managed then uses platform keys and the monthly caps. Your stored provider keys are no longer the route while that Managed seat is the one that can generate. An AppSumo lifetime account can start Managed checkout. If that Managed seat later ends, lifetime BYOK is the seat that returns.

Will BYOK post to a company Page, or run comments for me?

No. Publish and the queue use the personal profile you connect. The app does not schedule a first comment, a like, an invite, or a message. Automated commenting is a different product, and it is the behavior LinkedIn has written rules against. The posting limits are spelled out in automated LinkedIn posting.

Does holding my own key improve impressions?

No. The key decides who is billed for the draft. LinkedIn's distribution of the published post is a separate system. Algorithm on the dashboard is a plain-language read of LinkedIn's public notes. It is not an analytics product, and it does not pick your posting hour.

What happens when the provider balance hits zero?

The generation fails with a provider error. Boykli does not advance the draft on a platform key to paper over an empty OpenRouter or Google account. Fix the balance, or move the seat to Managed if you want the platform invoice instead.