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Zenable can run its AI work on an endpoint you supply. Your provider bills you directly for requests sent to your endpoint, and you choose a supported model for each capability level. Zenable Credits still apply at the BYOK rates in Plans and Usage.
Plus requires BYOK and does not allow Zenable-managed generative inference. Enterprise lets your company choose whether BYOK is required. Free and Professional use Zenable-managed inference and cannot configure BYOK. See Plans and Usage.

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What your endpoint must support

Your provider must expose an OpenAI-compatible model catalog. For inference, Zenable supports OpenAI Chat Completions and Anthropic Messages. A provider can expose the catalog and inference APIs at different paths on the same host. API compatibility alone does not make every model eligible: the model must also match a supported capability level.
1

Public HTTPS endpoint

The base URL must use HTTPS and resolve to a public address. Credentials embedded in the URL, query strings, and fragments are rejected. An endpoint that is only reachable inside your network cannot be used.
2

OpenAI-compatible model catalog

Zenable calls {base_url}/models with your key as a bearer token. The response must contain a nonempty data array of model entries with IDs. Empty or malformed catalogs are refused when connecting.
3

A supported inference API

Choose OpenAI Chat Completions (POST /chat/completions) or Anthropic Messages (POST /messages) for each capability level. The selected model must support text input and output, and tool calling where required. Access to the model catalog does not prove permission to invoke a model or compatibility with the chosen inference API.

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Capability levels

Choose one model for each level. The model picker shows eligible models from your provider’s catalog. On Plus, or when your Enterprise company requires BYOK, all three levels must have a model from your provider before AI work can run. With optional BYOK on Enterprise, levels without your own model can use Zenable-managed inference.
A model can appear in your provider’s catalog without being eligible for a particular level. If no models are offered, contact support before choosing a provider or deploying a model. Catalog eligibility does not guarantee that every provider implements streaming or tool calling in the same way.

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Connecting

On Plus or Enterprise, open Settings → BYOK. Viewing the settings requires settings:read; connecting a provider or changing models requires settings:manage.
1

Connect your provider

Enter the base URL for your model catalog and an API key. Choose Verify and continue to check access to the catalog. The settings page displays a masked key with its last four characters; the full key is never returned by the API.
2

Choose models and API formats

Select a model for Premium, Fast, and Simple. For each one, choose the API format supported by your provider and, if needed, a Base path. Save the model configuration.
3

Run a small request

Confirm that a real request completes with the selected models. A successful catalog check does not verify inference permissions, streaming, or tool calling. If an operation fails, follow its feedback and review the warning on the BYOK settings page when one is present.

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API format and base path

Without a Base path override, inference uses the endpoint URL you connected. An override replaces its path while keeping the same HTTPS host and credential. Enter the API base path, without /chat/completions or /messages. For example, a provider can list models at https://models.example.com/v1/models and serve OpenAI Chat Completions at https://models.example.com/openai/v1/chat/completions. Connect https://models.example.com/v1 and set that model’s Base path to /openai/v1. For Anthropic Messages at https://models.example.com/anthropic/messages, select Anthropic Messages and set Base path to /anthropic. Choose the format based on the API your provider exposes, not the model’s name. A Claude model behind an OpenAI-compatible gateway can use OpenAI Chat Completions.

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Requiring BYOK and handling failures

On Plus, BYOK is always required and cannot be turned off. A missing model assignment or provider failure prevents the AI operation from completing; Zenable does not switch it to managed inference. An Enterprise company administrator with company:manage can enable or disable Require BYOK in Settings → BYOK. This setting applies across the company’s workspaces. When enabled, every workspace needs its own configured provider and all three model levels. When disabled, work without an assigned customer model can use Zenable-managed inference.
Automatic fallback from a failing BYOK request to another model, provider, or Zenable-managed inference is not supported. An operation can retry the same route a limited number of times; if it cannot complete, it reports a failure.

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Output token limits

The BYOK page lets you limit the length of model responses. A provider connection override takes priority over a provider-specific default configured by Zenable, which in turn takes priority over the workspace override. If none is set, a model-specific limit or the BYOK default applies. The provider’s advertised hard limit can reduce the effective maximum. These settings limit output tokens, not your provider’s total spend or the size of the input context. A very small output limit can be consumed by a model’s reasoning before it produces visible text. Increase the limit or ask for a shorter response if the operation cannot finish. If the selected model’s input capacity is unknown, work that requires a capacity check can be refused before inference.

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Keys and rotation

Your API key is stored encrypted and scoped to the workspace that supplied it. To rotate it, connect again with the new key. Allow time for configuration changes to propagate before testing new work. Disconnecting removes Zenable’s stored credential and model assignments. It does not revoke the key at your provider; revoke it there separately if it is no longer needed.
Disconnecting while BYOK is required stops AI work until a provider and all three model levels are configured again. Deterministic verifier rules and static analysis do not need your provider. Rotate by connecting the replacement key before revoking the old one.

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What still runs on Zenable

Embeddings, used for search and retrieval, remain Zenable-managed. They are not covered by the BYOK configuration. The managed decision-model gate is skipped for BYOK reviews; it is not replaced by a model from your provider. The assigned models handle chat, code review, conformance checks, and analysis. BYOK does not change which product features your plan includes.

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Troubleshooting