Connect OpenAI to your MonstarX app
In shortEvery MonstarX app already has AI built in. Connect OpenAI with your own API key in Backend → Cloud and ask MonstarX to use it, and your app's AI features run on your OpenAI account instead — billed by OpenAI, outside MonstarX's daily limits. You can switch back to MonstarX AI at any time.
Use your own OpenAI account for your app’s AI features.
- Type
- For your app
- Category
- AI and media
- Connect with
- API key
OpenAI makes the GPT models. Your MonstarX app can already use AI with no key at all — see Add AI features to your app. Connect OpenAI when you want those features to run on your own OpenAI account: to pick the model yourself, to go past the built-in daily limits, or to keep AI costs on your own bill.
What can you build with it?
Section titled “What can you build with it?”- A chat assistant that answers questions about your business, on the model you choose.
- Writing helpers: product descriptions, email drafts, summaries of long text.
- Form filling: pull the name, date and total out of a pasted invoice or a photo of a receipt.
- Pictures on demand, like a cover image for each post, made with OpenAI’s image models.
- Heavy AI use — AI on every page, or many users at once — beyond the built-in 300 requests a day.
What changes when I use OpenAI instead of MonstarX AI?
Section titled “What changes when I use OpenAI instead of MonstarX AI?”OpenAI replaces MonstarX AI — the Backend list marks it that way. Connecting it adds your key; the app’s AI features move over when you ask MonstarX to switch them:
| MonstarX AI (built in) | OpenAI (your account) | |
|---|---|---|
| Models | Chosen by MonstarX, with a backup model if one has trouble | The OpenAI model you ask for |
| Limits | 300 requests and 30 images a day per app | Your OpenAI account’s limits |
| Cost | Counts toward your MonstarX plan’s usage | Billed by OpenAI to your account |
| Where calls are listed | BackendAI | Your OpenAI dashboard |
Features you have not switched keep using MonstarX AI. MonstarX AI also reads text aloud, turns speech into text and searches the web; if you use those, keep AI (and Web Search) switched on or ask MonstarX to rebuild them on OpenAI.
Before you start
Section titled “Before you start”- An OpenAI API account. This is separate from a ChatGPT subscription: the API is paid for with credit you add under billing, per word the models read and write (see OpenAI’s pricing).
- Credit on the account. Without it, OpenAI refuses every request.
Get your key
Section titled “Get your key”-
Sign in to the OpenAI platform and add credit under Billing if you have none.
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Open API keys and click Create new secret key. Give it a name like “Sunrise Pilates app”.
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Copy the key (it starts with
sk-). OpenAI shows it only once.
Connect it in MonstarX
Section titled “Connect it in MonstarX”-
Open your project and click Backend in the top bar, then Cloud.
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Under Connectors, click Connect beside OpenAI.
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Paste the key into API key.
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Click Connect OpenAI. The row shows Connected, and your preview restarts with the key.
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Ask MonstarX to use it, for example: “Use my OpenAI key for all of the app’s AI features.”
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Optional: once nothing in the app uses MonstarX AI, open BackendCloud and click Turn off on AI.
Ask MonstarX to use it
Section titled “Ask MonstarX to use it”| You type | What happens |
|---|---|
| “Use my OpenAI key for all of the app’s AI features.” | Every AI feature is rewritten to call OpenAI. |
| “Use my OpenAI key for the recipe suggestions only.” | Just that feature moves; the rest stays on MonstarX AI. |
| “Add a help chat on the Contact page that answers from our FAQ, using OpenAI.” | A chat box that answers with your OpenAI key. |
| “Add a Make a cover image button to each post, using OpenAI.” | An image made by OpenAI and saved with your app’s files. |
How do I switch back to MonstarX AI?
Section titled “How do I switch back to MonstarX AI?”-
In BackendCloud, click Turn on on AI if you switched it off.
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Ask MonstarX: “Use MonstarX AI again for the app’s AI features.”
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Click Disconnect on the OpenAI row to remove your key from this app.
Security and privacy
Section titled “Security and privacy”- Your key is stored encrypted with this app and used only by its server. People using your app never see it.
- What your app sends to the AI goes to OpenAI under your account and OpenAI’s terms.
- Only the project’s owner can connect, update or disconnect OpenAI.
- To replace the key, create a new one, click Update keys on the OpenAI row, paste it and click Save keys. Publish again, then delete the old key in OpenAI.
Good to know
Section titled “Good to know”- There is no automatic backup model: if OpenAI is down or your credit runs out, those features show an error until it is back.
- Want to try models from many companies with one key? Use OpenRouter instead.
- Your own building in MonstarX is not affected. This key is only for the app you build.
Frequently asked questions
Section titled “Frequently asked questions”Do I need an OpenAI key for AI features?
No. Every app has MonstarX AI with no key. Connect OpenAI only if you want your own account, model or limits.
Does my ChatGPT Plus subscription cover this?
No. The OpenAI API is billed separately, from credit you add on the OpenAI platform.
Does connecting OpenAI switch my AI features straight away?
No. It adds the key. Ask MonstarX to use it, for all features or just one.
Will my app's AI still count toward my MonstarX usage?
Not for features that run on your OpenAI key. Features still on MonstarX AI count as before.
What happens if I turn off AI?
Anything still using MonstarX AI stops answering, including reading aloud and transcription built on it. Move those features first.