All /v1/* endpoints require authentication. ARouter supports three methods so that
every major LLM SDK works out of the box.
Auth Methods
Bearer Token
Query Parameter
Used by the OpenAI SDK, DeepSeek SDK, Mistral SDK, and most OpenAI-compatible clients.Authorization: Bearer lr_live_xxxx
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(
base_url="https://api.arouter.com/v1",
api_key="lr_live_xxxx", # sent as Bearer token
)
Used by the Google Gemini SDK.GET /v1beta/models?key=lr_live_xxxx
import google.generativeai as genai
genai.configure(
api_key="lr_live_xxxx", # sent as ?key= param
transport="rest",
client_options={"api_endpoint": "https://api.arouter.com"},
)
All three methods use the same ARouter API key. The gateway automatically detects which
method is being used and extracts the key accordingly.
Key Types
| Key Type | Format | Description |
|---|
| Management Key | lr_mgmt_xxxx | Create and manage API keys via the management API. |
| API Key | lr_live_xxxx | Make LLM requests. Can have provider/model restrictions and spending limits. |
Error Responses
When authentication fails, you’ll receive one of these responses:
// Missing or malformed key
{
"error": {
"message": "missing or invalid Authorization header",
"type": "authentication_error"
}
}
// Invalid key
{
"error": {
"message": "invalid api key",
"type": "authentication_error"
}
}
401 Unauthorized. 
