OpenAI API Configuration Guide

Overview

OpenAI API is a general-purpose AI interface provided by OpenAI, supporting text generation, conversations, code generation, and more. It offers a highly unified interface specification and is widely supported.

OpenAI provides multiple model series for different performance and cost scenarios:

Model	Features	Use Cases
gpt-4o-mini	Fast, low cost	High concurrency, daily conversations
gpt-4o	High-quality multimodal	Complex tasks, image understanding
gpt-4.1	Stronger reasoning & code capabilities	Code generation, logical reasoning

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Getting API Key

Step 1: Visit OpenAI Platform

Go to OpenAI Platform and log in to your account.

Step 2: Generate API Key

1. Navigate to Dashboard → API Keys
2. Click "Create new secret key"
3. Copy and save your API Key

⚠️ Note: The API Key is only shown once. Keep it secure and do not share it with others.

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Configuring PicoClaw

Option 1: Using WebUI (Recommended)

PicoClaw provides a WebUI interface where you can easily configure models without manually editing configuration files.

Edit preset settings, or click the "Add Model" button in the top right corner:

Field	Value
Model Alias	Custom name, e.g., gpt-4o
Model Identifier	openai/gpt-4o-mini (or other supported models)
API Key	OpenAI API Key (sk-xxxxx)
API Base URL	Leave empty (default: https://api.openai.com/v1)

Option 2: Edit Configuration File

Add OpenAI models in config.json and set auth_method to api_key:

{
  "model_list": [
    {
      "model_name": "gpt-4o-mini",
      "model": "openai/gpt-4o-mini",
      "auth_method": "api_key",
      "api_key": "YOUR_OPENAI_API_KEY_HERE"
    },
    {
      "model_name": "gpt-4o",
      "model": "openai/gpt-4o",
      "auth_method": "api_key",
      "api_key": "YOUR_OPENAI_API_KEY_HERE"
    }
  ],
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "model": "gpt-4o-mini"
    }
  }
}

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Limits & Quotas

Billing

OpenAI uses a Pay-as-you-go model, charging based on actual token usage.

Rate Limits

Different account tiers and models have different rate limits:

• RPM (Requests Per Minute): Number of requests per minute
• TPM (Tokens Per Minute): Number of tokens per minute

When exceeding limits, you will receive a 429 Too Many Requests error.

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Common Issues

max_tokens Error

Invalid max_tokens value

Cause: Exceeds model limit

Solution: Reduce the max_tokens parameter value (e.g., 1024 or 2048)

429 Rate Limit Error

Solutions:

• Reduce request frequency
• Upgrade your OpenAI account tier
• Enable request rate limiting in PicoClaw

Cannot Connect to API

Check the following:

• Is base_url correct? (Default: https://api.openai.com/v1)
• Do you need a proxy? (For users in China mainland)
• Is DNS resolution working properly?
• Network connectivity