Configure Cross-Vendor Access and Protect the API Key

The cross-vendor council requires a project folder, an environment file, and an OpenRouter API key. The key is a billing credential and must remain secret.

The configuration workflow is:

1. Create a new folder for the LLM Council project. The folder can be stored in a projects directory, documents, the desktop, or another convenient location.
2. Start a new coding session and open that folder.
3. Ask the coding environment to create a .env file in the folder for the LLM Council skill.
4. In OpenRouter, open Personal, then Profile, then API Keys, and create a new key.
5. Copy the key.
6. Paste it into the .env file created for the project.
7. Save the file.
8. Ask the coding environment to verify that the key is present.

Once the key is detected, the project is ready to run the cross-vendor mode.

The environment file connects the local council skill to OpenRouter so that the workflow can call several models. Without the key, the cross-vendor workflow cannot access those models.

The key also authorizes billable usage. Anyone who obtains it can potentially make calls that create charges against the account. Credential protection is therefore part of the council setup, not an optional administrative detail.

Use a dedicated project folder so that the .env file is associated with the council run. After entering the key, explicitly verify the configuration before launching a paid request.

Do not display or share the key. A key that has been exposed should be deleted immediately because another person could use it and increase the account's bill.

Cross-vendor mode creates a credential-management requirement that default mode does not have. It also introduces external billing.

Create the .env file inside the council project, place the API key there, verify that it is available, and treat the key as a sensitive billing credential. Delete any key that has been exposed.