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campusGenAI Docs

Usage and Best Practices

This page covers how KeyMaker usage works, how to keep an eye on cost, and how to use your API key safely.

Quotas and usage

Section titled “Quotas and usage”

KeyMaker doesn’t impose a fixed quota. Your usage draws on the funding your sponsor allocates — if the funding is there, you can use it however it’s allocated to you. Sponsors control how that funding is distributed across their team in the KeyMaker portal.

Monitoring usage

Section titled “Monitoring usage”

Both users and sponsors monitor usage and cost in the KeyMaker portal in campusGenAI (profile picture → KeyMaker). Check it regularly to understand how much of your sponsor’s funding you’re consuming.

Cost awareness for sponsors

Section titled “Cost awareness for sponsors”

Because usage is billed to your speedtype, it’s worth managing it actively:

  • Review usage in the KeyMaker portal regularly, especially after onboarding new team members.
  • Allocate funding across team members deliberately rather than leaving it open-ended.
  • Remove team members who no longer need access.
  • Keep in mind that programmatic workflows (batch jobs, pipelines) can consume far more than interactive chat use — a single script can make thousands of calls.

Requesting more funds

Section titled “Requesting more funds”

If you’re running low on your allocation, the process is currently manual and depends on whether you’re a team member or a sponsor.

Team members: Request additional funds directly from your sponsor. Your sponsor controls how funding is allocated across the team in the KeyMaker portal and can increase your allocation from there.

Sponsors: Request a budget top-up for your team within the KeyMaker portal. The request is sent to the admin portal for approval.

Security best practices

Section titled “Security best practices”

Your API key is billed to your sponsor’s funding and should be protected like a password.

  • Never commit keys to a repository. Keep them out of source control — use a config file like ~/.claude/settings.json, environment variables, or a secrets manager.
  • Never share your key or paste it into shared documents, tickets, or chat.
  • Rotate your key periodically, and immediately if you suspect it’s been exposed.
  • Use one key per person or service where possible, so usage is attributable and a single key can be revoked without disrupting everyone.
  • Scrub keys from logs and screenshots before sharing them for troubleshooting.

When to use the API vs. the chat interface

Section titled “When to use the API vs. the chat interface”

Use the chat interface when you’re:

  • Asking everyday questions, drafting, or exploring ideas
  • Working interactively, one prompt at a time
  • Not writing code to call the model

Use KeyMaker (the API) when you’re:

  • Integrating AI into a custom application or institutional tool
  • Automating work — batch processing, data analysis, pipelines
  • Using a coding agent such as Claude Code or Codex
  • Running repeatable, programmatic workflows that go beyond a chat session

Need help?

Section titled “Need help?”

Your interface may look slightly different depending on your institution’s deployment.