---
canonical_url: "https://buildwithwave.com/docs/account/developer-api-keys"
title: "API keys"
description: "Create a Read or Write key in Settings, then Developer, tell your AI assistant about Wave with the message Wave gives you, then paste the key when it asks. Rotate or revoke it from the same list. API keys are available on paid plans."
group: "account"
lane: "how-to"
status: "published"
publishedAt: 2026-10-03
updatedAt: 2026-10-09
sidebarOrder: 125
tags: ["settings", "developer", "api keys"]
relatedSlugs:
  - "developers/overview"
  - "developers/quick-start"
  - "developers/read-and-write-keys"
  - "developers/safety"
sidebarLabel: "API keys"
---

An API key lets the AI assistant you already use work in Wave for you: finding jobs, sorting photos, adding notes, building estimates, and recording drying readings. You create the key in **Settings**, then **Developer**. Wave gives you a message to paste into your assistant first, then the key to paste when your assistant asks for it.

API keys are available on paid plans. Admins and members can both create keys. Each key is yours and works with your access.

When you sign in, Wave may show **Ask your AI. Wave does the work.** Select **Next** to open the Developer tab, or **Skip** to close it. On a paid plan, the tab starts with **Connect your AI**: **Tell your assistant this**, with the message for your assistant, then **Create a key, then give it to your assistant**, with **Create key**.

## Create a key

1. Open the account menu and choose **Settings**.
2. Select **Developer**.
3. Under **Connect your AI**, select **Create key**.
4. Name it for the assistant and the device, such as "Work laptop".
5. Choose the access:
   - **Read.** Look up jobs, customers, estimates, drying logs, and Wave's catalog, including contact details such as phone and email.
   - **Write.** Everything Read does, plus create jobs, update job details, add notes, prepare estimates, and fill in drying logs. Preparing an estimate uses one credit, the same as in Wave.
6. Choose when it expires: 30 days, 90 days, or 1 year. 90 days is the default.
7. Select **Create key**.

## Give your assistant the message, then the key

Wave shows the full key one time, on **Your key is ready**, in two steps:

1. **Tell your assistant this.** Select **Copy** beside the message and paste it into your AI assistant first. It says what Wave is and how to connect, then asks you for your key. The message holds no key, and the Developer tab keeps the same message under **Connect your AI**.
2. **Then give it your key.** Select **Copy key**, and paste the key as your next message when your assistant asks for it. For an assistant whose MCP settings take a server and a header, paste the key there instead. See [Quick start](/docs/developers/quick-start).

Select **Done** when you have both. Every key starts with `wave_live_`. These docs use `wave_live_EXAMPLE_NOT_A_REAL_KEY` as a placeholder.

If the window closes before you copy the key, create a new one.

## Your keys

The Developer tab lists your keys under **API keys**. Each row shows the key's name, whether it is Read or Write, and when it expires.

## Rotate a key

Rotate when you want a fresh key, such as when you move to a new laptop.

1. On the key's row, open the menu and select **Rotate key**.
2. Select **Rotate** to confirm. Wave shows the new key once, on **Your key is ready**, with the same two steps.
3. Paste the new key into your assistant and ask something short, such as "List my five most recent jobs."

The old key keeps working for 24 hours, so you can switch over without a gap.

## Revoke a key

Revoke when a laptop is lost, someone leaves, or you are finished with that assistant.

1. On the key's row, open the menu and select **Revoke key**.
2. Select **Revoke key** again to confirm.

Anything using that key stops right away. Create a new key when you want to connect again.

## On the free plan

The Developer tab shows that API access is available on paid plans. An admin can select **See plans** from there to upgrade. A member sees "Ask an admin on your team to upgrade." Keys you already made stay in the list, paused, with **Revoke key**, and they work again once the company is on a paid plan.

## Related

- [Overview](/docs/developers/overview): what your assistant can do in Wave
- [Quick start](/docs/developers/quick-start): connect an assistant and ask a first question
- [Read and Write keys](/docs/developers/read-and-write-keys): lookups, changes, and contact details
- [Safety](/docs/developers/safety): keep a key private, and what the team sees