Get Your API Keys

🚀 Start Here: Get Your First Key (Step by Step)

New to API keys? This is the part where most first-timers get stuck — so here’s the whole thing, start to finish, with nothing skipped. We’ll use Claude (Anthropic) as the example because the console is clean and easy to follow. Every other provider on this page works the same way: once you’ve done one, you’ve done them all.

1. Go to platform.claude.com/settings/keys(opens in a new tab) and sign in. If you don’t have an account yet, create one — it’s free, and you only pay for what you actually use later.
2. Add a little credit first — you’ll probably run into this before anything else. A brand-new API account starts at $0, and a key with no balance can’t actually make calls — so fund it before you go on. Open Billing(opens in a new tab) and add about $5; you’re only charged for what you use. Measured across recent runs, $5 of credit typically covers about 15 full WaxFrame hive reviews on a 10-AI hive — most users top up once a quarter, not once a week.
3. On the API Keys page, click Create Key (top-right). A small dialog opens.
4. Leave the Workspace dropdown on Default, type WaxFrame in the Name field, then click Add.
5. Copy the key. ⚠️ It is shown only once. Don’t close the popup until you’ve copied it somewhere safe (see the tip below — this matters).
6. In WaxFrame, open the Worker Bees screen, find the Claude card, paste the key into its field, and press Enter. WaxFrame checks the key automatically — the card’s edge turns green when it’s good (red if something’s off).
7. With the key validated, click Recommend Models on the Claude card. WaxFrame picks the best current model for you, so you’re not guessing at model names — your first AI is in the hive.

Now add a second AI — that’s what makes it a hive

The Set up your hive screen stays right where it is, so this is the moment to add your second AI. One AI isn’t a hive. WaxFrame works by having AIs review and sharpen each other’s work, so you need at least two to get anything out of it — and the good news is your second one can be free.

Make it Gemini (Google). It has a generous free tier with no credit card to start, so you get to a working two-AI hive at zero extra cost. Scroll to the Gemini card in The Default Six below and follow the same steps — its sign-in link is right there.

Then make Gemini your Builder — it saves you money. The Builder is the busiest role in the hive: every round it reads your project setup, all your reference material, the whole working document, and every reviewer’s notes. Run that on the free model and your two-AI hive costs almost nothing. After you click Recommend Models on Gemini, open its model dropdown and choose the option labeled 🔨 Builder, then set Gemini as your Builder.

Want sharper results? Add more. Every AI you bring in is another independent perspective catching what the others miss. Start with two, then grow your hive whenever you want — the rest of The Default Six are added exactly the same way.

Save your key before you click away — you usually only get one chance. Most provider consoles show the full key once. If you close that popup without copying it somewhere, you can’t get it back — you have to generate a brand-new key, which then invalidates the one you just pasted into WaxFrame, and now you’re chasing your tail.

So before you click past the copy popup, also paste the key into a plain text file or your password manager. The simplest habit: keep one note — Notepad, Notepad++, or a password-manager entry — with every WaxFrame key in it, labeled by provider, and update it whenever you rotate a key. It’s exactly what David, WaxFrame’s developer, does. This applies to every provider on this page, not just Claude.

You don't need all your AIs every round. Toggle them on or off at any time, except for your Builder. For a lean setup, Gemini makes an excellent free Builder, with Claude for nuanced feedback and Grok for early assertive input. On the tightest budget, Gemini as Builder plus DeepSeek as a reviewer is the cheapest hive that runs — just expect slower rounds. A smaller hive completes rounds faster; the full hive gives the most thorough review.

Toggle, don't remove. Use the checkboxes on the work screen to toggle individual AIs on or off between rounds while preserving their API keys. This is the most efficient way to manage persistent reviewers.

Your Builder is the most important choice. The Builder processes the entire document along with all reviewer suggestions each round, using significantly more tokens than any reviewer. Choose an AI you trust with large amounts of text, one with sufficient rate limits and token budget for your project scope. For a deeper look at how tokens are counted, see What Are Tokens?. For a per-token cost comparison across every provider on this page, see AI API Pricing.

Watch for convergence signals. When multiple AIs start returning NO CHANGES in the same round, the hive signals that the document has converged and may be ready for finalization or manual review.