Mel API keys

A Mel API key (it starts melk_) lets another app on your computer, such as Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code, hand Mel's coding agent a task in a folder, through mel mcp serve. The Mel review GitHub Action uses one too. Keys are made and revoked on your account page at openmel.dev/account, or in the Mel app under Settings ▸ Cloud platform ▸ API keys.

Quickstart: your first task in five minutes

This hands Mel a task from Claude Code. Other apps work the same way; their snippets are in Mel as an MCP server.

1. Check the basics. Mel is installed on this computer, you have the Mel API plan, and a provider key is saved in Mel's Settings ▸ AI.
2. Make a key. At openmel.dev/account, name it Claude Code, click Create key and copy it.
3. Add Mel to Claude Code with the command below (macOS path shown; see Mel as an MCP server for Windows and Linux).
4. Ask for a task. In Claude Code, in your project, say for example: "Use Mel to find why npm test fails in this folder." Claude Code starts a Mel task there and checks it until it's done.
5. Let it change files, if you want. By default the task can only read. To let it edit or run commands, grant the folder in Mel's Settings ▸ Agent mode ▸ Other apps. See Use Mel from other apps.

claude mcp add mel --scope user --env MEL_API_KEY=melk_… -- /Applications/Mel.app/Contents/MacOS/mel mcp serve

Create a key

1. Sign in at openmel.dev/account and scroll to API keys.
2. Type a name for the key, for example Claude Desktop, and click Create key.
3. Copy the key. This is the only time Mel shows it. Put it in your app's MCP configuration as MEL_API_KEY (or in your repository's secrets for the GitHub Action).

If you lose a key, revoke it and make a new one.

Create a key in the app

You can also make a key without leaving Mel. Sign in first (Settings ▸ Account).

1. Open Settings (Ctrl+,, or ⌘, on a Mac), then Cloud platform ▸ API keys.
2. Click + Create API Key. The New API key window opens.
3. Leave Type on Personal. Agent is there too, but an Agent key is tied to an agent and Mel has none yet: the window says "No agents available" and will not make the key.
4. Give it a Name of up to 64 characters (for example Claude Desktop). If you leave it empty, the key is called "Mel API Key".
5. Expiration offers only Never for now, so a key works until you revoke it.
6. Click Create key. The API key created window shows the key. Click Copy key and put it where the app that uses it expects it, then click Done. Mel shows a key only once, so close the window only after you have copied it.

The page then lists each key with its name, a short hint (melk_… and the key's last four characters), the day it was created and when it was last used ("Never used" until it is). When you have no keys, the page says "No API Keys".

Revoke a key

Click Revoke next to the key and confirm. Apps using it stop at their next step.

In the app, Revoke needs two presses: the first turns the button into Confirm revoke, and the second revokes the key. The page then says the key was revoked and that runs it opened stop at their next step.

The Mel API plan

Each task another app starts is one run on the Mel API plan, on your own model keys (added in the Mel app under Settings ▸ AI). The plan never uses Mel's hosted credits. The API keys section shows the plan's state, and Subscribe or Manage billing.

The plan costs $49 a month and includes 1,000 runs; each run after that costs $0.05. Pricing always shows the current price. While the Mel API isn't on sale, the API keys section is not shown on your account page, the app says "API keys aren't available on Mel yet", no new key can be made, and a key you already have does nothing until the plan is on sale again.

Keys can be made before you subscribe; a task opens only while the plan is active.

Limitations

• A Mel API key only starts tasks. It can't sign in to Mel, manage your account or make more keys.
• An account can hold 20 keys at most. The account page shows how many you have of that maximum, and at 20 the app asks you to revoke one first.

FAQ

How do I call Mel's agent from another app? Make a Mel API key, add mel mcp serve to that app's MCP settings with the key as MEL_API_KEY, and ask the app to hand Mel a task.

Is a Mel API key the same as a provider key? No. A provider key (from OpenAI, Anthropic and so on) pays for the model calls. A Mel API key lets another app use Mel. The Mel API plan needs both.

Where do I set up the app that uses the key? See Use Mel from other apps.