Authentication

varg uses a single API key (VARG_API_KEY) for all AI generation. This key authenticates you with the varg API, which routes requests to the right AI provider (Fal, ElevenLabs, Higgsfield, PiAPI, HeyGen, …) and handles billing.

Get your API key

Go to app.varg.ai
Sign up with your email
Copy your API key from the dashboard

Option 2: Log in from the CLI

bunx vargai login

This gives you two choices:

Email login — enter your email, receive a 6-digit code, verify it. Creates an account and API key automatically.
Paste API key — if you already have one from the dashboard.

Your credentials are saved to ~/.varg/credentials (permissions 0600). AI agents can drive the login flow using curl — no interactive CLI needed:

# 1. Send OTP to user's email
curl -s -X POST https://app.varg.ai/api/auth/cli/send-otp \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email":"[email protected]"}'

# 2. User checks inbox for 6-digit code

# 3. Verify OTP (creates account + API key if needed)
curl -s -X POST https://app.varg.ai/api/auth/cli/verify-otp \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email":"[email protected]","code":"123456"}'

# Response: {"api_key":"varg_xxx","email":"...","balance_cents":0,"access_token":"..."}

Using your API key

In a `.env` file (recommended for projects)

VARG_API_KEY=varg_xxx

Bun auto-loads .env — no dotenv needed.

As an environment variable

export VARG_API_KEY=varg_xxx

In global credentials

The CLI saves credentials to ~/.varg/credentials:

{
  "api_key": "varg_xxx",
  "email": "[email protected]",
  "created_at": "2026-01-15T10:00:00Z"
}

The SDK automatically checks this file if VARG_API_KEY is not set in the environment.

In code

import { createVarg } from "vargai/ai"

const varg = createVarg({ apiKey: process.env.VARG_API_KEY! })

Or with the REST API:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer varg_xxx" https://api.varg.ai/v2/me

Credits and billing

Check your balance

bunx vargai balance

Or via API:

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $VARG_API_KEY" https://api.varg.ai/v2/billing/balance
# {"available": 10000, "reserved": 0, "total_balance": 10000, ...}

1 credit = 1 cent. total_balance: 10000 means 10,000 credits ($100). available is what you can spend right now (total minus credits reserved by in-flight jobs).

Add credits

bunx vargai topup

This opens the billing page in your browser. Or go directly to app.varg.ai. Available packages:

Package	Credits	Price
Starter	2,000	$20
Basic	5,000	$50
Popular	10,000	$100
Pro	20,000	$200
Business	50,000	$500
Enterprise	100,000	$1,000

Pricing

Action	Model	Credits	Cost
Image	grok_imagine_image	4	$0.04
Image	flux_dev	68	$0.68
Image	nano_banana_pro	126	$1.26
Video (5s)	sora_2	105	$1.05
Video (5s)	wan_2.5	158	$1.58
Video (5s)	kling_v3	221	$2.21
Speech	eleven_turbo_v2_5	105	$1.05
Music	music_v1	79	$0.79

Live catalog with all ~80 models: GET https://api.varg.ai/v2/pricing (public, no auth). Estimate any request before running it with POST /v2/estimate. Cache hits are always free. Same prompt + params = $0 instant result.

Managing API keys

Create, rename, and revoke API keys from the dashboard, or via the API with an app session:

# List keys
curl -s https://api.varg.ai/v2/api-keys -H "Authorization: Bearer $SESSION_JWT"

# Create a key (the plaintext key is returned ONCE)
curl -s -X POST https://api.varg.ai/v2/api-keys \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SESSION_JWT" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "production"}'

Key management endpoints require an app session (JWT from the dashboard login), not an API key — a leaked API key can’t be used to mint new keys.

CLI commands

Command	Description
`bunx vargai login`	Sign in or paste API key
`bunx vargai logout`	Clear saved credentials
`bunx vargai balance`	Check credit balance
`bunx vargai topup`	Open billing page in browser

Bring Your Own Keys (BYOK)

BYOK via the varg API is not available in v2 yet. For local rendering you can use direct provider modules with your own env keys — see the BYOK guide for the current state.

Get Started

Models

SDK

Templates

MCP

AI Agents

Comparisons

Authentication

Get your API key

Option 2: Log in from the CLI

Using your API key

In a `.env` file (recommended for projects)

As an environment variable

In global credentials

In code

Credits and billing

Check your balance

Add credits

Pricing

Managing API keys

CLI commands

Bring Your Own Keys (BYOK)

​Get your API key

​Option 1: Sign up on the web

​Option 2: Log in from the CLI

​Option 3: Agent-driven login (for AI agents)

​Using your API key

​In a .env file (recommended for projects)

​As an environment variable

​In global credentials

​In code

​Credits and billing

​Check your balance

​Add credits

​Pricing

​Managing API keys

​CLI commands

​Bring Your Own Keys (BYOK)

Get your API key

Option 1: Sign up on the web

Option 2: Log in from the CLI

Option 3: Agent-driven login (for AI agents)

Using your API key

In a `.env` file (recommended for projects)

As an environment variable

In global credentials

In code

Credits and billing

Check your balance

Add credits

Pricing

Managing API keys

CLI commands

Bring Your Own Keys (BYOK)