API Key Management: Budgets, Rate Limits & Spending Controls

Qubax gives you granular control over API spending. This guide covers budgets, rate limits, and multi-key strategies to keep costs predictable.

Creating API Keys

1. Go to qubax.ai/app → API Keys
2. Click Create Key
3. Name it (e.g., "Production", "Testing", "Cline")
4. Copy the key immediately (shown only once)

Budget Controls

Each API key can have three budget types:

Example: Limit Cline to $5/month

1. Create a key named "Cline"
2. Set Monthly Budget to $5.00
3. Use that key in Cline settings

When the budget is hit, the API returns a 402 error instead of silently letting you overspend.

Rate Limits

Example: Prevent accidental loops

Set rate limit to 100 req/min. If your code has an infinite loop, it'll hit the rate limit and stop instead of draining your balance in seconds.

Multi-Key Strategy

Best practice: use separate keys for different tools:

Key 1: "Cursor"     — Monthly budget $10, model: claude-sonnet-5
Key 2: "Cline"      — Monthly budget $5,  model: claude-sonnet-5
Key 3: "Scripts"    — Daily budget $1,    model: gpt-5.6-terra
Key 4: "Production" — Monthly budget $50, no rate limit

This way, if one tool goes rogue, it only burns its own budget — not your entire balance.

Monitoring Usage

Each key shows:

• Total requests
• Total cost in USD
• Tokens in/out
• 7-day daily breakdown
• Top models used

All visible from the API Keys dashboard.

API Key Scopes

Use scoped keys for third-party integrations — they can only access what they need.

CLI Key Management

# Create key via API
curl -X POST https://api.qubax.ai/v1/api-keys \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer qbx_live_YOUR_KEY" \
  -d '{"name": "Production", "monthlyBudgetUsd": 50}'

# List keys
curl https://api.qubax.ai/v1/api-keys \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer qbx_live_YOUR_KEY"

# Revoke a key
curl -X DELETE https://api.qubax.ai/v1/api-keys/KEY_ID \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer qbx_live_YOUR_KEY"

Best Practices

1. Never commit keys to git — use environment variables
2. Rotate keys quarterly — delete old, create new
3. Set budgets on every key — even "unlimited" should have a cap
4. Use scoped keys for integrations — minimize blast radius
5. Monitor the 7-day chart — catch spikes early

Related

• Claude API with Cline Guide
• Cursor IDE Setup
• All models

Start managing your API spending — [get $1 free credits](https://qubax.ai/register).