OpenAI Authentication

Qwen Code CLI supports OpenAI authentication for users who want to use OpenAI models instead of Google’s Gemini models.

Authentication Methods

1. Interactive Authentication (Recommended)

When you first run the CLI and select OpenAI as your authentication method, you’ll be prompted to enter:

API Key: Your OpenAI API key from https://platform.openai.com/api-keys
Base URL: The base URL for OpenAI API (defaults to https://api.openai.com/v1)
Model: The OpenAI model to use (defaults to gpt-4o)

The CLI will guide you through each field:

Enter your API key and press Enter
Review/modify the base URL and press Enter
Review/modify the model name and press Enter

Note: You can paste your API key directly - the CLI supports paste functionality and will display the full key for verification.

2. Command Line Arguments

You can also provide the OpenAI credentials via command line arguments:


# Basic usage with API key
qwen-code --openai-api-key "your-api-key-here"
 
# With custom base URL
qwen-code --openai-api-key "your-api-key-here" --openai-base-url "https://your-custom-endpoint.com/v1"
 
# With custom model
qwen-code --openai-api-key "your-api-key-here" --model "gpt-4-turbo"

3. Environment Variables

Set the following environment variables in your shell or .env file:


export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"
export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://api.openai.com/v1"  # Optional, defaults to this value
export OPENAI_MODEL="gpt-4o"  # Optional, defaults to gpt-4o

Supported Models

The CLI supports all OpenAI models that are available through the OpenAI API, including:

gpt-4o (default)
gpt-4o-mini
gpt-4-turbo
gpt-4
gpt-3.5-turbo
And other available models

Custom Endpoints

You can use custom endpoints by setting the OPENAI_BASE_URL environment variable or using the --openai-base-url command line argument. This is useful for:

Using Azure OpenAI
Using other OpenAI-compatible APIs
Using local OpenAI-compatible servers

Switching Authentication Methods

To switch between authentication methods, use the /auth command in the CLI interface.

Security Notes

API keys are stored in memory during the session
For persistent storage, use environment variables or .env files
Never commit API keys to version control
The CLI displays API keys in plain text for verification - ensure your terminal is secure