# Get a Gemini API key

Create a Gemini API key in Google AI Studio, add it to a Borago Board project, check it with Verify and run a first task on Gemini.

Borago Board runs Gemini models through the Gemini API, on an API key from Google AI Studio. A Google AI Pro or Ultra subscription cannot be used. Google's terms keep that plan to Google's own apps and tools, and API access is billed separately on an API key, so Borago Board has no subscription sign-in.

## You need

- The desktop app and a project, see [Creating a project](/docs/guides/creating-a-project/).
- A Google account with access to Google AI Studio. Prices are on [Google's Gemini API pricing page](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing).

## Steps

### 1. Create the key

Sign in at [aistudio.google.com](https://aistudio.google.com/apikey) and create an API key. Copy it. It starts with `AIza`.

### 2. Paste it into the project

Press **Edit project** among the project's controls and open the **AI Auth** tab. Under **AI credentials (this project)**, find the card **Gemini account (Google)**. Tick the box confirming you are 18 or older and meet Google's requirements. Paste the key into the field.

### 3. Verify, then save

Press **Verify** beside the field. It lists your account's models, which costs nothing, and prints **This key works.** Press **Save changes**, or **Create project** on a new project.

What happens. Saving encrypts the key and stores it. Saving does not test it, so Verify is the check. A key that fails on a real run pauses the project's queue with an HTTP 401 notice until you replace it. The key syncs to your other devices unless you tick **Keep this API token on this device only**. From a browser or a phone, the key passes through the cloud, held in memory and never stored, to your desktop app to be encrypted, so the desktop must be connected. Verify sends it the same way.

### 4. Choose Gemini for the runs

Open the **AI Roles** tab. In **Task runner**, choose **Gemini (Google)**, then a model. Press **Save changes**.

What happens. Gemini runs have a shell and a file editor in the project container, a code search, task breakdown and an investigator that explores the code in a separate context. On Gemini 3 models and newer, runs also get Google Search grounding (up to 8 searches a run) and can read a web page by its address. **Cost budget (USD, this machine)** on the Gemini card pauses Gemini tasks at a spend you choose.

## First task to try

Add a task in **Planning**, paste this, and move it to **To Do**.

```
List the files in the project's root folder, then create PROVIDER_CHECK.md
containing one sentence that says which files you found.
```

Related: [Choosing an AI provider](/docs/guides/choosing-an-ai-provider/), [Cost and usage](/docs/guides/cost-and-usage/), [Get a Grok API key](/docs/tutorials/keys/grok/), [Run the same task on three providers](/docs/tutorials/compare-providers/)