Create an OpenAI account
Open platform.openai.com and sign in. Use the email you want on the OpenAI bill. This is not your Clippingli license email unless you choose the same one.
Setup
You control the AI bill.
Clippingli does not sell tokens and does not mark them up. You create a key at OpenAI, paste it once in the desktop app, and OpenAI bills you when AI features run. A weekly 60-minute show is usually a few dollars a month at current list prices. Use the free calculator for your minutes.
Add billing
In OpenAI go to Settings → Billing and add a payment method. New accounts often need a small credit balance before a key will run. You pay OpenAI. Clippingli does not mark tokens up as a plan.
Open API keys
Go to platform.openai.com/api-keys. Stay on the API platform - not ChatGPT settings. You may need to verify the organization the first time.
Create a secret key
Click Create new secret key. Name it something like “Clippingli desktop”. Copy it immediately. OpenAI shows the secret once. It starts with sk-.
Paste it in Clippingli
Open the desktop app → Settings and paste the key. It stays on that Mac or PC. We do not upload the key to clippingli.com.
What a job costs
A typical talking-head forge is cents, not dollars. Check usage on the OpenAI usage page. If a job fails with an auth or quota error, the key is missing, revoked, or out of credit.
If you get stuck
I have ChatGPT Plus. Is that the key?
No. ChatGPT Plus is a chat subscription. Clippingli needs an API key from platform.openai.com. They are billed separately.
Where does the key live after I paste it?
On that computer only. It does not go to our servers. Remove or replace it anytime in Settings.
The app says the key is invalid
Confirm you copied the full sk- secret, that billing is active, and that you did not paste a project id or organization id by mistake. Then save again in Settings.