Getting started
Overview
Arcen is OpenAI-compatible. Point any OpenAI SDK at our base URL, use an ar_sk_ key, and you are done - usage is metered per token and settled on-chain for you. Or skip the account entirely and pay per request with x402.
Base URL
endpoint
https://api.arcen.com/v1Authentication
Create a key from the dashboard (shown once) and send it as a bearer token on every request.
header
Authorization: Bearer ar_sk_live_…What's here
- Quickstart - first chat completion in five lines.
- Models & modalities - the catalog, vision input, and embeddings.
- Model tiers & routing - High / Balanced / Eco, and how billing sizes each call.
- Spending limits - per-key lifetime and rolling caps.
- Pay-per-call (x402) - keyless, accountless inference for agents.
- MCP server - use Arcen models as tools from any MCP client.