SynapSee doesn’t come with its own AI baked in. You connect your own key, and this is usually the one step in setup that makes people pause — not because it’s hard, but because it’s unfamiliar if you’ve never worked with an API key before. Here’s what you actually need to know.
What an API key is doing here
Think of it as a password that lets SynapSee talk to your AI provider on your behalf. When you click Run Analysis, the plugin uses your key to ask your chosen provider to compare your sitemap against your competitors’ and hand back a ranked list of gaps. The key is how the provider confirms that request is coming from an account authorized to make it — and, just as importantly, whose bill it lands on.
Is it safe to hand over?
Yes. Once you paste it into SynapSee’s Settings and save, it’s encrypted at rest and never shown again — the admin screen only ever displays a masked last-four-characters hint afterward. Treat it the way you’d treat any password: don’t paste it into a screenshot, a support ticket, or an email to someone you don’t fully trust.
Which provider should you pick?
All three work well with SynapSee. The differences come down to what you already have, and mild differences in tone and cost:
| Provider | Good fit for | Free tier |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic (Claude) | Formal, institutional-tone writing — a natural fit if you’re already reading this on a financial services or professional services site | Yes |
| OpenAI (GPT) | The most widely documented option, works well as a general default | Yes |
| Google Gemini | Budget-conscious or high-volume use — generally the most cost-effective per token | Yes |
If you genuinely have no preference, any of the three will get you a working analysis. Pick the one whose account you’re most likely to already have, and switch later if you want — the provider selector in Settings isn’t a one-way door.
Getting a key from each provider
The exact screens change occasionally as providers update their dashboards, but the shape of the process stays the same across all three:
- Create a free account (or log into one you already have) on the provider’s developer platform
- Find the API keys section — usually under your account or organization settings
- Generate a new key and give it a name you’ll recognize later, like “SynapSee”
- Copy it immediately. Every provider we support shows the full key exactly once for security — if you navigate away before copying it, you’ll need to generate a new one
- Paste it into SynapSee’s Settings under the matching provider field, then hit Test
That last step matters more than it looks. Testing takes a few seconds and catches the two most common mistakes — a stray space from copy-pasting, or a key that’s already been revoked — before you’re mid-analysis wondering why nothing’s happening.
Will it cost money?
All three providers offer free credits or a free tier to get started, and for a typical analysis run — a handful of competitors, maybe one or two Market Momentum Sources — the cost afterward tends to land somewhere between a few cents and a couple of dollars, not more. Every provider lets you set a spending cap in their dashboard, which is worth doing once so a runaway process never surprises you on a bill.
If it stops working later
Start with the Test button next to the key field in Settings — it’ll tell you immediately whether the problem is an expired key, a depleted free tier, or something else. Our Help & Support page covers the most common causes in more depth if Test alone doesn’t clear it up.
— The TDX7 Team · synapseradar.com/