# Connect to OpenAI

## Overview

Finout’s OpenAI integration lets you automatically ingest usage and cost data from OpenAI’s official Usage and Cost APIs. This makes it possible to track OpenAI spend alongside your existing cloud and SaaS services in Finout, with full visibility into key dimensions such as models, tokens, projects, and users. Data is refreshed daily, ensuring that spend and usage insights remain accurate and up to date.

Costs from OpenAI are reported as direct usage charges (e.g., GPT-4 token consumption, image generation requests). Unlike cloud providers, OpenAI does not provide blended, amortized, or committed use pricing models. Finout maps OpenAI’s raw usage cost into the Unblended Cost field for consistent FinOps reporting. Credits (such as free trial credits or refunds) are typically handled as separate billing adjustments and are not included in the Usage or Cost APIs.

With this integration, you can:

* Connect one or more OpenAI organizations with read-only Admin API keys.
* Include OpenAI cost and usage data in custom dashboards, set up alerts to track anomalies, and include in your financial plans to ensure spend is within budget.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Note:** Finout uses read-only access to OpenAI APIs. It does not perform actions that can create or modify resources or incur costs.
{% endhint %}

## Prerequisites

Before setting up the integration, make sure you have:

* Access to the [OpenAI Platform Dashboard](https://platform.openai.com/).
* **Organization Owner** permissions (only Org Owners can create Admin API Keys).
* Admin API Key with **Read-Only** permission or **Restricted** access, including the relevant permissions.

## Connect OpenAI to Finout

### 1. Create an OpenAI API Key

1. Go to the [OpenAI Admin Keys Page](https://platform.openai.com/settings/organization/admin-keys).
2. Click **+ Create new admin key**.<br>
3. Add a **Name** (e.g., “Finout Integration”).
   1. **Permissions**: Assign permissions with one of the following two options: **Read only** or **Restricted**

      * **Read only:** Sufficient for viewing usage, cost, and necessary complementary metadata.<br>

        <div align="left"><figure><img src="https://3858159242-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FWqjB2puKXPDR7L86FX2e%2Fuploads%2FRsdOEblBOGHjli4yLRG6%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=684293d7-014b-46f3-80c9-1debc97f8a1a" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>

      &#x20;      OR

      * **Restricted**: Usage API Scope and Organization Administration set to read only.\
        ![](https://3858159242-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FWqjB2puKXPDR7L86FX2e%2Fuploads%2FdC5tLUFW2kmkR8qIoxbS%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=b73ef9e9-f68d-4a92-9d58-a10b411298e0)<br>
4. Click **Create admin key**.\
   The admin key is created. Copy it immediately and save it securely, as it will not be shown again.<br>

   <div data-gb-custom-block data-tag="hint" data-style="info" class="hint hint-info"><p><strong>Note:</strong> Only admin API keys can access the Usage API endpoints. Finout cannot perform any actions that incur costs; however, OpenAI requires an Admin Key to access the Usage APIs.</p></div>

### 2. Connect OpenAI to Finout

1. In Finout, navigate to **Settings**.<br>

   <figure><img src="https://3858159242-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FWqjB2puKXPDR7L86FX2e%2Fuploads%2FzZwU6zv2dfsUurf7ngzP%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=e6965e90-a1e8-4487-a772-c349f8fa50e5" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>
2. Under OpenAI, click **Connect Now**.\
   The OpenAI integration pop-up opens.<br>

   <div align="left"><figure><img src="https://3858159242-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FWqjB2puKXPDR7L86FX2e%2Fuploads%2FUkXZUJslFiYQgoAXGq06%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=a4a10009-374f-42c5-8b1c-e63588a826f9" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>
3. Enter the API key created in step 1 and click **Next**.\
   The Cost Center has been created. You will receive an email notification once Finout has retrieved your data and set up the current cost center.

## FAQs

**Which OpenAI services are currently supported by Finout?**&#x20;

* Finout retrieves cost data for all OpenAI services and detailed usage data for the following:
  * Completions
  * Images

* Usage data from the following services is expected to be supported in the upcoming months:&#x20;
  * Embeddings
  * Vector Stores
  * Code Interpreter Sessions
  * Moderations
  * Audio Speeches
  * Audio Transcriptions<br>

    <div data-gb-custom-block data-tag="hint" data-style="info" class="hint hint-info"><p><strong>Note:</strong> If you identify a service that isn’t yet supported, contact Finout support at support@finout.io.</p></div>

* **Does Finout keep track of historical changes to OpenAI Projects or Users?**

  Finout shows the data exactly as returned by OpenAI’s API, which doesn’t provide point-in-time information for **Project** or **User** names.

  Because **Project IDs** and **User IDs** are unique and not editable, this only affects **display names**:

  * Renaming a Project or User in OpenAI updates the name across all historical data.
  * If a User is deleted, Finout will still display the user ID, but the name will no longer appear.