Preparing API keys
Which key you need at minimum, how to use free tiers, and how to keep keys safe
At minimum, you need just one
Sorabun works with just one key for the AI that writes your article body. We recommend starting with Gemini, since it has a free tier and you can get a key without registering a credit card.
- Open Google AI Studio
- Issue a key with "Create API key"
- Paste it into the
gemini_api_keyfield under "Sorabun > Settings > API Keys" and save
As of August 2026, Gemini 2.5 Flash's free tier allows up to 1,500 requests a day and 15 requests a minute. Sorabun uses about 10-15 requests per article, so the free tier alone can produce dozens of articles a day.
On the free tier, what you send may be used to train the model. If you're working on client projects or articles that contain confidential information, we recommend switching to a paid, pay-as-you-go tier. Even after switching, it costs only tens of yen per article.
Keys by purpose
| Purpose | Setting key | Required |
|---|---|---|
| Generating article body text | gemini_api_key and others | One of these is required |
| Image generation (featured images, diagrams) | gemini_api_key / openai_api_key | If you use images |
| Turning YouTube videos and URLs into articles | supadata_api_key | Optional (Pro) |
| Fetching search rankings | serper_api_key / serpapi_api_key (which one is used depends on search_provider) | Optional (Pro) |
| Search volume | dataforseo_login and dataforseo_password | Optional (Pro) |
| Podcast audio | fishaudio_api_key / openai_api_key | Optional (Pro) |
Choosing the writing AI
Under "Settings > Model > Text generation AI" (text_provider), you can choose the AI that writes your body text from Gemini / ChatGPT / Claude / Grok / DeepSeek. Only providers whose key you've entered on the settings screen appear as options.
- Gemini: can fact-check against Google Search. This alone is enough to start with
- ChatGPT (OpenAI): writes with the GPT-5 series. Shares its key with image generation (GPT Image 2)
- Claude: good when you want strong long-form structure and natural Japanese
- Grok: good when you want real-time search across the web and X
- DeepSeek: good when cost is your top priority
About key storage
API keys are encrypted with AES-256-GCM before being stored in the database. Even on screen, a key you've already entered is shown masked and can't be read back out as-is.
You can also define keys as constants in wp-config.php. In that case they aren't stored in the database.
`` define( 'SORABUN_GEMINI_API_KEY', 'your key here' ); ``