OpenAI Setup

Overview

PySilicon can use OpenAI to power semantic search over the packaged example corpus that ships with the package. This is an optional feature: all core MCP tools work without an OpenAI key. The canonical search tool is pysilicon_search_examples.

Because PySilicon uses a bring-your-own-key (BYO-key) model, the setup is per-user:

You create and pay for your own OpenAI account.
Your API key is never stored in the repository or shared with other users.
API calls are billed directly to your OpenAI account.

Obtaining an OpenAI API Key

Go to https://platform.openai.com/ and sign in (or create a free account).
Navigate to API keys → Create new secret key.
Give the key a recognisable name (e.g. pysilicon-dev) and copy it.

Keep your key secret. Treat it like a password — do not commit it to version control or share it in chat.

Required Environment Variables

Variable	Purpose
`OPENAI_API_KEY`	Authenticates every call to the OpenAI API. Required when building the vector store.
`PYSILICON_EXAMPLES_VECTOR_STORE_ID`	The ID of the vector store created for your account. Written automatically by `pysilicon_mcp_setup --build-rag`.

Set your API key in the terminal before running any OpenAI-enabled commands:

export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...

In Windows PowerShell, use:

$env:OPENAI_API_KEY = "sk-..."

To persist it for future PowerShell sessions, use:

setx OPENAI_API_KEY "sk-..."

To make the key available in every new shell session, add the line above to your shell profile (~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, etc.).

On Windows, setx persists the variable for future shells but does not update the current PowerShell session. After setx, either open a new terminal or also run $env:OPENAI_API_KEY = "sk-..." in the current session.

Never hardcode the key in .vscode/mcp.json or any other file that might be committed to git.