browser-security.md

Browser security

The OpenAI SDK will refuse to run in a browser unless you pass dangerouslyAllowBrowser: true. This is intentional — shipping your OpenAI API key in a client bundle exposes it to anyone who opens devtools.

When it's OK

• Local development.
• Internal-only tools behind authentication.
• Demos and prototypes.

When it's NOT OK

• Public-facing apps.
• Any environment where untrusted users can inspect the bundle.

What to do instead

Proxy requests through your own backend:

1. Backend endpoint that accepts { messages, tools } from the client.
2. Backend injects OPENAI_API_KEY from environment and calls OpenAI.
3. Backend returns the response to the client.
4. Client implements LlmProvider to call your backend instead of OpenAI directly.

const proxyProvider: LlmProvider = {
  async chat({ messages, tools }) {
    const res = await fetch("/api/llm", {
      method: "POST",
      body: JSON.stringify({ messages, tools }),
    });
    return res.json();
  },
};