# Your API Keys, Used Safely: How the Flux Agent Reaches Distributors, Manufacturers, and Any Web API Give the Flux agent your API keys for Digi-Key, Mouser, Arrow, JLCPCB, PCBWay, Craftcloud, Shapeways, and any web API. The agent sees only a placeholder. Flux sends the value only to the websites that you allow. Written by [Matthias Wagner](https://flux.seobdtools.com/natarius) Published Oct 2026 - 3 min read ![Your API Keys, Used Safely: How the Flux Agent Reaches Distributors, Manufacturers, and Any Web API](https://flux.seobdtools.com/p/assets/blogs/agent-secrets-any-web-api/main.webp) Hardware work uses many services. Your distributor account has your prices. Your fab has your quotes. Your device cloud has your field data. Your PLM has your part numbers. The Flux agent can now use these services with your own API keys. We call these keys *secrets*. You give a secret to the agent once. The agent then uses it for two types of work: the services that are built into Flux, and any web API that its computer can reach. ## Built-in services: distributors and manufacturers Some services are built into Flux. When you save your key for one of them, the agent uses it in the built-in tools: - **Distributor pricing:** Digi-Key, Mouser, and Arrow. With your key, the BOM shows the prices and the stock of your own account, not only the public prices. - **PCB quotes and orders:** JLCPCB and PCBWay. - **3D-print quotes and orders:** Craftcloud and Shapeways. The agent asks for a key only when the task needs it. ## Any web API, through the agent's computer The agent has a computer: a secure sandbox where it can run code. With a secret, that computer can call the API of almost any service that your team uses. Some examples from the services that hardware teams connect to Flux: - **Device clouds:** Golioth, Particle, Nordic nRF Cloud, and Edge Impulse. - **PLM and BOM tools:** Arena PLM, OpenBOM, and Duro. - **Part data:** Octopart and SiliconExpert. - **Test and simulation:** NI SystemLink and SimScale. Some services, for example GitHub, GitLab, Memfault, and Onshape, also have a direct connection in Flux. For these, the agent asks you to connect the service instead. ## Example: battery voltage from a Golioth fleet We opened a board project and gave the agent this request: > "Our field units with this board report to our Golioth project. Pull the device list and the last 24 hours of telemetry from the Golioth API, and tell me which devices report the lowest battery voltage." The agent needs a Golioth API key for this. It does not ask you to paste the key into the chat. It shows a request card. The card names the key and the one website that the key goes to: `api.golioth.io`. ![Flux chat: the agent asks for a Golioth project API key with a request card that says the key will be sent only to api.golioth.io](https://flux.seobdtools.com/p/assets/blogs/agent-secrets-any-web-api/request-card.webp) When you click **Provide secrets**, a dialog opens. It shows why the agent asks, the field for the key, the allowed websites, and who can use the key. ![The Provide secrets for Golioth dialog with a masked API key field, the allowed website api.golioth.io, and the choices This chat, This project, and All my projects](https://flux.seobdtools.com/p/assets/blogs/agent-secrets-any-web-api/secret-dialog.webp) When you click **Save and continue**, the agent continues the task with the key. ## How Flux keeps your keys safe - **The agent sees only a placeholder.** The computer gets a placeholder, not the value. Flux puts the real value into a request only when the request goes to an allowed website. - **You choose the websites.** A request to any other website gets the placeholder, not the value. - **You choose who can use it.** A secret can be for this chat, this project, all your projects, or your organization. - **Values are encrypted.** Flux encrypts each value before it stores it. After you save a secret, Flux does not show the value again. - **You stay in control.** You can click **Not now** to refuse a request. Settings shows your saved secrets, where the agent used them, and who added them. You can delete the secrets that you manage. ## Prompts to try - "Price this BOM with our Digi-Key account and show the parts with less than 1,000 in stock." - "Get a JLCPCB quote for 50 boards and compare it with PCBWay." - "Read the last 24 hours of telemetry from our Particle devices and plot the supply voltage." - "Look up each part in this BOM in Octopart and flag the parts that are not recommended for new designs." - "Compare this BOM with the released BOM in Arena PLM and list the differences." ## About the author [Matthias Wagner](https://flux.seobdtools.com/natarius) Founder & CEO at Flux Matthias is the Founder and CEO of Flux, a hardware design platform that's revolutionizing how teams create and iterate on circuits. Find him on Flux [@natarius](https://flux.seobdtools.com/natarius). Let’s start building Build your big idea together with Flux. All you need to do is describe what you want to make, or what problem you want to solve. Flux will work with you to make it a reality. ![Close-up photo of a PCB made with Flux, with an ESP32 module, buttons, and a microSD slot.](https://flux.seobdtools.com/p/assets/blogs/miscellaneous/sidebar-cta-pcb.webp) [Try it Free](https://flux.seobdtools.com/signup) ## Related Content [ ![Teal technical illustration of a circuit board and enclosure with hand-drawn circles and arrows](https://flux.seobdtools.com/p/assets/blogs/markup-mode/main.webp) ### Circle it. Ask Flux. 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All you need to do is describe what you want to make, or what problem you want to solve. Flux will work with you to make it a reality. [Try it Free](https://flux.seobdtools.com/signup) ![Close-up of a Flux-designed printed circuit board](https://flux.seobdtools.com/p/assets/homepage-v2/mission-visual.webp)