Create and add a Gemini API key

Watch this step in the getting-started video, then follow the written steps below:

Play from 1:10 · Gemini: open AI Studio4 min · English captions

Prerequisites

• A Google account.
• A payment method you are willing to attach to a Google Cloud project.
• RoughCut installed. You do not need the speech model for this step.

Google controls this flow and changes it from time to time. The steps below describe the current shape of the process; if a button is named differently, follow the equivalent action rather than looking for exact wording. Google's API key documentation and billing documentation are authoritative.

Steps

1. Open Google AI Studio's API key page and sign in. RoughCut's welcome tour names Google AI Studio too, in the line that begins Prefer Gemini or Claude? on its key page.
2. Create an API key. AI Studio either creates a Google Cloud project for you or asks you to pick an existing one. Note which project the key belongs to — the project selector shows it, and the key list alone can be misleading when you have several.
3. Enable billing on that project and add a payment method. Google's billing setup for the Gemini API currently offers prepaid credits or linking a billing account; either way it must be on the project that owns the key. RoughCut's default Gemini model is on Google's paid tier, so a key without billing will fail when the editing pass runs. This is the step people most often skip. A Gemini app subscription does not fund API usage.
4. Copy the key.
5. In RoughCut, open Settings. On the Basic tab (or Full → LLM) find Gemini API key.
6. Paste the key into the field and click its Save button. RoughCut confirms with Gemini API key saved to the Keychain. This button saves only the key.
7. Set LLM provider to gemini and click Save Configuration at the top of the window. OpenAI is the default for new installations; if you chose Gemini in an earlier version, that choice was preserved and this step is already done.
8. Optional: next to Gemini model, click Choose Model & Estimate… and Refresh Models to list the Gemini models your key can reach. Gemini has no reasoning-level control in RoughCut, so the picker shows Reasoning level as Not adjustable for this model. Click Use Model, then Save Configuration.
9. Test it: create a short job with Bad-take removal on. If the key and billing are correct, the job completes and the review list shows an editor summary naming the provider and model.

Expected result

The Gemini API key field shows a green confirmation with the value masked and the caption Saved in Keychain, plus Replace… and Remove buttons. LLM provider reads gemini. A test job completes with AI-proposed cuts rather than a silence-only result.

Privacy and cost note

The key is stored in the macOS Keychain, encrypted by the system, and is sent only to Google. RoughCut has no servers in this path and never sees your usage or your bill.

Google bills your key at its published rates. Long recordings cost more, and Second Look adds another call. RoughCut does not publish a per-video figure because rates and model choices change; Choose Model & Estimate… next to Gemini model lists the models your key can reach and lets you estimate a job with your own assumptions.

Managing and rotating the key

• Replace swaps in a new key without exposing the old one.
• Remove deletes it from the Keychain. RoughCut then behaves as if no key exists: silence-only cuts still work, and Bad-take removal fails preflight with a message telling you to add a key or turn the feature off.
• If a key ever leaks, or Google reports it revoked, revoke it in Google AI Studio and create a new one. Rotation takes seconds and there is nothing to migrate.

Common mistakes

• Creating the key but not enabling billing. The key exists and looks valid, then the editing pass fails with a quota or billing error. Enable billing on the project the key belongs to.
• Enabling billing on a different project. AI Studio can create a new project silently; check the project selector, not just the key list, and make sure billing is on the project that owns the key.
• Saving the key but leaving the provider on OpenAI or Claude. The key's Save stores the key only. Set LLM provider to gemini and click Save Configuration.
• Pasting a key with surrounding whitespace or quotes. Paste the raw value.
• Expecting the key to appear in a settings file. It never does — secrets live in the Keychain only, and are stripped before configuration is written to disk.

Troubleshooting