SideNote ProA Windows AI assistant that uses your own API key
SideNote Pro sits beside the Windows application you are already in and brings no AI of its own. Point it at a hosted provider or a model running on your machine, add a key if the endpoint requires one, and choose the model. The licence covers the Windows application; hosted providers may charge for requests, while a local model has no API charge. BYOK describes how you control the connection.
What bring your own key actually means
Most desktop AI tools resell inference. You pay a monthly fee, the vendor runs a server that holds their API key, and your prompts travel through that server on the way to a model the vendor picked.
With bring your own key (BYOK), you configure the endpoint and supply its API key when it requires one. SideNote Pro holds no AI credentials of its own and talks to that endpoint directly from your machine. A default local setup can run without a key. There is no BediniLabs relay in the middle.
SideNote Pro is built this way from the ground up. It ships with no AI account and no bundled credits, and your provider relationship stays yours. Until you configure a provider profile in Settings, it cannot send an AI request.
For the tradeoffs, including when this arrangement may not suit you, see BYOK explained.
What the connection lets you do on Windows
Your configured endpoint works through a global shortcut, an assistant docked at the edge of the display, and actions that can carry selected text into a request. You can keep working in the application already on your screen.
- Text selected anywhere in Windows
- Highlight a paragraph in Outlook, a stack trace in a terminal or a clause in a PDF viewer and press
Ctrl+Shift+E. The selection goes to your provider with an explain instruction attached, and the answer streams back beside the window you were in. Four more actions ship with it, and custom actions add your own prompts, with optional shortcuts. See selected-text actions. - Something on screen that is not text
- The composer's capture button attaches a region of the display as an image. It goes to your provider when you press Send. See screenshots and images.
- A document you are working from
- Attach a PDF, Word (
.docx), Excel (.xlsx), PowerPoint (.pptx), saved email (.eml), text or supported code file and ask about it instead of pasting pages into a prompt. See document input. - A folder of work
- Index a local folder once, then ask questions across it and see which files the answer came from. See local folder context.
- Nothing at all
Ctrl+Shift+Spaceopens the assistant on whichever display you are on, andEscretracts it into a slim leash on the screen edge. See the Windows AI sidebar.
The assistant window
Each of those goes to the endpoint named in the profile you picked, with no relay of ours in between.
How the connection works
SideNote Pro speaks the OpenAI-compatible HTTP API. A provider profile is a small set of fields, and SideNote Pro does the rest.
Three things are yours to bring: Windows 11 x64, an account with an AI provider (or a local runtime such as Ollama on the same machine), and the model you want to use. There is no SDK to install and nothing to write. Using an OpenAI API key on Windows is this same setup done end to end with one provider.
| Field | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | The service you are connecting to, which fills in its usual endpoint | OpenAI |
| Profile name | A label so you can tell profiles apart in the composer picker | Everyday |
| Base URL | The root of the OpenAI-compatible API, editable at any time | https://api.openai.com/v1 |
| Model | The model ID sent with each request, chosen or typed | gpt-6-luna |
| API key | Optional. Sent as a bearer token when present | Your provider's secret key |
| Reasoning effort | Optional. Omitted unless you pick a level, which leaves the model on its own default | Provider default |
| Context window | How much context this profile may use | Auto |
Settings › Setup guide
Two endpoints are used. GET {BaseUrl}/models backs Test & Load models, which is optional. POST {BaseUrl}/chat/completions streams the actual response back as Server-Sent Events. That is the whole contract, which is why any service implementing it can be used, not only the ones in the provider list.
SideNote Pro currently uses the streaming Chat Completions API, not the newer OpenAI Responses API. If you are following a tutorial written for Responses, the request shape will not match what SideNote Pro sends. See the OpenAI-compatible provider guide for the details that matter in practice.
What this changes for you
You pick the model
Not the model a vendor negotiated the best rate on. Use a small fast model for rewriting a paragraph and a heavier one for a hard debugging session, in the same application.
You see real usage
For a hosted provider, its dashboard shows its own billed usage. SideNote Pro also keeps local token counts and optional cost estimates.
You can move
Switching providers is editing a Base URL. Nothing about your local history or settings is tied to one vendor.
What you pay for
The SideNote Pro licence covers the Windows application and includes no AI usage. A hosted provider may charge for requests under its own pricing. A local model has no API charge.
| SideNote Pro | Your AI provider | |
|---|---|---|
| Covers | The Windows application | The requests you send to a model |
| Charged as | A one-time licence, after a 30-day trial | Hosted providers may meter usage; local models have no API charge |
| In a month you do not use it | Nothing further | No request charge; check any separate provider terms |
| Where you see it | Settings › License | For a hosted provider, its dashboard, plus local estimates |
A local model can still use your computer's power and time, even though there is no API charge. What the licence costs covers the application.
The tradeoffs
BYOK is not automatically cheaper and it is not automatically more private. Both depend entirely on choices you make after setup.
- Hosted API cost follows usage
- Long conversations on an expensive model can cost more than a flat subscription. Light or bursty use may cost less; a local model has no API charge. Reduce your AI API costs covers the levers.
- Privacy depends on the endpoint
- A hosted provider receives the requests you send and applies its own retention and training policies. With a local endpoint, inference can stay on your machine, depending on your setup.
- Setup is a real step
- Hosted providers typically need an account and key; default local endpoints usually need neither. The getting started guide walks through it.
- Compatibility varies
- An endpoint advertising OpenAI compatibility may not support every optional field, streaming detail, or image input.
Where your key is kept
API keys are never written into settings.json. Each provider profile has a stable ID that maps it to a separate credential file under %LOCALAPPDATA%\SideNote Pro\provider-credentials\, protected with Windows DPAPI and bound to your Windows user account.
BediniLabs never receives your provider key. The licensing service handles activation and entitlement only, and your AI requests never pass through it. How SideNote Pro handles your data describes the full split.
Your prompt, attachments and selected text reach the provider named in the profile, under its retention and training terms. With a profile pointed at a local runtime, the AI request stays on your machine. BYOK and privacy covers the difference in detail.
Settings › AI providers
Try it against a key you already have
Point a profile at the provider you already use, then watch what a normal workday costs during the complete trial.
Windows 11 x64. The 30-day trial starts when you confirm it on the first-use screen, which needs an internet connection.