generated: '2026-08-09'
method: searched
source:
  - https://docs.routerplex.com/quickstart
  - https://docs.routerplex.com/keys-budgets
  - https://routerplex.com/pricing.md
test_mode:
  supported: false
  note: >-
    There is no test/live key separation, no test-mode key prefix, no free sandbox
    tier and no mock/fixture endpoint. Every request against api.routerplex.com is a
    real, billable upstream inference call. The minimum entry cost is a $5 top-up.
key_prefixes:
  live: 'sk-'
  test: null
  note: >-
    One key namespace. Documented as an Authorization Bearer token, or the same value
    in the x-api-key header for Anthropic-compatible clients.
playground:
  url: https://routerplex.com/dashboard/playground
  access: account-gated
  observed_status: '200 (redirects to https://routerplex.com/sign-in?redirect=%2Fdashboard%2Fplayground)'
  advertised: >-
    Listed on the public pricing table (https://routerplex.com/pricing.md) as
    "Playground | Included" on Pay as you go, and "Shares account windows" on Lite,
    Pro and Max.
  note: >-
    A real interactive console, but it spends the same prepaid balance as the API —
    it is a console, not a sandbox.
safe_experimentation:
  note: >-
    RouterPlex's answer to a sandbox is spend containment rather than fake data. The
    documented pattern is a dedicated API key per agent/IDE with a hard lifetime
    budget and a model allowlist, so a runaway agent burns a capped key instead of
    the account balance. The balance itself stops at $0 and never goes negative.
  controls:
    - {control: per-key hard lifetime spend budget, source: 'https://docs.routerplex.com/keys-budgets'}
    - {control: per-key model allowlist, source: 'https://docs.routerplex.com/keys-budgets'}
    - {control: optional per-key RPM/TPM, source: 'https://docs.routerplex.com/keys-budgets'}
    - {control: balance floors at $0, never negative, source: 'https://routerplex.com/pricing.md'}
free_read_only_surface:
  note: >-
    The one genuinely free, anonymous, zero-risk surface is the MCP server at
    https://routerplex.com/mcp — model catalog, search and doc references, no key
    required and no inference performed. Useful for building and testing model
    selection logic before spending anything.
  see_also: mcp/routerplex-mcp.yml
test_values: []
test_values_note: No magic test identifiers, test cards or fixture values are published. None were invented.