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How to get Mistral API key

Q: How to get Mistral API key

To get a Mistral API key, sign up at the official Mistral AI website and create an account. After logging in, generate your API key from the dashboard, then set it as an environment variable MISTRAL_API_KEY for use with the mistralai Python SDK or OpenAI-compatible clients.

Quick answer

To get a Mistral API key, sign up at the official Mistral AI website and create an account. After logging in, generate your API key from the dashboard, then set it as an environment variable MISTRAL_API_KEY for use with the mistralai Python SDK or OpenAI-compatible clients.

PREREQUISITES

Python 3.8+
pip install mistralai or openai>=1.0
Mistral account registration

Setup

Install the mistralai Python package to interact with Mistral models. Set your API key as an environment variable for secure access.

bash

pip install mistralai

Step by step

After registering at https://mistral.ai, log in and navigate to your dashboard to create and copy your API key. Then, set it in your environment and use it in Python as shown below.

python

import os
from mistralai import Mistral

# Ensure your MISTRAL_API_KEY is set in your environment
client = Mistral(api_key=os.environ["MISTRAL_API_KEY"])

response = client.chat.complete(
    model="mistral-large-latest",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello from Mistral!"}]
)
print(response.choices[0].message.content)

output

Hello from Mistral! How can I assist you today?

Common variations

You can also use the OpenAI-compatible openai Python package with Mistral by setting the base_url to https://api.mistral.ai/v1 and passing your API key. This allows seamless integration if you prefer the OpenAI SDK interface.

python

from openai import OpenAI
import os

client = OpenAI(api_key=os.environ["MISTRAL_API_KEY"], base_url="https://api.mistral.ai/v1")

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="mistral-large-latest",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello from Mistral via OpenAI SDK!"}]
)
print(response.choices[0].message.content)

output

Hello from Mistral via OpenAI SDK! How can I help you?

Troubleshooting

If you get an authentication error, verify your MISTRAL_API_KEY is correctly set in your environment variables.
Ensure your API key has not expired or been revoked in your Mistral dashboard.
Check your internet connection and that you are using the correct base_url if using OpenAI-compatible SDK.

✅

Key Takeaways

Register at mistral.ai to create your API key for Mistral AI access.
Set your API key securely as an environment variable before using the SDK.
Use either the official mistralai SDK or OpenAI-compatible SDK with the correct base URL.
Check your API key validity and environment setup if you encounter authentication issues.

Verified 2026-04 · mistral-large-latest

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