Ace provides managed models and research search using purchased Wallet funds or valid promotional credits. Promotional credit is separate from purchased funds and keeps its expiry. You do not need separate model-provider keys to use it.
Ace's GPT-6 Astra, Sol, and Luna run on Azure OpenAI Global Standard, and
their Fast mode runs on OpenAI's own priority processing. Claude Opus 5.5,
Fable 5.1, Sonnet 5, and Haiku 4.5 use Anthropic's API directly. Gemini 3.1
Pro Preview and 3.8 Flash use Google's Gemini API, as does Nano Banana Pro
image generation; choose a .png output path for generated images. Graph
search embeddings run on Azure. Grok 4.7 and the other managed models,
including Muse Spark 1.3, continue through OpenRouter.
Charges use the serving provider's token rates, including cached input and long-context tiers. Direct routes add no funding or service fee; the OpenRouter funding fee is already included where it applies. Customize → Models → Rates and limits shows Wallet rates before you start work. Fast mode is available for the GPT-6 family through OpenAI priority processing; Gemini and Claude have no Ace Fast mode. Your own provider-key and ChatGPT connections remain separate.
The current Ace roster replaces Fable 5 with Fable 5.1, Gemini 3.7 Flash with 3.8 Flash, and Muse Spark 1.2 with 1.3. Existing conversations keep their saved model identity; choose a current model if an earlier one is no longer available. A provider key can still expose earlier models independently.
Your research project is where you work with conversations and files. Your funding workspace is the account workspace that pays for Ace usage. Check both when working across personal and team projects.
Browse the complete Ace model directory for the reviewed chat roster. The live model picker determines availability and current rates.
Set up Ace
The first-run setup offers Ace as its second step: Turn on Ace opens your billing page, and OpenScience switches to Ace once the activation is on. To set it up later:
- Open Customize → Models and select Ace.
- Sign in in your browser when prompted.
- Confirm the workspace you want to use.
- Confirm available purchased or promotional credits. Add funds if needed; automatic reload is optional.
- Select an available model and start a conversation.
Review Pricing and usage before enabling reloads. Enabling Ace access costs $0; usage is pay as you go. It does not authorize automatic card charges. Auto reload has a separate consent step in Billing.
For account setup from a terminal:
openscience login
openscience status
openscience wallet show
On a machine without a browser, openscience login --no-browser prints the sign-in instructions. Complete them from a browser you can access.
Use an API key instead
An Ace API key works the way a provider key does: the key alone selects the workspace it is billed to, with no browser round trip and no account signed in on the device.
- In the dashboard, choose the workspace the key should bill, open API Keys, and select New key (
osk_…). - In OpenScience, open Customize → Models → Ace and choose Use an API key, or run
openscience login --key osk_….
The key may belong to any workspace you are a member of, including one outside the account signed in here; the Ace card labels it (API key · Lab), and Manage Ace opens that workspace's billing page. A key pasted into Provider API keys is redirected here, since it funds a Wallet rather than a provider. Signing out later forgets the key on this device without revoking it: revoke keys in the dashboard.
Choose a funding workspace
Open Customize → General → Funding workspace. If you belong to more than one workspace, use Switch workspace and complete the browser approval.
Each workspace has its own Wallet. If the selected workspace is unavailable or lacks funds, the request does not silently switch to another workspace. Changing workspaces on the website alone does not change the funding selection in the app.
Requests already in progress keep their original funding workspace. Confirm the new selection before starting the next paid request.
Manage funds and automatic reloads
Open Wallet in the Models panel, or visit billing.
Usage is calculated for the route that serves each request. Direct provider routes add no funding or service fee. OpenRouter routes include its funding fee (5.5% by default) once, already included in displayed Wallet rates; the card processing fee is shown separately at checkout. Auto reload is a separate opt-in that requires a saved card. It adds a fixed $20 when purchased funds fall below $5, plus the disclosed processing fee. The reload amount and threshold are fixed; Billing lets you set the monthly automatic-charge limit and turn off future reloads. A managed-usage spending limit is a separate control. Valid purchased or promotional credits can fund requests without auto reload or a saved card.
Switching to Keys & subscriptions changes model access: your keys and subscriptions serve the models they cover. The Wallet still funds what they cannot: a model no key covers, web search when no Firecrawl key is connected, and image generation. Each such call is marked in the trace (funding: wallet). Switching does not turn off automatic reloads. Use Wallet to change that authorization.
Review usage
Open Customize → Usage to filter Managed, API keys, Local models, Subscriptions, and Unclassified activity by dates and model. Export matching daily totals as CSV. Managed records are Wallet charges; user-owned routes are device activity with estimates. See Usage reports and CSV exports.
Shared connections
Your selected account workspace may provide shared provider or service connections. These can supply access when you have not connected your own account on the device.
Your saved local provider key, explicit environment key, or provider sign-in takes precedence over a shared connection. Connecting your own key does not automatically publish it to the team.
Use Customize → General → Sync now, or run:
openscience sync
If access still fails, confirm workspace membership and ask its administrator to check the shared connection. Switching workspaces or signing out removes access supplied by that workspace; it does not remove your own provider accounts.
Session trace sharing
While signed in, OpenScience shares session traces by default, including sessions using your own keys, subscriptions, and local models. Traces include prompts and model context, provider-visible reasoning and responses, tool inputs and outputs, and provider-reported usage. Previously saved opt-outs remain in effect.
Open Customize → General → Data & privacy → Share session traces to stop uploads from this device and discard its queued and rejected records. Account preferences can disable sharing across devices or exclude user-owned routes. The device switch does not override an account opt-out. Signing out stops uploads.
The Delivery row shows queued, acknowledged, and rejected records. Temporary failures keep stable event IDs for retries; only matching server acknowledgements remove records. Oversized content is marked as truncated, binary attachments are represented by metadata, and the bounded local queue can fill while offline. Logging redacts known credentials, but traces can still contain private research.
Usage comes from provider responses, including auxiliary title and summary calls. Missing counts or costs remain unavailable. Reasoning and cached-token fields are reported details, not additional charges. The trace records preserve reported costs without replacing them with catalog estimates; these diagnostic records do not independently verify invoices or change Wallet settlement. Shared trace usage is separate from the account's usage charts.
See Privacy and data and the privacy policy for retention, account controls, and deletion.
Sign out
openscience logout
Sign-out disconnects this device from your OpenScience account: a browser sign-in's device key is revoked on the server, while a pasted Ace API key is only forgotten locally and stays valid for the account and any other machine using it. Your locally saved research remains, and your own provider connections can still be used. To revoke a provider key, remove it separately in Customize → Models or at that provider.
Signing out is not a billing cancellation. Manage future Ace reloads in your billing account.
Resolve account problems
If sign-in completes in the browser but the app still shows signed out, return to the app and refresh account status. Check the selected funding workspace before retrying a paid task.
For an unexpected charge, keep the time, request identifier if shown, and funding workspace. Use your account's support options. Do not include API keys or full private research files in a public issue.
See Troubleshooting for connection failures and Pricing for pending amounts.