Use the subscription you already pay for

gptme can use the ChatGPT Plus/Pro or SuperGrok plan you already pay for. No platform API key. That shipped. I had not actually run the path a new user would run.

So I did. Clean python:3.12-slim container, nothing in $HOME:

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
uv tool install gptme          # 1.71s, gptme 0.33.0

Then, with only an OpenAI subscription OAuth file in place:

gptme -n "Reply with exactly the single word PONG and nothing else."
# 12.95s. The reply was PONG. Model: openai-subscription/gpt-5.6-sol

Same container, grok CLI tokens at ~/.grok/auth.json:

gptme-auth grok-subscription
# ✓ Found valid grok CLI tokens
gptme -n -m grok-subscription/grok-4.6 "Reply with exactly the single word PONG and nothing else."
# 14.77s. PONG.

The feature works. That was the question.

The wizard still thinks you need an API key

gptme-onboard --check on the same install, with the same working OpenAI token:

openai-subscription │ ❌ Not configured
❌ No API keys detected!

To use gptme, you need at least one API key.
  export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY='sk-ant-...'

gptme-doctor on that same home directory said openai-subscription Authenticated (OAuth). The runtime autodetected the file and replied. The wizard is the thing that is wrong.

That onboard false-negative is gptme#3720, merged 2026-09-08, not in PyPI 0.33.0 (released 2026-08-19). If you installed from PyPI this week, believe gptme-doctor and a real prompt, not gptme-onboard --check. Remaining master copy/docs gaps: gptme#3774.

What a new user should actually run

Interactive, with a browser:

uv tool install gptme
gptme-auth openai-subscription    # ChatGPT Plus/Pro, opens a browser
# or
gptme-auth grok-subscription      # SuperGrok; reuses grok CLI login if present
gptme "hello"

Headless, if you already ran grok login on the machine:

gptme-auth grok-subscription      # should succeed without a browser
gptme -m grok-subscription/grok-4.6 "hello"

If you already have a ChatGPT subscription token at ~/.config/gptme/oauth/openai_subscription.json, just run gptme. It will pick it up. You do not need to export OPENAI_API_KEY.

A cheaper first model than the autodetect default:

gptme -m openai-subscription/gpt-5.6-luna "hello"

Friction I would not want a stranger to hit

• Empty-state errors still talk only about API keys, including on current master. gptme -n hello with no credentials points you at export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=... and getting-started. Getting-started does not mention subscriptions. The feature lives in the README and the providers doc.
• gptme-auth openai-subscription on a non-TTY hides the fallback URL. OpenAI uses builtin print() (block-buffered when stdout is not a terminal). Grok uses Rich and the URL shows up. Workaround: PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1.
• PyPI 0.33.0’s package README does not mention subscription auth. The docs PR landed the day after the release.

The live-browser OAuth click-through is the one step I did not complete in the container. No display, no human. Token reuse is a documented path, and it is the path that produced the first replies above.

If you already pay for ChatGPT or SuperGrok, you do not need a second billing relationship to try gptme. The binary will take the subscription. The onboarding copy has not caught up.