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Open WebUI

Open WebUI is a fully-featured self-hosted AI chat interface with multi-user support, RAG, and function calling.

πŸ’‘ Open WebUI is multi-user by nature: before you deploy, decide whether everyone shares a single Tokensmart key or each user gets their own. The Tokensmart tips section below contrasts both patterns.

Install (Docker)

docker run -d \
  -p 3000:8080 \
  -v open-webui:/app/backend/data \
  --name open-webui \
  --restart always \
  ghcr.io/open-webui/open-webui:main

Visit http://localhost:3000. First access prompts you to create an admin account.

Steps

  1. Login β†’ avatar (top right) β†’ Settings
  2. Left pane β†’ Connections
  3. Under OpenAI API:
    • API Base URL: https://api.tokensmart.ai/v1
    • API Key: pk_live_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  4. Hit the refresh button next to Save to verify the connection
  5. Switch to Models and enable the models you want end users to see

Inject at container launch

docker run -d \
  -p 3000:8080 \
  -e OPENAI_API_BASE_URL=https://api.tokensmart.ai/v1 \
  -e OPENAI_API_KEY=pk_live_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx \
  -v open-webui:/app/backend/data \
  --name open-webui \
  ghcr.io/open-webui/open-webui:main

Tokensmart tips

  • Pattern A: one team-wide key (simpler): inject a single Tokensmart key at container launch and let Open WebUI's own users share it. Give that key a team-level daily limit (e.g. $50/day) so one runaway user cannot exhaust the pool silently.
  • Pattern B: per-user sub-keys: for a 5–10 person deployment, create one sub-key per person and let each user enter their own under Open WebUI's Connections (user-level config overrides admin). API Logs then breaks down spend per person automatically.
  • Model admission control: whitelist models via the key's Allowed Models β€” a user trying to switch to a non-authorized model inside Open WebUI is blocked at the Tokensmart edge without affecting anyone else.
  • Embedding / RAG caveat: Tokensmart currently focuses on chat-style models. If you enable Open WebUI's RAG, configure a separate embedding provider (e.g. local Ollama). Do not expect /v1/embeddings to resolve via Tokensmart.

Troubleshooting

  • Empty model list β€” Open WebUI calls /v1/models. Verify the key is still active, or add models manually under Admin Panel β†’ Models
  • Multiple users sharing one key β€” every user's calls land on the same Tokensmart key. Create a dedicated key for Open WebUI to make accounting easier
  • Embeddings / RAG β€” configure your embedding model under Admin Panel β†’ Documents using the same Tokensmart Base URL