API Proxy

You might say

Requests started working after I switched to a relay URL. Check who can see the prompts, files, and key along that path.

An API proxy is an intermediate service that receives and forwards requests and responses between a client and an upstream API.For example, an AI tool can send a request to a relay, which forwards it to a model provider and returns the result along the same path. The relay may handle authentication, routing, or a shared gateway, but that does not mean the model runs there. Prompts, file fragments, and credentials may pass through it, so verify the operator, privacy policy, retention rules, and key issuer before use.

API ProxyRelay

How does an API proxy complete one model call?

You

Starts the call through an AI tool

Proxy relay

Forwards requests and results

Provider

Runs the model and generates the result

send request

return to you

forward request

return result

The request travels to the model provider through the relay, and the result comes back through the same relay.

Why can a relay create privacy risks?

Both the request and response pass through the relay: The prompt, context, file fragments, and any credential sent with the request may reach the relay first. The Provider's response also passes through the relay before reaching the tool.

Public information only makes a service easier to verify: A published operator, official documentation, and service terms make boundaries, billing, and privacy policies easier to inspect, but do not make a platform inherently trustworthy. If a third party handles the request, still verify retention, key handling, and the upstream service.

Unknown services carry greater risk: Some unofficial relays may assemble access through account pools or reverse proxies. If a service records requests, changes responses, or injects content, the AI tool usually cannot audit how that relay handles your data. Do not send keys, source code, or sensitive business data to an unknown relay.

Quick checkChoose the best answer

What is the correct request-and-response path through an API proxy?

You send a request through the AI tool → proxy relay → model provider → proxy relay → back to youYou send a request through the AI tool → model provider → proxy relay → back to youYou send a request through the AI tool → proxy relay, and the relay generates the model result

You can say this to an AI Agent

Send the request through the API proxy Base URL and read the key from an environment variable. Do not print the real key; check the proxy address, route, and authorization before a safe test request.

Learn next

1Provider→2Base URL→3API Key→

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