Guide

How to use tonia

All the leading AI models. One key. Your rules, your proof.

Why tonia

  • Every model, one key

    Reach the popular models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and more with a single key. No juggling separate accounts or bills.

  • Your rules on every request

    Each request follows your rules: which models are allowed, what may be sent, and a scan for sensitive data before anything leaves.

  • Your data stays in Canada

    tonia is hosted in Quebec and keeps a signed record of every call, so you always have the proof you need for Loi 25.

How tonia works

Point any AI tool at tonia instead of the model provider. From there, every request takes the same four steps.

  1. 01

    Your tool asks

    Cursor, Claude Code, VS Code, or your own app can talk to tonia if they already talk to OpenAI or Claude.

  2. 02

    tonia checks it

    tonia applies your key's permissions and scans the content for sensitive data, then allows or blocks it.

  3. 03

    The model answers

    tonia sends the approved request to the model provider on your own contract and streams the answer straight back.

  4. 04

    It's logged for you

    Every call is written to a signed record you can export at any time.

Connect the tools your team already uses.

Compatible through OpenAI or Anthropic endpoints. These are not native integrations.

  • Cursor
  • Claude Code (desktop and CLI)
  • Codex (desktop and CLI)
  • VS Code (Copilot)
  • Hermes / OpenClaw
  • n8n
See connection instructions →

Get started

From sign in to your first answer. You will set most of this up once.

  1. 1

    Sign in

    Open the portal and sign in with the method linked to your account. No password is ever sent to tonia.

  2. 2

    Approve sensitive changes

    When you save an sensitive changes, the button shows progress while the portal asks for your passkey or a fresh account re-authentication. If re-auth sends you away and back, the portal restores the form and finishes the save.

  3. 3

    Use your own key or Managed

    Bring your own provider key when you want calls to run on your direct OpenAI, Anthropic, or other model account. Choose tonia Managed when you want tonia to handle the provider access for you.

  4. 4

    Set your guardrails

    Turn on sensitive data detection for social insurance, health card, and credit card numbers, then save profiles that decide which models and limits each key gets.

  5. 5

    Create your key

    Open API key in the sidebar and create one. You'll see the full key once, so copy it somewhere safe.

  6. 6

    Connect your tool

    Add your key, the tonia address, and the exact model id to your editor or app. Pick your tool below for the exact settings.

  7. 7

    Watch and keep the proof

    Follow your requests and spending under Usage, and export your signed records anytime from the Audit log.

What you can do in the portal

Once you're signed in, everything lives in the left sidebar. Here's what each area is for.

  • Dashboard

    Your organization at a glance: plan, seats, active keys, and recent activity.

  • Usage

    Requests, tokens, and spending over time, broken down by key and model. With your API keys, prompt-cache read/write counts show when the provider reports them; on Managed, token totals stay intentionally opaque.

  • API key

    Create, rotate, and switch off the keys your tools use. Each key is shown once and stored safely.

  • Your provider keys

    Connect your own OpenAI, Anthropic, and other accounts so calls run on your direct contract.

  • Sensitive data

    Decide what counts as sensitive and whether tonia blocks it or just warns. Test it before you save.

  • Profiles

    Reusable rule sets for allowed models, limits, and sensitive data settings that you attach to keys.

  • Members

    Invite teammates, give each a role, and remove access when someone leaves. Available on team plans.

  • Billing

    Your plan, seats, and invoices. Upgrade or change your plan here.

  • Audit log

    A signed record of every call and admin action. Organization admins can filter by user, type, and date; developers see their own member audit.

  • Settings

    Your organization name, defaults, and security options.

  • Security

    Set up the passkey that approves sensitive actions. No password and no recovery phrase.

Choose the right model for each task

The best model depends on the work. Start with the task, then compare speed, quality, and cost.

  1. 1

    Email, summaries, and everyday work

    Choose a fast, economical model. It is usually enough for drafting, rewriting, sorting, or summarizing.

  2. 2

    Complex analysis and decisions

    Choose a reasoning model to compare options, follow long instructions, or solve a problem in several steps.

  3. 3

    Code and automation

    Choose a coding model when the task requires understanding a repository, changing several files, or using tools.

  4. 4

    Documents, images, and data

    Choose a multimodal model to read an image, document, or table. Check supported formats on the model page.

Conversation history and privacy requests

By default, tonia does not keep conversation history. An organization admin can turn it on in settings, and the change is recorded in the audit log.

  1. 1

    The default stays history-free

    The audit log keeps a signed hash of every call. It does not show prompts or responses.

  2. 2

    Viewing is logged

    If retention is on, an organization admin opens the audit journal and chooses View request or View response. Every view is written to the audit log before content is shown.

  3. 3

    Members request access or erasure

    A member opens the Account page on ask.tonia.ca to request a copy or erasure of their retained bodies and track status. Access, viewing, and erasure requests are also recorded in the audit log.

Chat and your history

Open ask.tonia.ca to talk with the models your admin allows. Your browser never receives the session key. On paid plans, history is encrypted for 90 days; on the free plan, the conversation stays only in the page.

  1. 1

    Use the organization chat profile

    The model picker shows only models allowed by the organization's default chat profile. tonia's sensitive-data, provider, model, and audit rules still apply to every message.

  2. 2

    History is member-owned

    Saved conversations are linked to your member account and encrypted at rest. tonia operators and organization admins cannot open this chat-history store; admins see aggregate usage counts only.

  3. 3

    Export your conversations

    Choose Export in the history panel to download your saved conversations for this organization. The export uses the same member-bound tonia_* session key as chat.

  4. 4

    Erase your history

    Choose Erase all to delete your saved conversations for this organization. Deletion is recorded as a security event, and normal retention purges conversations after 90 days.

Connect your tools

You only need one key. The same key works for OpenAI compatible tools and Claude tools. Add the tonia address, your key, and the exact model id, then pick your tool for the exact settings.

The tonia address

https://pass.tonia.ca:8443

This is the only address your tools point at. tonia automatically sends each request to the right model provider.

Replace tonia_sk_… in each snippet with the key you created. Every key is one secret that starts with tonia_sk_ and runs about 50 characters. It is shown once, so keep it safe.

You must also enter the exact model id, for example xai/grok-4.3. Find it under each model name on the models page.

Cursor

OpenAI compatible

Four steps in Cursor: Settings → Models.

  1. 1

    Open Models

    In Cursor, open Settings, then Models. This is where you add models and point them at tonia.

    Cursor Settings → Models screen
  2. 2

    Add a model

    In “Add or search model”, type the exact model id (for example xai/grok-4.3), then click Add.

    • Model idxai/grok-4.3
    Add-model field in Cursor
  3. 3

    Paste the key and address

    Paste your tonia_sk_… key. Turn on “Override OpenAI Base URL”, then paste the tonia address that ends with /v1.

    • API keytonia_sk_…
    • Addresshttps://pass.tonia.ca:8443/v1
    OpenAI API key and base URL in Cursor
  4. 4

    Add more models

    Repeat for each model you need. Exact ids are on the models page.

Good to know: Cursor uses an OpenAI compatible connection, so connect a provider key for OpenAI under Your provider keys (or use a Managed plan). For Gemini, use gemini/models/… (not gemini/…). The exact id is on the models page.

If a tool won't connect

A certificate warning or a security warning.
Use the public tonia address shown above. It has a trusted certificate.
It says a provider key is missing.
Connect that provider under Your provider keys, or switch to a Managed plan.
The wrong kind of model answers.
Use the address that matches your tool: the one ending in /v1 for OpenAI compatible tools, or the plain address for Claude tools.
A 404 error, or the address seems to double /v1.
Use the public address shown above, with /v1 only once and no trailing slash.
The model list in the tool is empty.
Type the exact model id. You can find it on the models page.
The connection fails after you fill in Organization ID.
Leave Organization ID blank for tonia.
The tool asks for an Azure deployment name.
Choose OpenAI compatible mode (not Azure OpenAI) and use the /v1 address above.
In Zapier, the ChatGPT or OpenRouter app has no tonia address field.
That is expected — those apps cannot point at tonia. Use Webhooks → Custom Request to the full /v1/chat/completions URL.
In Make, the native OpenAI module will not take a custom address.
Use HTTP → Make a request to the full /v1/chat/completions URL, or an Agents “Other Providers (Compatible with OpenAI)” connection.
Claude Desktop shows “found 0 models”, only lists Claude models, or says a model “doesn't look like an Anthropic model”.
This is a Claude Desktop app limitation, not a tonia problem — its model picker only accepts Claude-named models, even when your key can reach more. Use the Claude Code CLI, Cursor, or another tool in this list for the rest of your roster.
In Copilot Chat you pick your tonia model, but the answer comes from a GitHub model (for example Raptor Mini).
Open your Custom Endpoints and give each entry a unique name (not two blocks both called “tonia”). Reload the window (Developer: Reload Window), start a new chat, then pick your tonia model again.

Need a hand?

Check the live status of tonia anytime from the Status page, or reach your tonia contact. Everything you do here is recorded for you and stays in Canada.