Groq Install & Auth

Overview

Install the official Groq SDK and configure API key authentication. Groq provides ultra-fast LLM inference on custom LPU hardware through an OpenAI-compatible REST API at api.groq.com/openai/v1/.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ or Python 3.8+
• Package manager (npm, pnpm, or pip)
• Groq account at console.groq.com
• API key from GroqCloud console (Settings > API Keys)

Instructions

Step 1: Install the SDK

set -euo pipefail
# TypeScript / JavaScript
npm install groq-sdk

# Python
pip install groq

Step 2: Get Your API Key

1. Go to console.groq.com/keys
2. Click "Create API Key"
3. Copy the key (starts with gsk_)
4. Store it securely -- you cannot view it again

Step 3: Configure Environment

# Set environment variable (recommended)
export GROQ_API_KEY="gsk_your_key_here"

# Or create .env file (add .env to .gitignore first)
echo 'GROQ_API_KEY=gsk_your_key_here' >> .env

Step 4: Verify Connection (TypeScript)

import Groq from "groq-sdk";

const groq = new Groq({
  apiKey: process.env.GROQ_API_KEY,
});

async function verify() {
  const models = await groq.models.list();
  console.log("Connected! Available models:");
  for (const model of models.data) {
    console.log(`  ${model.id} (owned by ${model.owned_by})`);
  }
}

verify().catch(console.error);

Step 5: Verify Connection (Python)

import os
from groq import Groq

client = Groq(api_key=os.environ.get("GROQ_API_KEY"))

models = client.models.list()
print("Connected! Available models:")
for model in models.data:
    print(f"  {model.id} (owned by {model.owned_by})")

SDK Defaults

The Groq SDK auto-reads GROQ_API_KEY from environment if no apiKey is passed to the constructor. Additional constructor options:

const groq = new Groq({
  apiKey: process.env.GROQ_API_KEY,  // Optional if env var set
  baseURL: "https://api.groq.com/openai/v1",  // Default
  maxRetries: 2,      // Default retry count
  timeout: 60_000,    // 60 second timeout (ms)
});

API Key Formats

Groq uses a single key type. There are no separate read/write scopes -- all keys have full API access. Restrict access through organizational controls in the console.

Error Handling

.gitignore Template

# Groq secrets
.env
.env.local
.env.*.local

Resources

• Groq Quickstart
• Groq API Reference
• groq-sdk on npm
• groq-typescript on GitHub

Next Steps

After successful auth, proceed to groq-hello-world for your first chat completion.