AI engines & login
Recommended: Claude. Makion is verified end-to-end on Claude — that is the experience we recommend today. Other engines (Gemini, Codex, Kimi, Grok, DeepSeek) are available and connect the same way, but results vary by model and are not yet verified by us.
Each project runs on an AI engine — the model that powers the agent. An administrator picks the engine per project and authenticates it once. The whole point of Makion is that you connect a subscription you already have rather than paying per token — see What is Makion. Engines are configured in the AI engines table of the Admin tab.
Choosing an engine per project#
In the Admin tab's Projects table, the Engine column sets which model runs that project: Claude, Gemini, Codex, Kimi, Grok, or DeepSeek. Different projects can run on different engines. An engine must be authenticated (below) before it can run tasks.
Two ways to authenticate an engine#
There are two ways to sign an engine in. Which one applies depends on the engine.
| Method | How it works | Which engines |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription login | An in-app device-code flow: connect a subscription you already pay for, no per-token billing. | Engines that support in-app login. Claude uses the server's own login and needs no API key at all. |
| API key | Paste a provider API key and save it. | Engines that have no in-app login — authenticate with a key instead. |
Claude needs no API key — it uses the server's own login. Some engines authenticate by subscription login, others only by API key. The AI engines table tells you which applies to each.
The AI engines table#
The AI engines table in the Admin tab has one row per engine:
| Column | What it shows / does |
|---|---|
| Engine | The engine's name. |
| Subscription | Its subscription status — Connected ✓ or Not connected, with a Connect (subscription) button — or the note "no in-app login — use an API key" for engines that don't support it. |
| API key | Whether a key is set or not set, a password input to paste one, and Save / Remove. Claude's row notes: "Claude — uses the server's own login, no API key needed." |
Subscription login, step by step#
Clicking Connect (subscription) opens a device-code login panel. It works like signing a TV app into an account:
- Open this link in any browser — the panel shows a link; open it in a browser.
- Enter this code on that page — the panel shows a code with a Copy button. Paste it on the page you just opened. (Some engines instead show a paste-code flow — you paste a code back into the panel and click Submit code.)
- Authorize — approve the request on that page. The panel shows "Waiting for you to authorize…".
- Done — when the provider confirms, the panel shows Connected ✓ and the engine's Subscription status flips to Connected ✓.
Use Cancel or Close to dismiss the panel at any point.
Adding an API key#
For an engine that authenticates by key, paste it into the API key password input on that engine's row and click Save — the status changes to set. Remove clears it. All engine credentials live on your own on-prem server; nothing leaves it.
Where to go next#
- What is Makion — why subscription-not-API is the headline.
- Configuring projects — pick the engine as part of project setup.
- Security model — where credentials live and how access is controlled.