bailian_api_key .env.local

Context: In Next.js apps that call Alibaba Cloud Model Studio (the LLM platform Alibaba also calls Bailian) through its OpenAI-compatible endpoint, the community convention is to keep the API key in a BAILIANAPIKEY variable inside .env.local, read only from server-side code. You create the key on the API-Key page of the Model Studio console. People search this when wiring Qwen/DashScope calls into a Ne

TL;DR: create the key in the Model Studio console, put BAILIANAPIKEY in .env.local (gitignored, server-side only), and read it via process.env.BAILIAN_API_KEY in route handlers. The OpenAI-compatible base URL is https://dashscope.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1.

1. Get a key: open the Alibaba Cloud Model Studio console (modelstudio.console.alibabacloud.com for international, or the Beijing console), and create an API key on the API-Key page. Keys are region-scoped, so the key must match the region of the endpoint you call.
2. Create .env.local in the project root with one variable per line in the standard env-file format (shown here with placeholders, never commit real values):

BAILIAN_API_KEY [your key]
BAILIAN_MODEL [model name, e.g. qwen3-max]

Success check: npm run dev starts with no key printed anywhere in the terminal or browser.

1. Read the key only in server code (route handlers, server actions), referencing process.env.BAILIAN_API_KEY where you build the client. Point your OpenAI client at the compatible-mode base URL with this key as the bearer credential. Success check: a chat completion request returns 200.

1. Add .env.local to .gitignore and never commit it. Never prefix the variable with NEXT_PUBLIC_, which would bundle the key into client JavaScript and expose it in the browser.

Variant phrasings: "bailian api key nextjs", "DASHSCOPEAPIKEY .env", "qwen api key environment variable", "model studio api key .env.local".

Mechanism (after the fix): Next.js loads .env.local into process.env at startup. The OpenAI-compatible endpoint authenticates the key as a bearer token on each request. Alibaba's own docs also use the name DASHSCOPEAPIKEY; the two names are interchangeable as long as your code reads the same name you set. Separate key classes exist for the Qwen Code CLI plans (BAILIANCODINGPLANAPIKEY, BAILIANTOKENPLANAPIKEY) and are not interchangeable with standard keys.

Edge cases: a key from the wrong region returns an auth error even when the value is correct; sk-sp- prefixed coding-plan keys do not work against the standard endpoint; in production, prefer the hosting platform's env-var store (e.g. Vercel project env vars) over a committed file.

Use this when: a Next.js app (or any Node server) calls Model Studio / Bailian models through the OpenAI-compatible endpoint and needs the key in local development.

Do NOT use this when: the key is needed in client components (it will leak; proxy through a route handler instead), when deploying via a platform secret store (use that instead of a file), or for the Qwen Code CLI itself, which has its own auth flow and plan-specific key names.