Setup guide - Documented by Cursor
Use OpenAI in Cursor
Cursor offers OpenAI's GPT-5.6 family (Sol, Terra, Luna) as built-in third-party models on Premium and above, billed at API list price, and also lets you bring your own OpenAI API key under Cursor Settings > Models.
Last verified 2 steps3 official sources
Steps
- Step 1.
Built-in models: open the model selector in the chat or agent panel and choose an OpenAI model (or press Cmd/Ctrl + / to cycle). Third-party models require Premium and above, Teams, Enterprise, or the legacy Pro, Pro+ and Ultra plans.
- Step 2.
Bring your own key: open Cursor Settings > Models, find OpenAI, paste your API key into the text field and click Save. The provider's models then appear in the model picker.
Caveats
- Cursor's BYOK page says the OpenAI key covers "Standard, non-reasoning chat models" and that custom API keys only work with chat models; Tab completion keeps using Cursor's built-in models.
- Free and Plus plans include only Cursor's first-party models; third-party models are paid from prepaid credit at API list price.
- On Teams and Enterprise, BYOK requests still carry the Cursor Token Rate of $0.25 per million tokens. Cursor's Zero Data Retention policy does not apply to BYOK requests.
- Cursor's docs list models by display name (no API ids); GPT-6 models from OpenAI's API catalog are not listed in Cursor's models table as of today.
- GPT-5.5 appears in Cursor Router's routing pool.
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FAQ
How do I use OpenAI in Cursor?
Cursor offers OpenAI's GPT-5.6 family (Sol, Terra, Luna) as built-in third-party models on Premium and above, billed at API list price, and also lets you bring your own OpenAI API key under Cursor Settings > Models.
Which OpenAI model ids work in Cursor?
The official docs read for this guide list GPT-5.6 Sol, GPT-5.6 Terra, GPT-5.6 Luna and GPT-5.5.
Is this an official OpenAI and Cursor setup?
Cursor documents this setup in its own docs. It was last checked against 3 official pages on October 17, 2026.
Sources
Last verified against 3 official pages.
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