Qwen and Doubao API key setup guide
Set up your own API keys, step by step.

What you need

In personal API mode the Parley desktop app connects to the provider directly with your own credentials. Get these ready first:

• A Parley account with an active personal API licence, signed in on the desktop app. The API key controls only appear for a signed-in, licensed account.
• An account with the provider you choose. Alibaba Cloud for Qwen, Volcengine for Doubao. You only need one provider to start. Real-name verification may be required by the provider.
• Free quota or balance on that account. A valid key still fails once the provider has nothing left to charge.

Gemini Live and OpenAI Realtime appear in the app marked “Coming soon” and cannot be selected, so there is no key to set up for them yet.

Qwen (Alibaba Cloud Model Studio)

Parley’s Qwen Live service calls the model qwen3.8-livetranslate-flash-realtime over a WebSocket on your own Model Studio workspace in the China (Beijing) region. Parley needs two values from you: an API key and your Beijing workspace ID.

Get your Qwen API key and workspace ID

1. Open the Model Studio console (China) and sign in with your Alibaba Cloud account. If a service agreement appears, accept it: this activates Model Studio. If none appears, it is already active. If you are told you have not completed real-name verification, finish that first.
2. Choose the China (Beijing) region in the region selector at the top right. Each region has its own API keys, endpoints and models, and they cannot be mixed.
3. Open the API Key page for Beijing and click Create API Key. Keep the account owner and the default workspace unless you need separation. For permissions, “All” is recommended. If you limit the models with custom permissions, include qwen3.8-livetranslate-flash-realtime. Copy the key with the copy icon next to it. If you cannot create keys, ask your account’s super administrator or workspace administrator.
4. Open Workspace management in the Beijing region and copy the ID of the workspace that owns your key. Use the same workspace you created the key in. If you already have a Base URL like https://<ID>.cn-beijing.maas.aliyuncs.com/…, you can paste the whole URL into Parley and it extracts the ID.
5. Check your quota. New accounts get a free quota in the Beijing region only, valid for 90 days per Alibaba Cloud’s rules, and each model has its own quota. See New-user free quota for how it is used up and how to turn on “stop when free quota is used up”.

Then follow Enter the keys in Parley. Official references:

• Get and configure an API key
• First call to a Qwen API, including the workspace ID
• qwen3.8-livetranslate-flash-realtime model information and prices
• Real-time translation over WebSocket

Doubao (Volcengine)

Parley’s Doubao Interpreter uses Volcengine’s Doubao Simultaneous Interpretation 2.0 service at wss://openspeech.bytedance.com/api/v4/ast/v2/translate, with the fixed resource ID volc.service_type.10053. With the new Volcengine console you only need one API key.

Get your Doubao API key

1. Register or sign in at the Volcengine console. New users need to complete real-name verification before continuing.
2. Open the Doubao Speech new console. Make sure you are on the new console: the drop-down at the top left switches between new and old. The old console uses an App ID and Access Token, which Parley does not use.
3. Enable the service. A new account can use the one-click “enable service” entry, which enables all models for the “default” project and grants a free trial package (granted only the first time). Otherwise open Service management (开通管理) in the left navigation and enable the Doubao simultaneous interpretation model for your project.
4. Create the key. In the left navigation open API Key management (API Key管理) and click Create API Key, or open API Key management directly. Copy the key. Create it in the same project where you enabled the service, because resources and keys are bound to a project.
5. Check billing. The free trial is used first; after it is used up, usage is billed pay-as-you-go unless you buy a resource package. See Billing

Then follow Enter the keys in Parley. Official references:

• Quick start for the new console
• Using an API key
• Simultaneous interpretation 2.0 API documentation
• Billing

Enter the keys in Parley

1. Update and open the Parley desktop app, then sign in with the account that holds the personal API licence.
2. On the start screen, set Billing to Your own API. The other choice, Parley service, uses Parley’s credentials and needs no key.
3. Open Settings, then the Translation tab, and choose Doubao Interpreter or Qwen Live
4. In that provider’s settings, find the API key row. It shows “no key” until you add one. Click Set key (after the first time the button reads Replace key and the row shows “Key configured”).
5. In the Set API key dialog, paste the key into the Paste API key field. For Qwen, also paste your Beijing workspace ID (or a full Beijing API URL) into the Workspace ID or API URL field. Then click Save

The Qwen settings also show a Beijing workspace ID row where the same value can be edited later. The dialog rejects keys shorter than 12 characters with “This key looks incomplete. Check that you pasted all of it.”

You can open this guide from the app: in the same settings screen, use the API key setup guide row.

Where keys are stored

Keys are stored on each computer separately, so enter them again on every machine. Keys never go into settings.toml

Optional: environment variables

If an environment variable is set and not empty, it takes priority over the key saved in the app. The workspace ID variable likewise takes priority over settings.toml

• Windows (PowerShell, then restart Parley): [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("PARLEY_DOUBAO_API_KEY", "<your key>", "User")
• macOS (Terminal, then start Parley from the same Terminal): export PARLEY_DOUBAO_API_KEY='<your key>'. Apps opened from the Dock or Finder do not read your shell profile, so the in-app dialog is easier on macOS.

Check that it works

1. In Settings → Translation, the provider’s API key row shows “Key configured”. For Qwen, the Beijing workspace ID row also shows your ID.
2. Confirm Billing on the start screen is Your own API and the provider you configured is selected.
3. Pick a built-in voice and start a short test session of about 30 seconds. Speak a sentence. Captions and translated audio should appear. Parley has no separate test-connection button; a short real session is the test.
4. Look at the provider’s usage page. Qwen: Bill details. Doubao: Service management in the Doubao Speech console shows free quota and balance. The test minute should appear there, which confirms the key is the one being charged.

Costs and limits

Prices are in Chinese yuan as listed in each provider’s documentation on the check date above and can change. Audio is converted to tokens, roughly 6.25 tokens per second of input audio and 25 per second of output audio for Doubao. With your own Doubao key, a two-way meeting can open up to two provider connections at once (speaking and listening), so budget provider usage for two connections — this is the cloud provider’s bill, not Parley managed wallet charging. Parley managed translation still bills one connected session for both directions. Check the provider’s page for current figures before you rely on them.

Qwen note: if you are not real-name verified, the free quota stops when it is used up. If you are verified, usage switches to pay-as-you-go unless you turn on “stop when free quota is used up”, in which case calls fail with HTTP 403 and the error code AllocationQuota.FreeTierOnly

Keep your keys safe

• Treat a key like a password. Never post it in chat, email, screenshots or support tickets.
• Create a separate key for Parley so you can revoke it without affecting other tools.
• If a key may have leaked, delete or disable it in the provider console at once. Alibaba Cloud keys stop working immediately when deleted; Volcengine lets you disable or delete a key in the console.
• For Qwen you can limit a key to specific models, and optionally to specific IP addresses, in the key’s custom permissions.
• On Windows the saved key is encrypted for your Windows user. On macOS it is a private file readable only by your user, not encrypted. Do not use shared or untrusted computers.
• In-app saving is the safest option for most people. Environment variables are visible to other programs running as you.

Troubleshooting

Message texts below are what Parley shows or reports. Wording in your language can differ slightly.

Still stuck? Write to the support address in the page footer and include the message you see. Never include the key itself.