Most enterprises already have an LLM strategy. They have approved providers, negotiated pricing, API keys, security controls, model preferences, and sometimes internal models. Yet document processing often sits outside that setup.
Most Document AI platforms process files through an LLM layer that your engineering team does not fully control. Because of this, LLM spend for document processing sits outside the unified strategy the enterprise has already negotiated. And if the organization has models that are fine-tuned or specially approved through their provider, that access only exists through the customer's own key; there's no other way in.
IDP Forge addresses this through Bring Your Own Key, or BYOK. Developers can connect their own LLM API keys and compatible endpoints, then run document workloads through infrastructure their organization already uses.
This blog explains what BYOK for Document AI changes across cost, model choice, resilience, governance, and implementation.
Your Document Pipeline Is Already an LLM Workload
Document extraction is no longer limited to OCR and fixed rules. Modern document pipelines use LLMs for classification, layout interpretation, field extraction, table understanding, validation, and cross-document reasoning. That makes document processing another enterprise LLM workload.
If your engineering team already manages approved models, API accounts, rate limits, security policies, and commercial agreements for AI applications, the document layer should not require a separate AI stack. The same infrastructure can support both.
The core idea is simple: your application stack and your document stack can use the same LLM infrastructure. BYOK for Document AI connects the two.
The Problem Is Bigger Than Knowing Which Model Is Running
Model visibility matters, but it is only one part of the issue. Engineering teams also need control over who pays for the workload, which model handles each task, which provider agreement applies, what happens during an outage, and whether approved internal models can join the workflow.
So the better question is not, “Which LLM does this document API use?” It is, “Can this document pipeline operate through the AI infrastructure we already own?”
That question covers cost, governance, model choice, fallback logic, and operational control.
BYOK is designed to close that gap by connecting the document-processing layer with the LLM accounts and endpoints your organization already manages.
Two Paths, One Document Pipeline: Platform Keys or Your Keys
IDP Forge supports two ways to access the LLM layer. Teams can use platform-managed keys when they want Forge to handle the model infrastructure, or they can connect their own keys when they want document workloads to run through existing LLM accounts.
One route does not replace the other. The value is choice. Teams that want a managed setup can use platform credentials. Teams with established LLM infrastructure can connect that infrastructure directly to IDP Forge.
What BYOK Gives You Beyond API Key Control
Connecting an API key is only the first step. Once your document pipeline can use LLM infrastructure your organization already controls, BYOK starts to affect cost, model routing, service continuity, internal model access, and governance.
Use the LLM Economics You Already Negotiated
Many enterprises already have commercial agreements with LLM providers. These agreements may include committed spend, volume pricing, negotiated token rates, higher limits, dedicated capacity, or enterprise support.
Without BYOK, document processing can create another AI cost layer even when the organization already pays for model capacity elsewhere. With IDP Forge, document workloads can run through the customer’s own API account. This lets document processing use the same pricing arrangement already applied to internal applications, agents, copilots, or RAG systems.
The principle is simple: if you already negotiated the economics of your AI infrastructure, your document workload should be able to use them too.
Keep Processing When a Key or Model Becomes Unavailable
A single API key can become a single point of failure. Processing may stop because of quotas, rate limits, expired credentials, exhausted credits, model issues, regional service problems, or provider outages.
IDP Forge allows teams to connect multiple keys or model endpoints and configure fallback routes.
Document Request → Primary Model / Key → Availability Check → Process or Backup Model / Key
If the primary route cannot process the request, the workflow can move to a configured backup. This makes BYOK an operational control as well as a billing and ownership feature. Teams can plan for model-layer interruptions without rebuilding the document application.
Connect the Models Your AI Team Already Uses
Enterprise AI does not always run through a public model endpoint. Engineering teams may use private deployments, internal AI gateways, fine-tuned models, domain-specific models, approved model versions, or organization-specific endpoints.
If those systems expose compatible APIs, the document workflow can use them without forcing teams to create a second model architecture. IDP Forge can operate at the document orchestration layer while the organization keeps control of the model layer below it.
Your document processing platform does not need to own the model for your workflow to use it.
Keep Existing Governance Attached to the Workload
An enterprise LLM agreement covers more than price. It may define data processing terms, retention rules, model training policies, regional processing, privacy requirements, access controls, and approved model usage.
When document processing runs through the organization’s own LLM account, that workload can remain aligned with the provider relationship already reviewed by procurement, security, and legal teams, based on the customer’s agreement and configuration. This reduces the need to treat document processing as a separate AI relationship.
The same LLM account can carry both the economics and the controls your organization has already established around AI usage.
How BYOK Works in IDP Forge
BYOK keeps the setup simple: connect your LLM credentials to IDP Forge, choose where each model fits in the document workflow, and configure backup routes if needed. Your application keeps calling the same IDP Forge APIs while Forge handles model routing behind the document-processing layer.
1. Connect Your LLM Provider or Endpoint
Developers configure the API credentials or compatible endpoint they want IDP Forge to use. This can include commercial providers or internal endpoints.
2. Make the Model Available to the Document Workflow
Once connected, the model becomes available to document-processing operations. Teams can assign different models to different tasks instead of sending the full workflow through one model.
3. Connect Additional Keys or Models
Teams can add more credentials or model endpoints. Multiple connections support workload distribution, provider flexibility, and failover.
4. Configure Fallback Routing
Developers can define the order in which configured keys or models should be used. If the primary route is unavailable, the workflow can move to an alternative without changing the application that sends documents to Forge.
5. Keep Calling the Same IDP Forge APIs
The application continues to call the same IDP Forge document-processing interface. Forge manages the document workflow and model orchestration while LLM calls follow the customer’s model strategy.
Your Application → IDP Forge API → Document Workflow → Model Routing → GPT / Claude / Internal Model
The implementation benefit is clear: developers can change the model layer without rebuilding the application layer that sends documents into Forge.
BYOK Changes What You Own in a Document AI Stack
BYOK creates a clear split between the document-processing layer and the LLM infrastructure below it.
Your organization can control:
- Which models are connected
- Which API accounts pay for model usage
- Which enterprise pricing applies
- Which internal endpoints are available
- Which models handle specific workloads
- Which fallback routes exist
- Which provider agreements govern LLM interaction
IDP Forge handles:
- Document ingestion
- Parsing
- Extraction
- Workflow execution
- Model orchestration
- Validation
- Correction workflows
- Structured output
This separation gives engineering teams direct control over model infrastructure without forcing them to build document processing, workflow logic, validation, and structured output from scratch. The result is a Document AI stack where ownership is divided by function rather than bundled into one closed layer.
Your Document Platform Should Extend Your AI Stack, Not Create Another One
Accuracy and structured output still matter when teams evaluate a document API. But enterprise AI teams now need to ask a broader set of questions.
Can the platform use the LLM infrastructure we already operate? Can it use our existing API agreements? Can different models handle different stages? Can internal models join the workflow? What happens if a key or model becomes unavailable? Can we change the model layer without rewriting the document integration?
IDP Forge’s BYOK model is built around those requirements.
Your organization controls the models, keys, provider agreements, and routing strategy below the pipeline. IDP Forge handles the document-processing workflow above it.
Bring your models. Bring your keys. Build the document pipeline your way.
