> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://friendli.ai/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Use Popular Models on FriendliAI

> Choose a popular open-weight model to build with FriendliAI. Create an API key and start sending requests with low latency and low per-token cost.

export const openingParagraph_0 = "If you need a FriendliAI API key, create one:"

export const closingParagraph_0 = "Use your API key to send requests to a model of your choice."

Connect to a fast, cost-efficient, and reliable open-weight model of your choice. With FriendliAI, you can send requests to models with low first-token latency. These models can process codebase-scale requests at low per-token cost and sustain throughput across long-running tasks.

## Create an API Key

{
openingParagraph_0 ??
"Before you get started, you must create a FriendliAI API key:"
}

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create a Friendli Suite Account">
    If you haven't already, [sign up](https://auth.friendli.ai/sign-up) for an account.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Sign In">
    Then, [sign in](https://auth.friendli.ai). Friendli Suite opens your dashboard.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create a FriendliAI API Key">
    1. In the left sidebar, click <Icon icon="gear" size={12} /> **Settings**. Then, click **[API Keys](https://friendli.ai/suite/~/setting/keys)**.
    2. In the upper-right corner, click <Icon icon="plus" size={12} /> **Create API Key**.
    3. Click <Icon icon="copy" size={12} /> **Copy**.
  </Step>
</Steps>

{
closingParagraph_0 ??
"You can use your API key to send a request to FriendliAI."
}

## Choose a Model

You're ready to choose one of FriendliAI's popular models to build your next project.

Choose the model you want to work with:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Z.ai" icon="https://mintcdn.com/friendliai/XeTFvlau9QViw0uB/static/images/model-providers/zai.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=XeTFvlau9QViw0uB&q=85&s=0e59d2daee9e670622fb06169d4e4750" href="/docs/examples/models/zai-glm-5-2/overview" width="16" height="16" data-path="static/images/model-providers/zai.svg">
    GLM-5.2 <Badge color="blue" size="sm">New</Badge>
  </Card>
</CardGroup>