What is the connection key?
When you go to Account → Your AI, bernard gives you a setup prompt to paste into your AI - and inside it is a connection key. It’s worth knowing exactly what that key can do, because that is the whole safety story.
The prompt
“Explain what you can and can’t do on my sites with the connection I’ve set up - including whether you’re able to publish - and how I replace it.”
Signed in, Get my prompt fills in your site for you. Otherwise press Copy and fill in the [bracketed] parts. First time? Connect your AI to bernard once: Use your own AI (opens in a new tab).
What the key allows
The key lets your AI read your sites’ pages, write changes to a draft, and - when you ask it to - make that draft live. It is scoped to your own sites and only yours, and it stays valid until you replace it.
That third power is the one worth being clear about, because it’s the one people assume isn’t there. A connected AI acts with your authority: it can publish, exactly as you can. It is instructed to do so only when you ask in plain words, and never on its own initiative - but that is an instruction it follows, not a wall it cannot climb.
The wall is somewhere better. Every publish is written into your version history with what changed, when, and that it came from your connected assistant. bernard keeps the last 100 published versions of your site, so anything that goes live can be put back. Your protection isn’t that the AI is unable to act - it’s that nothing it does is hidden, and nothing it does is permanent.
If you want the stricter arrangement
Bernard in your dashboard works differently. He edits the same drafts, but he cannot publish at all - the Approve button is yours alone, pressed on the preview page while signed in to your account. If you want the version where nothing reaches the public without you, that’s the one to use.
Replacing the key is your kill switch
Only one connection key is active per account at a time - one setup covers all your sites. One key doesn’t mean one assistant, though: the same key can live in several apps at once, and Claude’s one-click sign-ins run alongside it - see Can I connect more than one AI?. Replacing it in Account → Your AI mints a fresh key and the old one stops working immediately.
Treat the key like a password rather than a bookmark: anyone holding it can do what your AI can do, publishing included. If you think it has leaked, replace it - that revokes it on the spot, and the history means anything done with it can be undone.
When someone leaves your team
Removing a person in Account → Who can edit also cuts off their AI. Every connection they set up for your business - a pasted key or a Claude sign-in - stops working in the same step, and bernard checks again on every request, so a key they kept cannot get back in. Anything their AI left in a draft is still there for you to keep or discard. Connections they made for other bernard accounts they still belong to are not affected, though they may need to connect again there.
If the person who left was the one who set up your account’s shared connection key, that key stops working for everyone who pasted it, you included. Go to Account → Your AI and press Replace key to get a fresh one. Before you confirm a removal, bernard tells you how many AI keys that person made, so you know whether anyone else will need a new one.
Usage is capped at 60 requests per minute and 1,000 writes per day, generous enough that a real editing session never notices.
Questions people ask
- What is the connection key bernard gives my AI?
- It’s the key inside the setup prompt you paste when you connect your AI in Account → Your AI. It lets your AI read your sites, edit them on a draft, and - when you ask it to - make that draft live. It covers all your bernard sites and stays valid until you replace it.
- Can my AI publish to my live site?
- Yes, when you ask it to. A connected AI acts with your authority - that’s the point of connecting it - so it can make a draft live the same way you would by pressing Approve. It’s instructed never to publish on its own initiative, and every publish is recorded in your version history and can be put back. Bernard in your bernard dashboard is different: he can’t publish at all, only you can.
- Do I need this key if I use Claude on the web?
- No. Claude on the web connects with a one-click sign-in instead of a pasted key - you press Connect to Claude in Account → Your AI, sign in and press Allow. There’s no key to copy, and you disconnect it any time from the same place. Some other assistants (like ChatGPT on Business or Enterprise plans) can also sign in this way; the pasted key described here is mainly for desktop apps such as Claude Desktop and Cursor. Either way the connection can do the same things.
- How do I change or revoke my connection?
- Go to Account → Your AI, open ‘Want to change your connection key?’ and press Replace key - the old key stops working instantly and bernard gives you a fresh setup prompt to paste back into your assistant. Any draft it was working on is safe and waiting.
- What if someone else gets hold of my key?
- Treat it like a password: whoever holds it can edit drafts of your sites and publish them. Replacing it in Account → Your AI kills the old one instantly - that’s your kill switch. Either way, bernard keeps the last 100 published versions of your site, every publish is recorded with what changed and when, and you can restore any of those versions. For anything older, bernard support can recover your site from backups kept up to a year.
- What happens to someone’s AI connection when I remove them from my account?
- It stops working at once. When an owner removes a person in Account → Who can edit, bernard switches off every connection that person set up for your business - their connection key and any Claude sign-in - in the same step. Their AI can no longer read or change your sites. If they belong to other bernard accounts, those are not affected, though they may need to connect their AI again there. If the person who left set up your account’s shared connection key, that key stops for everyone who pasted it: go to Account → Your AI and press Replace key to get a fresh one.
- Are there limits on what the AI can do with the key?
- Yes - fair-usage limits of 60 requests per minute and 1,000 writes per day. A long, productive editing session uses a small fraction of that; the caps exist to stop a malfunctioning agent looping, not to meter your enthusiasm.