diff --git a/app/components/JoinForm.tsx b/app/components/JoinForm.tsx
index 430ed95..eba012c 100644
--- a/app/components/JoinForm.tsx
+++ b/app/components/JoinForm.tsx
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { useHMSActions } from '@100mslive/react-sdk'
 import { useState, FormEvent } from 'react'
 import { useSearchParams } from 'next/navigation'
 import { ROLES } from './constants'
+import { RiskyButCoolAPIKeyInput } from './RiskyButCoolAPIKeyInput'
 
 const JoinForm = () => {
 	const [activeTabRole, setActiveTabRole] = useState(ROLES.TEACHER)
@@ -111,6 +112,9 @@ const JoinForm = () => {
 							onChange={(e) => setName(e.target.value)}
 						/>
 					</div>
+
+					<RiskyButCoolAPIKeyInput />
+
 					{roomCodeParam ? null : (
 						<div className="input-container">
 							<div className="input-label">Join as</div>
diff --git a/app/components/RiskyButCoolAPIKeyInput.tsx b/app/components/RiskyButCoolAPIKeyInput.tsx
index cf0362e..5151a9a 100644
--- a/app/components/RiskyButCoolAPIKeyInput.tsx
+++ b/app/components/RiskyButCoolAPIKeyInput.tsx
@@ -1,13 +1,10 @@
-import { Icon, useBreakpoint } from '@tldraw/tldraw'
 import { ChangeEvent, useCallback } from 'react'
+import { QuestionIcon } from '@100mslive/react-icons'
 
 export function RiskyButCoolAPIKeyInput() {
-	const breakpoint = useBreakpoint()
-
-	// Store the API key locally, but ONLY in development mode
 	const handleChange = useCallback((e: ChangeEvent<HTMLInputElement>) => {
-		if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development') {
-			localStorage.setItem('makeitreal_key', e.target.value)
+		if (typeof window !== 'undefined') {
+			sessionStorage.setItem('OPEN_AI_KEY', e.target.value)
 		}
 	}, [])
 
@@ -18,19 +15,14 @@ export function RiskyButCoolAPIKeyInput() {
 	}, [])
 
 	return (
-		<div className={`your-own-api-key ${breakpoint < 5 ? 'your-own-api-key__mobile' : ''}`}>
-			<div className="your-own-api-key__inner">
-				<div className="input__wrapper">
-					<input
-						id="openai_key_risky_but_cool"
-						defaultValue={localStorage.getItem('makeitreal_key') ?? ''}
-						onChange={handleChange}
-					/>
-				</div>
+		<div className="input-container">
+			<div className="input-label">
+				Your OpenAI API Key
 				<button className="question__button" onClick={handleQuestionMessage}>
-					<Icon icon="question" />
+					<QuestionIcon height={20} width={20} />
 				</button>
 			</div>
+			<input type="text" placeholder="OpenAI API Key" onChange={handleChange} required />
 		</div>
 	)
 }
diff --git a/app/globals.css b/app/globals.css
index a0ccbb9..bed2b01 100644
--- a/app/globals.css
+++ b/app/globals.css
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ h4 {
 }
 
 .input__wrapper:not(:focus-within)::after {
-	content: 'Your OpenAI API Key (risky but cool)';
+	content: 'Enter your OpenAI API Key (risky but cool)';
 	display: block;
 	position: absolute;
 	inset: 0px;
@@ -322,10 +322,11 @@ input::placeholder {
 }
 
 .input-label {
+	display: flex;
 	font-size: 14px;
 	font-weight: 500;
 	margin-bottom: 5px;
-	align-items: start;
+	align-items: center;
 }
 
 .tabs-container {
diff --git a/app/lib/fetchFromOpenAi.tsx b/app/lib/fetchFromOpenAi.tsx
index 0e18a2e..4967ea6 100644
--- a/app/lib/fetchFromOpenAi.tsx
+++ b/app/lib/fetchFromOpenAi.tsx
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 'use server'
 
+import { toast } from 'react-toastify'
+
 export async function fetchFromOpenAi(
 	providedApiKey: string,
 	body: GPT4VCompletionRequest
-): Promise<GPT4VCompletionResponse> {
+): Promise<GPT4VCompletionResponse | string> {
 	const apiKey = providedApiKey ?? process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY
 
 	if (!apiKey) {
@@ -11,9 +13,8 @@ export async function fetchFromOpenAi(
 			'You need to provide an API key. Make sure OPENAI_API_KEY is set in your .env file.'
 		)
 	}
-
 	try {
-		const repsonse = await fetch('https://api.openai.com/v1/chat/completions', {
+		const response = await fetch('https://api.openai.com/v1/chat/completions', {
 			method: 'POST',
 			headers: {
 				'Content-Type': 'application/json',
@@ -21,11 +22,15 @@ export async function fetchFromOpenAi(
 			},
 			body: JSON.stringify(body),
 		})
+		const jsonData = await response.json()
 
-		return await repsonse.json()
+		if (jsonData.error) {
+			throw jsonData.error
+		}
+		return jsonData
 	} catch (e) {
 		console.error(e)
-		throw new Error('Sorry, there was an error fetching from OpenAI')
+		return e.message
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/app/makeReal.tsx b/app/makeReal.tsx
index 9d0f373..ccf3de3 100644
--- a/app/makeReal.tsx
+++ b/app/makeReal.tsx
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import {
 	MessageContent,
 	fetchFromOpenAi,
 } from './lib/fetchFromOpenAi'
+import { toast } from 'react-toastify'
 
 const SYSTEM_PROMPT = `You are an expert at constructing interative polls and quizzes for audiences.
 Your job is to accept a design and turn it into a poll with multiple options for attendees to vote on to make a session more interative.
@@ -38,13 +39,11 @@ export async function makeReal(
 		// If you're using the API key input, we preference the key from there.
 		// It's okay if this is undefined—it will just mean that we'll use the
 		// one in the .env file instead.
-		const apiKeyFromDangerousApiKeyInput = (
-			document.body.querySelector('#openai_key_risky_but_cool') as HTMLInputElement
-		)?.value
+		const apiKeyFromDangerousApiKeyInput = sessionStorage.getItem('OPEN_AI_KEY')
 
 		// make a request to openai. `fetchFromOpenAi` is a next.js server action,
 		// so our api key is hidden.
-		const openAiResponse: GPT4VCompletionResponse = await fetchFromOpenAi(
+		const openAiResponse: GPT4VCompletionResponse | string = await fetchFromOpenAi(
 			apiKeyFromDangerousApiKeyInput,
 			{
 				model: 'gpt-4-vision-preview',
@@ -53,6 +52,9 @@ export async function makeReal(
 				messages: prompt,
 			}
 		)
+		if (typeof openAiResponse === 'string') {
+			throw openAiResponse
+		}
 
 		if ('choices' in openAiResponse) {
 			const messageContent = openAiResponse.choices[0].message.content
@@ -62,7 +64,7 @@ export async function makeReal(
 	} catch (e) {
 		// if something went wrong, get rid of the unnecessary response shape
 		// editor.deleteShape(responseShapeId)
-		throw e
+		toast.error(e)
 	}
 }