Generic OpenAI-compatible clients
If a tool isn’t on this list, it almost certainly works as long as it exposes two settings: base URL and API key. The pattern below is what to fill in.
Settings to set
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Provider type | OpenAI Compatible (sometimes “Custom OpenAI” or “OpenAI API”) |
| Base URL | https://api.lowrouter.ai/v1 |
| API Key | your sk-lr-... token |
| Path / endpoint | /chat/completions (most tools handle this automatically) |
| Model | any LowRouter model ID — auto/mistralai/mistral-large-2512, openai/openai/gpt-4.1, … |
What does not work
- Tools that hard-code
https://api.openai.comwithout a base-URL setting cannot be redirected. Some have aOPENAI_API_BASEenvironment variable that achieves the same thing. - Tools that require a specific model ID format (e.g.
gpt-4with no provider prefix) need the model picker reconfigured to accept arbitrary strings — most have a “custom model name” field. - Tools that send Anthropic-shaped requests on the OpenAI endpoint will be rejected. LowRouter accepts OpenAI-shaped chat-completions requests only — send those instead.
Confirming it works
Before integrating, test from the command line that the tool’s settings are right:
Bash
curl https://api.lowrouter.ai/v1/chat/completions \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"model":"auto/mistralai/mistral-large-2512","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"hi"}]}'If curl returns a completion, the tool will too — once it’s
configured with the same URL and key.
Tools we know work without changes
- LangChain (
OpenAIandChatOpenAIclasses — setopenai_api_baseandopenai_api_key). - LlamaIndex (
OpenAIandOpenAILikeLLMs). - LiteLLM (proxy and library — set
api_baseandapi_key). - Vercel AI SDK (
createOpenAIfrom@ai-sdk/openai-compatible). - Continue.dev (
provider: openai-aiohttpwithapiBase). - LM Studio (Server tab → custom backend).
When to prefer the OpenAI path over a tool’s native provider
If a tool has both an “OpenAI” and an “LowRouter / OpenRouter / custom gateway” option, prefer the OpenAI Compatible one. It exposes the fewest surprises: the tool sends a standard chat-completions request, LowRouter resolves the route, and the response is in the shape the tool already expects.
