Overview

Quickstart

Get started with OpenRouter

OpenRouter provides a unified API that gives you access to hundreds of AI models through a single endpoint, while automatically handling fallbacks and selecting the most cost-effective options. Get started with just a few lines of code using your preferred SDK or framework.

Looking for information about free models and rate limits? Please see the FAQ

In the examples below, the OpenRouter-specific headers are optional. Setting them allows your app to appear on the OpenRouter leaderboards.

Using the OpenAI SDK

1from openai import OpenAI
2
3client = OpenAI(
4  base_url="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1",
5  api_key="<OPENROUTER_API_KEY>",
6)
7
8completion = client.chat.completions.create(
9  extra_headers={
10    "HTTP-Referer": "<YOUR_SITE_URL>", # Optional. Site URL for rankings on openrouter.ai.
11    "X-Title": "<YOUR_SITE_NAME>", # Optional. Site title for rankings on openrouter.ai.
12  },
13  model="openai/gpt-4o",
14  messages=[
15    {
16      "role": "user",
17      "content": "What is the meaning of life?"
18    }
19  ]
20)
21
22print(completion.choices[0].message.content)

Using the OpenRouter API directly

You can use the interactive Request Builder to generate OpenRouter API requests in the language of your choice.

1import requests
2import json
3
4response = requests.post(
5  url="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/chat/completions",
6  headers={
7    "Authorization": "Bearer <OPENROUTER_API_KEY>",
8    "HTTP-Referer": "<YOUR_SITE_URL>", # Optional. Site URL for rankings on openrouter.ai.
9    "X-Title": "<YOUR_SITE_NAME>", # Optional. Site title for rankings on openrouter.ai.
10  },
11  data=json.dumps({
12    "model": "openai/gpt-4o", # Optional
13    "messages": [
14      {
15        "role": "user",
16        "content": "What is the meaning of life?"
17      }
18    ]
19  })
20)

The API also supports streaming.

Using third-party SDKs

For information about using third-party SDKs and frameworks with OpenRouter, please see our frameworks documentation.