the provider catalog

OpenRouter

{"meta":{"title":"OpenRouter · many vendors, one key","angle":"One key and one endpoint route to many vendors: the model id carries the vendor and the router owns the hop, fallbacks included.","pick":"comparing vendors, or refusing to carry one key per provider.","console":{"label":"openrouter.ai","href":"https://openrouter.ai/settings/keys"},"setup":[{"text":"Create a key in the settings."},{"text":"The key rides the environment, never the file","code":"export OPENROUTER_API_KEY=…"}]},"usage":{"id":"openrouter","yaml":"nika: v1\nworkflow:\n  id: one-key-two-vendors\n  description: \"two vendors' models through one endpoint — the router owns the hop\"\n\ntasks:\n  first_opinion:\n    infer:\n      model: openrouter/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514\n      max_tokens: 120\n      prompt: |\n        One sentence: what breaks when prompts live in a wiki\n        instead of version control?\n\n  second_opinion:\n    with:\n      claim: ${{ tasks.first_opinion.output }}\n    infer:\n      model: openrouter/anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5-20251001\n      max_tokens: 120\n      prompt: |\n        Disagree in one sentence, if you can: ${{ with.claim }}\n\noutputs:\n  debate: ${{ tasks.second_opinion.output }}\n","file":"openrouter.nika.yaml"},"audit":{"clean":true,"models_resolve":true,"tasks":2,"waves":2,"cost_ceiling_usd":null,"cost_floor_usd":0.0018,"pricing":[{"model":"openrouter/anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5-20251001","input_per_million":null,"output_per_million":null},{"model":"openrouter/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514","input_per_million":3,"output_per_million":15}],"pricing_as_of":"2026-07-07"}}

[{"slug":"anthropic-claude-haiku-4-5-20251001","id":"anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5-20251001","aliases":["cheap"]},{"slug":"anthropic-claude-sonnet-4-20250514","id":"anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514","aliases":["default"]}]

One key and one endpoint route to many vendors: the model id carries the vendor and the router owns the hop, fallbacks included. One provider/model line moves a workflow here or away again: the same file runs on every provider the catalog names, and swapping is a one-word diff. Machines read the catalog; the binary answers nika catalog.

2pinned modelsaliases pin exact upstream ids
cloudfamilybring your own key; it rides an env var and stays yours
OPENROUTER_API_KEYthe key rides herean env var, never a config file
openai-chatwire dialectthe adapter speaks it

the wire

cloud · bring your own key; it rides an env var and stays yours

A workflow names this provider in the model line (model: openrouter/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514), and the engine speaks openai-chat on the wire. The key rides OPENROUTER_API_KEY in the environment, never a config file, never the workflow. The provider id also answers to or.

default: anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514
cheap: anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5-20251001
dialect: openai-chat
tags: function-calling · streaming

the models

2 pins

Aliases are what the file may write; the engine pins each one to an exact upstream id, so a run stays reproducible after a vendor rotates names.

defaultanthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514ctx 128k · reasoning · vision · json:schema$3/M in · $15/M out
cheapanthropic/claude-haiku-4-5-20251001ctx 128k · reasoning · vision · json:schema

prices are the ENGINE's, not ours: the audit's pricing snapshot (models.dev · pinned 2026-07-07): the same table nika check prices your ceiling with.

in the released catalog

2 rooms

The wire models this provider serves in the released binary's catalog · each one is a room with its seats, exact prices and measured energy.

anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5-20251001as cheap
anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514as default

the whole register: /catalog/models · what the released binary knows, vendored at the engine pin.

in a real file

a complete workflow · shown whole

first_opinioninfer

second_opinioninfer

openrouter.nika.yaml

1nika: v12workflow:3  id: one-key-two-vendors4  description: "two vendors' models through one endpoint — the router owns the hop"56tasks:7  first_opinion:8    ◇infer:9      model: openrouter/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-2025051410      max_tokens: 12011      prompt: |12        One sentence: what breaks when prompts live in a wiki13        instead of version control?1415  second_opinion:16    with:17      claim: ${{ tasks.first_opinion.output }}18    ◇infer:19      model: openrouter/anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5-2025100120      max_tokens: 12021      prompt: |22        Disagree in one sentence, if you can: ${{ with.claim }}2324outputs:25  debate: ${{ tasks.second_opinion.output }}26

check-green against the released engine · 2 tasks · 2 waves · no closed ceiling: an unpriced model is unpriced, never free · the drift gate re-proves this copy on every test run · open it in the playground →

get set up

keys at openrouter.ai

1Create a key in the settings.
2The key rides the environment, never the file export OPENROUTER_API_KEY=…

Pick it for comparing vendors, or refusing to carry one key per provider. Then prove the seat: nika doctor names every provider this binary can reach.

swap it

10 more cloud seats

Moving off OpenRouter is editing one line. The rest of the file (tasks, permits, outputs, the trace) does not change. The register orders the catalog local first; beyond it the engine embeds 21 more OpenAI-compatible endpoints.

model: openrouter/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514 model: ollama/qwen3.5:4bthe whole migration · nothing else moves

cross-references

the words that meet it

[]

where it lives

Try it in the playground, or install and go local first. Read the spec →