Connect a provider

Without at least one access, the server starts but stays read-only: sessions cannot run. Connecting a provider is the first thing to do. What a provider is, and where keys are kept, is explained in Models and providers.

Connect

1. Open Settings → Model laboratory, then its Provider tab — or press Connect a model where the app asks for one.
2. Pick the provider: OpenRouter, a direct provider such as Anthropic, Gemini or OpenAI, Hugging Face for downloads, or External agent for an agent already installed on this computer. All of them, with their protocol and address, are on Providers.
3. Enter the key, or sign in — OpenRouter offers a sign-in in the browser.
4. If the provider needs it, set the address of the service.
5. Test it.

The test answers in precise words: the service was reached (and how many models it answered with), the credential was refused, the service is not reachable, it is still to configure, or the test failed. A saved key is not a working key until the test says so.

The key goes to the operating system’s keyring. If Doctor reports that the keyring is not available, the operating system offers no secure store, and keys cannot be saved until it does.

Choose a model

• For one session: from the bar at the top of the chat, or with Ctrl ⇧ M (⌘ ⇧ M on a Mac).
• To browse the catalog — context, inputs and outputs, tools, prices — it is on the same Provider tab.

Providers without an access are not offered for selection. A model in the catalog exists; it is not necessarily covered by your access.

If something goes wrong

• Credential refused — the key is not valid for that service.
• Not reachable — it is the network or the address, not the key.
• The catalog does not load — it needs a configured access; Doctor says whether there is one.
• You changed the key and nothing changed — when the server runs from the source, check whether a key comes from an environment variable: that one wins.