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Add a model provider ​

Route a new provider's models through OpenSwitchboard, so a model: directive and defaults.models can name them.

You need:

  • Write access to the installation's config.yaml and the environment the bot runs in.
  • The provider's API base URL and an API key. Keys are read from environment variables only, never from config files.

Add the block ​

Anything that speaks the OpenAI /chat/completions shape needs no code:

yaml
providers:
  groq:
    type: openai-compatible
    baseUrl: https://api.groq.com/openai/v1
    apiKeyEnv: GROQ_API_KEY

An aggregator is the same shape too: the example config carries a commented OpenRouter block, and Configure your defaults says what the compatible adapter does not do for it. A local server is the same shape; Ollama, for example:

yaml
providers:
  local:
    type: openai-compatible
    baseUrl: http://localhost:11434/v1

Set the key and restart ​

Put GROQ_API_KEY in the bot's environment (.env locally) and restart. A missing key fails fast, by name.

Use it ​

The provider's models are now valid as groq/<model-id> anywhere a model is accepted:

Write an adapter for any other shape ​

Implement the Provider interface from src/providers/types.ts in a new file beside anthropic.ts and openaiCompat.ts. Add its type to the switch in src/providers/registry.ts, with tests beside theirs.

An adapter turns one model call into a vendor's HTTP shape and back; it knows nothing about channels, permissions or where tools run. The contract is the run loop spec.

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