OpenAI Compatible APIs

What are OpenAI Compatible APIs?

An OpenAI Compatible API is an API endpoint that implements the same specification as OpenAI’s API. This standardization allows developers to use multiple AI providers through a familiar interface without rewriting code.

Why It Matters

Instead of being locked into a single provider, you can switch between different LLM services by simply changing the API endpoint and credentials in your existing OpenAI client code.

Never hardcode API keys in your code. Always use environment variables or a secure secrets manager to store credentials.

How It Works

Configuration	Description
Base URL	The provider’s API endpoint (instead of OpenAI’s servers)
API Key	Your authentication credential from the provider
Model Name	The specific model identifier for that provider

All compatible providers support the standard OpenAI SDK. Install it with:

pip install openai
# or
npm install openai

Recommended Configuration

Use environment variables to configure your API client:

export OPENAI_COMPATIBLE_BASE_URL="https://api.provider.com/v1"
export OPENAI_COMPATIBLE_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"
export OPENAI_COMPATIBLE_MODEL_NAME="provider-model-name"

Then use these in your code:

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    base_url=os.environ["OPENAI_COMPATIBLE_BASE_URL"],
    api_key=os.environ["OPENAI_COMPATIBLE_API_KEY"],
)

import OpenAI from "openai";

const client = new OpenAI({
  baseURL: process.env.OPENAI_COMPATIBLE_BASE_URL,
  apiKey: process.env.OPENAI_COMPATIBLE_API_KEY,
});

See individual provider pages for specific configuration details.

Provider - OpenAI

​What are OpenAI Compatible APIs?

​Why It Matters

​How It Works

​Recommended Configuration

What are OpenAI Compatible APIs?

Why It Matters

How It Works

Recommended Configuration