Add an LLM provider or model

SkillAI & models

Add a new LLM model to the preset catalog, or a whole new LLM provider — with the mandatory pre-flight verification of model id, pricing, and context window against the provider's official docs. Use when asked to add/update LLM models, providers, or pricing.

Available today. Use it from your connected AI after setup.

Connect ahel once, and every AI you use reads what you have installed.

Then ask your AI: use the Add an LLM provider or model skill

What this skill tells your AI

The instructions your AI receives, as published by bagofwords1/bagofwords in .agents/skills/add-llm-provider-or-model/SKILL.md and read by ahel’s review.

Pre-flight: verify BEFORE adding (mandatory)

Never add a model from memory — model ids and prices change and training data goes stale. For each model, confirm from the provider's official docs/pricing page (web search / fetch, cite the URL in the PR):

  1. Exact model_id as the API expects it (e.g. claude-sonnet-5, gpt-5.4-mini — not the marketing name).
  2. Input and output cost per million tokens (USD) — these feed real cost dashboards (llm_usage_record, console cost metrics); a wrong number corrupts every org's reported spend.
  3. Context window (tokens) and vision support.
  4. The model actually works on the provider's current API version used by our client (backend/app/ai/llm/clients/<provider>_client.py).

If any of these can't be verified from an official source, stop and say so — don't guess.

Adding a model (existing provider)

  1. Append to LLM_MODEL_DETAILS in backend/app/models/llm_model.py: name (display), model_id, provider_type, is_preset: True, is_enabled, supports_vision, context_window_tokens, input_cost_per_million_tokens_usd, output_cost_per_million_tokens_usd. Flags to handle deliberately:
    • is_default: True — at most one per provider_type (that provider's flagship). Changing a default is a product decision — ask first.
    • is_small_default: True — the provider's cheap/fast model for background tasks; at most one per provider_type.
  2. Preset providers auto-sync with this catalog (llm_service.py — "Only auto-sync preset providers with our curated catalog"), so existing orgs pick the model up; no migration needed. Custom providers keep the user's explicit selections.
  3. If the model needs different request handling (new reasoning params, streaming quirks), extend the provider client — don't special-case in agent_v2/planner code.

Adding a provider

  1. Clientbackend/app/ai/llm/clients/<provider>_client.py, implementing the same streaming interface as the existing clients (openai_client.py is the reference; anthropic_client.py for a non-OpenAI-shaped API). First check whether the provider is OpenAI-compatible — then it may just work through the existing custom provider (base_url override) and you only need presets.
  2. Dispatch — wire the provider_type branch in backend/app/ai/llm/llm.py (self.provider == "<type>" → client).
  3. Catalog — add to LLM_PROVIDER_DETAILS in backend/app/models/llm_provider.py (type, name, description, config, credentials schema) and define the <Provider>Config / <Provider>Credentials classes next to the existing ones. The credentials schema drives the settings-page form; credentials are Fernet-encrypted at rest (encrypt_credentials) — never log or return them.
  4. Models — add its models to LLM_MODEL_DETAILS (pre-flight above).
  5. Frontend — icon in frontend/components/LLMProviderIcon.vue; the provider form itself is schema-driven via GET /llm/available_providers.
  6. Prompt language: conversational-vs-code agent split in backend/app/ai/prompt_language.py is provider-agnostic — no change needed unless the provider mishandles system prompts.

Verification

cd backend
# Catalog sanity: unique ids; ≤1 default and ≤1 small default per provider
uv run python - <<'EOF'
from collections import Counter
from app.models.llm_model import LLM_MODEL_DETAILS as M
ids = [m["model_id"] for m in M]
assert len(ids) == len(set(ids)), "duplicate model_id"
for flag in ("is_default", "is_small_default"):
    per = Counter(m["provider_type"] for m in M if m.get(flag))
    dupes = {p: n for p, n in per.items() if n > 1}
    assert not dupes, f"multiple {flag} for provider(s): {dupes}"
assert all(m["input_cost_per_million_tokens_usd"] > 0 and m["output_cost_per_million_tokens_usd"] > 0 for m in M)
print(f"OK: {len(M)} models")
EOF
# Unit: connection-test schema still valid
uv run pytest tests/unit/test_llm_test_connection_schema.py -q
# Live round-trip (real key, env/integrations.json only — never committed)
uv run pytest tests/integrations/llm_clients.py -k "<provider>" -v

Then a live UI check: boot the stack, Settings → AI/LLMs → the provider and model appear, "Test connection" passes with a real key, and one prompt round-trips through the new model. Confirm a cost row lands in the console usage metrics with the expected per-token math.

Pitfalls

  • Wrong price or a price in per-1K units instead of per-million — the catalog is per million tokens.
  • Two is_default/is_small_default models — org defaults become nondeterministic.
  • Adding an OpenAI-compatible provider as a full new client instead of a preset on the custom provider — double maintenance for nothing.
  • CI note: integration-llms in .github/workflows/e2e-tests.yml currently skips google/bedrock/openai-reasoning cases — don't "fix" a red run by extending those skips; flag it instead.

Signals

GitHub stars
455
Forks
83
Last commit
Sep 2026
Advanced
Catalog kind
skill
Gateway key
add-llm-provider-or-model
Source
github.com/bagofwords1/bagofwords