# Providers

How CrabTalk routes model requests — API standards, provider config, and supported providers.

CrabTalk supports multiple LLM providers through a unified `Model` trait. All providers are API-based — configure an endpoint, point the daemon at it, and go. Use `crabtalk config` for interactive setup, or edit `config.toml` directly.

## API standards

Each provider uses a wire format selected by the `kind` field:

| Kind                  | Protocol                             | Used by                                         |
|-----------------------|--------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|
| `openai` (default)    | OpenAI chat completions API          | OpenAI, DeepSeek, Grok, Qwen, Kimi, and any compatible endpoint |
| `anthropic`          | Anthropic Messages API               | Claude                                          |
| `google`             | Google Gemini API                    | Gemini                                          |
| `ollama`             | Ollama local API                     | Ollama                                          |
| `azure`              | Azure OpenAI API                     | Azure OpenAI                                    |

If `kind` is omitted, CrabTalk defaults to `openai`. If the `base_url` contains "anthropic", the Anthropic kind is auto-detected.

## Provider configuration

Each provider is a `[provider.<name>]` section in `config.toml`. A provider owns one or more models:

```
[provider.deepseek]
models = ["deepseek-chat", "deepseek-thinking"]
api_key = "sk-..."
```

Model names must be unique across all providers.

## Selecting the active model

Set the default model in `[system.crab]`:

```
[system.crab]
model = "deepseek-chat"
```

Override per agent in `[agents.*]`:

```
[agents.researcher]
model = "claude-opus-4-6"
```

## Supported providers

### OpenAI

```
[provider.openai]
models = ["gpt-4o", "gpt-4o-mini"]
api_key = "sk-..."
```

Uses the OpenAI chat completions API (the default standard). Supports GPT-4o, GPT-4o-mini, o-series, and all OpenAI models.

### Anthropic Claude

```
[provider.anthropic]
models = ["claude-sonnet-4-20250514", "claude-opus-4-6"]
api_key = "sk-ant-..."
kind = "anthropic"
```

Uses the Anthropic Messages API. Set `kind = "anthropic"` explicitly, or it will be auto-detected if your `base_url` contains "anthropic".

### DeepSeek

```
[provider.deepseek]
models = ["deepseek-chat", "deepseek-thinking"]
api_key = "sk-..."
```

OpenAI-compatible API. Supports `deepseek-chat` and `deepseek-thinking`.

### Google Gemini

```
[provider.google]
models = ["gemini-2.5-pro"]
api_key = "..."
kind = "google"
```

### Grok

```
[provider.grok]
models = ["grok-3"]
api_key = "..."
base_url = "https://api.x.ai/v1"
```

OpenAI-compatible API. Requires explicit `base_url`.

### Qwen

```
[provider.qwen]
models = ["qwen-plus"]
api_key = "..."
base_url = "https://dashscope.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1"
```

OpenAI-compatible via DashScope.

### Kimi

```
[provider.kimi]
models = ["kimi-latest"]
api_key = "..."
base_url = "https://api.moonshot.cn/v1"
```

OpenAI-compatible API by Moonshot AI.

### Ollama

```
[provider.ollama]
models = ["llama3.1"]
kind = "ollama"
base_url = "http://localhost:11434/v1"
```

No API key needed.

### Azure OpenAI

```
[provider.azure]
models = ["gpt-4o"]
api_key = "..."
kind = "azure"
api_version = "2024-02-01"
base_url = "https://your-resource.openai.azure.com"
```

### Custom OpenAI-compatible endpoints

Any OpenAI-compatible API works with a `base_url`:

```
[provider.my-provider]
models = ["my-model"]
api_key = "..."
base_url = "https://my-endpoint.com/v1"
```

## Provider manager

The `ProviderManager` holds all configured providers and routes requests by model name. It supports hot-reload — update the config and the active provider changes without restarting the daemon.

CrabTalk's provider system is powered by [CrabLLM](/content/crabllm/index.html), our open-source LLM gateway.

## What's next

- [Configuration](/content/docs/crabtalk/config/index.html) — full config setup
- [Commands](/content/docs/crabtalk/commands/index.html) — telegram, search, and custom commands
- [Auth](/content/docs/crabtalk/auth/index.html) — manage providers with the config TUI