Chat Providers
vai chat supports three LLM providers. Each has different strengths, pricing, and setup requirements.
Anthropic (Claude)
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Models | Claude Opus, Claude Sonnet, Claude Haiku |
| Streaming | ✅ Supported |
| Tool calling | ✅ (required for agent mode) |
| Setup | API key from console.anthropic.com |
vai config set llm-provider anthropic
vai config set llm-api-key sk-ant-...
vai config set llm-model claude-sonnet-4-20250514
Best for: High-quality responses, agent mode, long context.
OpenAI (GPT)
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Models | GPT-4, GPT-4 Turbo, GPT-3.5 Turbo |
| Streaming | ✅ Supported |
| Tool calling | ✅ Supported |
| Setup | API key from platform.openai.com |
vai config set llm-provider openai
vai config set llm-api-key sk-...
vai config set llm-model gpt-4
Best for: Wide model selection, OpenAI-compatible endpoints.
Ollama (Local)
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Models | Llama 3, Mistral, Phi, Gemma, etc. |
| Streaming | ✅ Supported |
| Tool calling | Depends on model |
| Setup | Install Ollama, pull a model |
| Cost | Free (runs locally) |
ollama pull llama3
vai config set llm-provider ollama
vai config set llm-base-url http://localhost:11434
vai config set llm-model llama3
Best for: Privacy, no API costs, offline usage.
Switching Providers
Change provider at any time:
vai config set llm-provider openai
Or override per session:
vai chat --llm-provider ollama --llm-model mistral