Easy OpenRouter

Quickly test LLM models and find the best one for your task.

Prerequisites

export OPENROUTER_API_KEY="sk-or-v1-xxxx"

Quick Model Testing

Use scripts/call_openrouter.sh :

Basic test

bash scripts/call_openrouter.sh
--model "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4"
--prompt "Explain quantum computing in one sentence"
--json

With parameters

bash scripts/call_openrouter.sh
--model "openai/gpt-4o"
--prompt "Write a haiku about code"
--max-tokens 100
--temperature 0.7
--json

Output includes: response time (ms), cost ($), token usage, full response

Parameters:

• --model : Model ID (required)

• --prompt : Prompt text (required)

• --system : System prompt (optional)

• --max-tokens : Max tokens

• --temperature : Temperature 0.0-2.0

• --json : JSON output

Model Naming Format

provider/model-name[:modifier]

Common models:

• anthropic/claude-sonnet-4

• openai/gpt-4o

• openai/gpt-4o-mini

• google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

• deepseek/deepseek-chat

Modifiers:

• :nitro

• Use fastest provider

• :online

• Enable web search

• Combinable: anthropic/claude-sonnet-4:nitro:online

Find Optimal Models

Find Best Model by Category (Rankings)

https://openrouter.ai/rankings?category=<category>#categories

Category URL

Programming https://openrouter.ai/rankings?category=programming#categories

Translation https://openrouter.ai/rankings?category=translation#categories

Science https://openrouter.ai/rankings?category=science#categories

Finance https://openrouter.ai/rankings?category=finance#categories

Legal https://openrouter.ai/rankings?category=legal#categories

Academia https://openrouter.ai/rankings?category=academia#categories

Marketing https://openrouter.ai/rankings?category=marketing#categories

SEO https://openrouter.ai/rankings?category=marketing/seo#categories

Find Provider by Performance/Price

https://openrouter.ai/<model-slug>/providers?sort=<sort>

Sort options:

• throughput

• By throughput (tokens/sec)

• latency

• By latency

• price

• By price

Example: Find fastest provider for claude-sonnet-4

https://openrouter.ai/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4/providers?sort=throughput

Get Full Model List

curl -s https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/models
-H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENROUTER_API_KEY"
| jq '.data | sort_by(.pricing.prompt) | .[:10] | .[].id'

Output: top 10 cheapest models

Typical Workflows

1. Quick Model Comparison

Test Claude

bash scripts/call_openrouter.sh --model "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4" --prompt "Explain microservices architecture" --json > claude.json

Test GPT-4o

bash scripts/call_openrouter.sh --model "openai/gpt-4o" --prompt "Explain microservices architecture" --json > gpt4o.json

Compare results

jq -s '[.[0], .[1]] | map({model, response_time_ms, cost})' claude.json gpt4o.json

2. Find Best Model for Programming Tasks

• Open https://openrouter.ai/rankings?category=programming#categories

• Note the top-ranked models

• Test actual performance with the script

3. Choose Model for Chainlit Demo

Considerations:

• For demos: Prioritize speed → use :nitro modifier

• Cost-sensitive: Use gpt-4o-mini or deepseek-chat

• Quality-first: Use claude-sonnet-4 or gpt-4o

Advanced

For API details, query OpenRouter documentation via Context7.