Quick Start

1. Create an Account

Sign up at www.router9.com/login using your email address. You'll receive a one-time verification code to complete registration.

New accounts require admin approval before you can access the dashboard. You'll be redirected automatically once approved.

Once logged in, open Studio's settings. A Token Plan on the Free tier is provisioned automatically the first time you get there — there's no manual creation step. It has its own API keys, usage quotas, and audit logs.

3. Get Your API Key

Go to Keys under Studio's API section (/studio/api/keys) and create a key. It's displayed once — copy it and store it securely.

API keys use the format sk-r9k-<key>.

4. Make Your First Request

Router9 is OpenAI-compatible. Set your base URL and API key, then use any OpenAI-compatible client.

Model ids are provider-prefixed slugs, not short names — pull the exact set your deployment serves from GET /v1/models; gpt-4o and similar short names return 404 model_not_found.

curl https://api.router9.com/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk-r9k-your-key-here" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "anthropic/claude-opus-5",
    "messages": [
      { "role": "user", "content": "Hello, Router9!" }
    ]
  }'

5. Use with the OpenAI SDK

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://api.router9.com/v1",
    api_key="sk-r9k-your-key-here",
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="anthropic/claude-opus-5",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}],
)

print(response.choices[0].message.content)

import OpenAI from "openai";

const client = new OpenAI({
  baseURL: "https://api.router9.com/v1",
  apiKey: "sk-r9k-your-key-here",
});

const response = await client.chat.completions.create({
  model: "anthropic/claude-opus-5",
  messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Hello!" }],
});

console.log(response.choices[0].message.content);

6. Configure Your Environment

For most AI tools, just set two environment variables:

OPENAI_BASE_URL=https://api.router9.com/v1
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-r9k-your-key-here

This works with OpenCode, Cursor, Kilo Code, LangChain, Vercel AI SDK, and any other OpenAI-compatible harness.

Next Steps

Authentication — Learn about API key management
Chat Completions — Full API reference
Plans & Billing — Understand pricing tiers