Point Liminal at OpenRouter when you want one API key, dozens of models, and per-task routing between a main ReAct model and a fast sidecar model.

Canonical guide: /liminal/guides/openrouter. Docs: docs.vireondynamics.com/liminal/.

Minimum .env

AGENT_API_KEY=sk-or-v1-...
AGENT_API_BASE_URL=https://openrouter.ai/api/v1
AGENT_MODEL=deepseek/deepseek-v4-pro
AGENT_FAST_MODEL=deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash

AGENT_API_KEY is the OpenRouter key. The harness uses the OpenAI-compatible chat completions API.

What runs on which model

WorkloadTypical modelEnv
Full ReAct loop (tools, many rounds)MainAGENT_MODEL
Intent, distill, rewrite, safety judge, workflow summarizeFastAGENT_FAST_MODEL
Embeddings for recall_relevantEmbed slugAGENT_EMBED_MODEL
Vision sidecarSeparateAGENT_VISION_MODEL

Comparison table

Sidecar calls (AGENT_RECALL_EVERY_N, AGENT_QUERY_REWRITE, AGENT_MEMORY_AUTO_EXTRACT, AGENT_SELF_HEAL_LINT, AGENT_SAFETY_JUDGE) are off by default — each enables an extra completion per turn or pass.

Provider pinning and prompt cache

Defaults pin DeepInfra (or your chosen order) via AGENT_PROVIDER_ORDER / AGENT_PROVIDER_ORDER_FAST with AGENT_PROVIDER_ALLOW_FALLBACKS=0 so prompt cache hits stay warm on rounds 2+ of a turn (AGENT_PROMPT_CACHE=1 adds cache_control: ephemeral on the static system prefix). Cache hit rate is logged in session JSONL.

Turn on fallbacks only when you prefer availability over cache economics.

AGENT_EMBED_MODEL=qwen/qwen3-embedding-8b

Empty string = BM25-only recall. With embeddings, note and vault indexes live under ~/.liminal/ and power hybrid ranking in recall_relevant.

Install and verify

curl -fsSL https://www.vireondynamics.com/install/install.sh | bash
cd liminal-ai   # or your clone path
# add .env, then:
npm run web

Send a message that uses tools (e.g. “list git status and remember the branch name”). Check .agent_sessions/*.jsonl for provider lines and tool traces.

Why OpenRouter + Liminal (not a hosted seat)

  • You pay OpenRouter directly for tokens.
  • Community Edition does not require a Vireon subscription.
  • Same harness works if you later point AGENT_API_BASE_URL at OpenAI, Anthropic, or Ollama.

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