Quick Start

Send your first nRouter chat completion in minutes by generating an API key, setting it in your environment, and calling the Chat Completions endpoint via cURL, Python, or TypeScript.

• Quick activation: Verify your email and claim promotional credits directly on Getting Started (/[org]/getting-started).
• Drop-in compatibility: Point existing OpenAI SDKs or HTTP clients to https://api.nrouter.ai/v1 with an sk-nrouter-* key.
• Immediate observability: Inspect the responding model and exact token costs in the dashboard request log within seconds.
• Flexible integration: Test immediately using cURL, official nRouter SDKs, or the in-browser Playground.

1. Get your API key

Complete setup at Getting Started (/[org]/getting-started):

1. Verify your email via the confirmation link or 6-digit code.
2. Activate account: Verify SMS for $100.00 promo credit (spendable on promo-labeled models, subject to the current daily limit on Pricing), or add $5+ via Stripe (0% platform fee) for full catalog access.
3. Create and export your starter key: Click Create API key on the checklist to provision and reveal your starter key once, then export it: export NROUTER_API_KEY="sk-nrouter-…" (PowerShell: $env:NROUTER_API_KEY = "sk-nrouter-…"). Manage additional keys in API Keys (/[org]/keys).

2. Send your first request

Call https://api.nrouter.ai/v1/chat/completions (trial keys support promo-labeled models directly by model name; funded keys support nrouter/auto and the model catalog):

import { nRouter } from "@nrouter_ai/sdk"; // npm install @nrouter_ai/sdk
const res = await new nRouter().chat.completions.create({
  model: "gemini-2.5-flash", messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Hello!" }]
});
console.log(res.choices[0]?.message.content);

Requests record to dashboard request logs with exact list-price costs:

3. Continue building

• In-browser Playground: Test with 1 click via the Playground.
• Chat Completions API — Streaming, parameters, tools
• SDK guides — Language libraries and OpenAI-compatible setup
• Authentication — Key permissions and scoping
• Budget Controls — Spend limits and rate limits

# Point Claude Code to nRouter gateway
export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="https://api.nrouter.ai"
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="$NROUTER_API_KEY"

# Launch with gpt-5.4-mini
claude --model gpt-5.4-mini

Frequently asked questions