Models and BYOK

You bring your own keys. Zox is local-first: the server typically binds 127.0.0.1. Canonical model id: <providerId>/<modelId>.

Built-in providers

Provider id	Env	Adapter
`anthropic`	`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`	Anthropic
`openai`	`OPENAI_API_KEY`	OpenAI
`google`	`GOOGLE_API_KEY` or `GEMINI_API_KEY`	Google
`groq`	`GROQ_API_KEY`	OpenAI-compatible (`https://api.groq.com/openai/v1`)
`openrouter`	`OPENROUTER_API_KEY`	OpenAI-compatible (`https://openrouter.ai/api/v1`)
`mock`	none	`mock/echo`
custom	`providers.<id>.apiKeyEnv`	`kind`: `openai` `anthropic` `google` `openai-compatible`

Example `--model` values (README)

Env var	Example `--model`
`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`	`anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514`
`OPENAI_API_KEY`	`openai/gpt-4.1`
`GOOGLE_API_KEY` or `GEMINI_API_KEY`	`google/gemini-2.5-pro`
`GROQ_API_KEY`	`groq/llama-3.3-70b-versatile`
`OPENROUTER_API_KEY`	`openrouter/anthropic/claude-3.5-sonnet`

Key resolution

Process environment (built-in names).
Extra config.providers entries if their env var is set.
Never persist raw keys in SQLite.

Providers are also auto-detected from environment variables. You do not have to list them in JSON unless you want a custom baseURL or env var name.

Custom OpenAI-compatible server

json

{
  "providers": {
    "lmstudio": {
      "kind": "openai-compatible",
      "baseURL": "http://127.0.0.1:1234/v1",
      "apiKeyEnv": "LMSTUDIO_API_KEY"
    }
  }
}

Then --model lmstudio/your-local-name.

mock/echo

Without keys you can start with mock/echo (default model if config does not set one). The mock is for tests and plumbing, not real coding.

zox --model mock/echo

Mid-session changes

Switch model: /model anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514.

Usage: /usage, SSE usage events, SDK helpers. Estimated USD only if the catalog has prices.

Configuration — model in .zox/config.json
Install — export keys before starting Zox