Providers

Ante is provider-agnostic. Each provider implements a common interface for sending prompts and receiving streaming responses. Providers are resolved from a catalog at session init time.

Built-in providers

Provider	Wire Format	Models
Anthropic	Messages API	Claude family (haiku-4-5, sonnet-4-5, sonnet-4-6, opus-4-6)
Anthropic Subscription	Messages API	Claude family (OAuth)
OpenAI	Responses API	GPT-5 family
OpenAI Compatible	Chat Completions	Custom models
OpenAI Subscription	Responses API	GPT-5 family (OAuth via Codex)
Gemini	Gemini API	Gemini 3 family
Vertex AI Gemini	Gemini API	Gemini 3 family
Grok (xAI)	Responses API	Grok 4
Zai	OpenAI-compatible	GLM-4.7
Open Router	OpenAI-compatible	Multiple providers
Antix	OpenAI-compatible	Claude, GPT via Antigma (OAuth)
Local	OpenAI-compatible	GGUF models

Provider identifiers

ID	Provider
anthropic	Anthropic (Claude)
anthropic-subscription	Anthropic Subscription (Pro/Max)
openai	OpenAI (GPT)
openai-compatible	OpenAI Compatible
openai-subscription	OpenAI Subscription
gemini	Google Gemini
vertex-gemini	Vertex AI Gemini
openrouter	Open Router
xai	Grok (xAI)
zai	Zai
antix	Antix
local	Local models via llama.cpp

Selecting a provider

You can set your provider in three ways (in order of precedence):

1. CLI flag — ante --provider anthropic --model claude-sonnet-4-5
2. Settings file — Set provider and model in ~/.ante/settings.json
3. Built-in default — Anthropic with Claude Sonnet

Authentication

Provider	Auth Method
Anthropic	ANTHROPIC_API_KEY env var or OAuth
Anthropic Subscription	OAuth
OpenAI	OPENAI_API_KEY env var or OAuth
OpenAI Compatible	OPENAI_COMPATIBLE_API_KEY env var
OpenAI Subscription	OAuth
Gemini	GEMINI_API_KEY env var
Vertex AI Gemini	VERTEX_GEMINI_API_KEY env var
Grok	XAI_API_KEY env var
Zai	Z_AI_API_KEY env var
Open Router	OPENROUTER_API_KEY env var
Antix	OAuth
Local	No authentication needed

tip

Anthropic, OpenAI, and Antix also support interactive OAuth flows through the TUI.

Model details

Anthropic (Claude)

ante --provider anthropic --model claude-sonnet-4-5

Available models: claude-haiku-4-5, claude-sonnet-4-5, claude-sonnet-4-6, claude-opus-4-6

OpenAI

ante --provider openai --model gpt-5.4

Available models: gpt-5.4, gpt-5.4-pro, gpt-5.3-codex, gpt-5-mini, gpt-5-nano

Google Gemini

ante --provider gemini --model gemini-3-flash-preview

Vertex AI Gemini

ante --provider vertex-gemini --model gemini-3-flash-preview

Grok (xAI)

ante --provider xai --model grok-4-latest

Zai

ante --provider zai --model glm-4.7

Open Router

ante --provider openrouter --model deepseek/deepseek-reasoner

Antix

ante --provider antix --model claude-sonnet-4-5

Local models

Run GGUF models locally via the built-in llama.cpp engine. No API keys or internet required. See Offline Mode for setup details.

ante --provider local

Standalone models

Model	Description	Context
qwen3.5-plus	Most powerful Qwen visual model	1M
qwen-plus	Fast and capable	1M
kimi-k2.5	Kimi K2.5 reasoning model	262K
MiniMax-M2.5	MiniMax M2.5 model	200K

Custom catalog

Create ~/.ante/catalog.json to add or override providers and models:

{
  "providers": {
    "my-provider": {
      "name": "my-provider",
      "display_name": "My Provider",
      "base_url": "https://api.example.com/v1",
      "auth": { "bearer": { "env_key": "MY_PROVIDER_API_KEY" } },
      "wire_style": "OpenAiCompatible"
    }
  },
  "models": {
    "my-model": {
      "name": "my-model",
      "description": "Custom model",
      "max_tokens": 32000,
      "context_limit": 200000,
      "thinking": "Enabled"
    }
  }
}

Supported wire styles: AnthropicMessage, OpenAiCompatible, OpenAiResponse, Gemini.

Supported thinking modes: Disabled, Enabled, Deep, Max.

Third-party & custom providers

Using Open Router

1. Sign up at openrouter.ai and generate an API key.
2. Set your API key:

   export OPENROUTER_API_KEY="sk-or-..."

3. Use any model from Open Router's model list:

   ante --provider openrouter --model deepseek/deepseek-reasoner

OpenAI-compatible providers

Many LLM providers expose an OpenAI-compatible API (e.g., Together AI, Fireworks, Groq Cloud, Perplexity):

1. Set the base URL:

   export MODEL_BASE_URL="https://api.together.xyz/v1"

2. Set your API key:

   export OPENAI_COMPATIBLE_API_KEY="your-provider-api-key"

3. Run with the OpenAI Compatible provider:

   ante --provider openai-compatible --model meta-llama/Llama-3-70b-chat-hf

tip

When using third-party providers, make sure the model supports tool use (function calling). Ante relies on tool use for its agent capabilities.

warning

Not all models work equally well as coding agents. If you experience issues, try a larger or more capable model.