Hosted models (opt-in)

8gent is local by default. Hosted providers are wired in but off until you add that provider's API key and choose it. OpenRouter is the one most people start with, because it offers free models.

OpenRouter

1. Create a key at openrouter.ai.

2. Put it where 8gent reads keys:

   8gent keys              # opens ~/.8gent/keys.env in your editor

   Add a line:

   OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-...

   A shell export OPENROUTER_API_KEY=... works too, and wins over the file.

3. Choose it:

   /provider openrouter
   /model auto:free

auto:free picks the best free model OpenRouter offers right now, by context length, and re-checks hourly. Free models come and go, so 8gent does not keep a fixed list. To use a specific model, pass its full OpenRouter id to /model.

Other hosted providers

The provider list (/provider) includes other hosted providers. Each needs its own key in ~/.8gent/keys.env and stays off without it.

8gent keys status     # which provider keys are present, never the values
8gent keys reload     # re-read keys.env into a running setup

What stays local

Choosing a hosted chat model sends your conversation to that provider. These stay on your machine whatever you choose: memory, sessions, settings, the System One judge, and your files unless the agent reads them into the conversation.

Vision uses local models unless you run /vision cloud.