Frouter

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Free model router CLI — discover, ping, and configure free AI models for OpenCode / OpenClaw.

Install

npx frouter-cli
# or
npm i -g frouter-cli
# or
bunx frouter-cli
# or
bun install -g frouter-cli

Run

frouter

On first run, a setup wizard prompts for API keys (ESC to skip any provider).

If you accept the in-app update prompt (Y), frouter now updates globally and restarts automatically, so you can continue without running frouter again.

Ways to use frouter

1. First-run onboarding wizard Launch frouter, open provider websites in-browser from the wizard, paste keys, and start.
2. Interactive model search + apply Use / to filter models, then Enter to apply directly to OpenCode config.
3. Quick API key rescue from main screen Press A (or R for expired/missing provider) to jump into key editing with auto browser opening for missing keys.
4. Full settings workflow Press P to edit keys, toggle providers, run live key tests, and onboard missing keys provider-by-provider.
5. Non-interactive best-model selection Run frouter --best to print the best responding model ID for scripts.

First-run onboarding test (clean state)

Use an isolated temporary HOME to test onboarding from zero without deleting your real install/config:

npm run test:onboarding
npm run test:fresh-start

test:fresh-start launches interactive onboarding with:

• no ~/.frouter.json in the temp home
• provider env keys unset (NVIDIA_API_KEY, OPENROUTER_API_KEY)
• your real ~/.frouter.json untouched

Optional:

npm run test:fresh-start -- --keep-home

This keeps the temp HOME path after exit for inspection.

Providers

| Provider | Free key | | -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | NVIDIA NIM | build.nvidia.com — prefix nvapi- | | OpenRouter | openrouter.ai/settings/keys — prefix sk-or- |

API key priority: environment variable → ~/.frouter.json → keyless ping (latency still shown).

NVIDIA_API_KEY=nvapi-xxx frouter
OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-xxx frouter

# Optional: pause auto re-sorting while you scroll (milliseconds)
FROUTER_SCROLL_SORT_PAUSE_MS=2500 frouter

# Optional: disable rolling metrics cache and force legacy recompute path
FROUTER_METRICS_CACHE=0 frouter

TUI

The interactive TUI pings all models in parallel every 2 seconds and shows live latency, uptime, and verdict.

Columns

| Column | Description | | ---------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | | # | Rank | | Tier | Capability tier derived from SWE-bench score (S+ → C) | | Provider | NIM or OpenRouter | | Model | Display name | | Ctx | Context window size | | AA | Arena Elo / intelligence score | | Avg | Rolling average latency (HTTP 200 only) | | Lat | Latest measured ping latency | | Up% | Uptime percentage this session | | Verdict | Condition summary (🚀 Perfect / ✅ Normal / 🔥 Overloaded / …) |

Default ranking: availability first, then higher tier first (S+ → S → A+ …), then lower latency.

Search bar provider badges:

• Name:✓ key exists and looks healthy
• Name:✗ provider appears expired/no-auth
• Name:○ key missing

Keyboard shortcuts

Navigation

| Key | Action | | --------------- | -------------- | | ↑ / k | Move up | | ↓ / j | Move down | | PgUp / PgDn | Page up / down | | g | Jump to top | | G | Jump to bottom |

Actions

| Key | Action | | -------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | Enter | Select model → target picker (OpenCode / OpenClaw) | | / | Search / filter models (Enter in search = apply to OpenCode only) | | A | Quick API key add/change (opens key editor in Settings) | | R | Edit API key for likely expired/missing provider | | T | Cycle tier filter: All → S+ → S → A+ → … | | P | Settings screen (edit keys, toggle providers, test) | | W / X | Faster / slower ping interval | | ? | Help overlay | | q / Ctrl+C | Quit |

Sort (press to sort, press again to reverse)

| Key | Column | | --- | ------------------ | | 0 | Priority (default) | | 1 | Tier | | 2 | Provider | | 3 | Model name | | 4 | Avg latency | | 5 | Latest ping | | 6 | Uptime % | | 7 | Context window | | 8 | Verdict | | 9 | AA Intelligence |

Target picker

After pressing Enter on a model:

| Key | Action | | ------------- | ---------------------------------- | | ↑ / ↓ | Navigate (OpenCode CLI / OpenClaw) | | Enter / G | Write config + launch tool | | S | Write config only (no launch) | | ESC | Cancel |

If OpenCode fallback remaps the provider (for example NIM Stepfun → OpenRouter) and the effective provider key is missing, frouter asks: Add API key now? (Y/n, default: Y).

Configs written:

• OpenCode CLI → ~/.config/opencode/opencode.json
• OpenClaw → ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json

Existing configs are backed up before writing.

When frouter launches OpenCode, it now sets OPENCODE_CLI_RUN_MODE=true by default (unless you already set it) to reduce startup log noise from plugin auto-update checks in the OpenCode TUI.

If you want OpenCode's default startup hook behavior instead, launch frouter with:

OPENCODE_CLI_RUN_MODE=false frouter

Settings screen (P)

Tip: press A from the main list to jump directly into API key editing. Tip: if a selected provider has no key, frouter auto-opens that provider key page in browser (once per provider per settings session), including when you move selection.

| Key | Action | | --------------------- | ---------------------------------- | | ↑ / ↓ / j / k | Navigate providers | | Enter | Edit API key inline | | Space | Toggle provider enabled / disabled | | T | Fire a live test ping | | D | Delete key for this provider | | ESC | Back to main list |

Flags

| Flag | Behavior | | --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | | (none) | Interactive TUI | | --best | Non-interactive: ping 4 rounds, print best model ID to stdout | | --help / -h | Show help |

--best scripted usage

# Print best model ID after ~10 s analysis
frouter --best

# Capture in a variable
MODEL=$(frouter --best)
echo "Best model: $MODEL"

Requires at least one API key to be configured. Selection tri-key sort: status=up → lowest avg latency → highest uptime.

Config

Stored at ~/.frouter.json (permissions 0600).

{
  "apiKeys": {
    "nvidia": "nvapi-xxx",
    "openrouter": "sk-or-xxx"
  },
  "providers": {
    "nvidia": { "enabled": true },
    "openrouter": { "enabled": true }
  },
  "ui": {
    "scrollSortPauseMs": 1500
  }
}

ui.scrollSortPauseMs sets how long (ms) auto re-sorting stays paused after navigation input. FROUTER_SCROLL_SORT_PAUSE_MS overrides config. Set to 0 to disable pause.

Tier scale (SWE-bench Verified)

| Tier | Score | Description | | ------ | ------ | ------------------ | | S+ | ≥ 70% | Elite frontier | | S | 60–70% | Excellent | | A+ | 50–60% | Great | | A | 40–50% | Good | | A- | 35–40% | Decent | | B+ | 30–35% |