AI Provider Overview

YeePilot supports three AI providers out of the box. Each provider offers different models, pricing tiers, and capabilities. You can switch between them at any time or configure automatic failover so YeePilot keeps working even if your primary provider goes down.

Supported Providers

OpenRouter

OpenRouter is a unified gateway that gives you access to 100+ models from multiple AI labs through a single API key, including models that are completely free to use.

OpenRouter is the default provider for new YeePilot installations because it offers free-tier models that let you get started without any upfront cost. As your needs grow, you can switch to premium models or a direct provider.

# Set up YeePilot with OpenRouter
yeepilot setup --provider openrouter

OpenAI

OpenAI provides the GPT family of models, including GPT-4o, GPT-4, and more.

OpenAI models are well-suited for general-purpose server management tasks and offer strong tool-calling support.

# Set up YeePilot with OpenAI
yeepilot setup --provider openai

Anthropic

Anthropic provides the Claude family of models, including Claude Sonnet 4 and Claude Opus.

Anthropic models excel at careful reasoning and following complex multi-step instructions, making them a strong choice for intricate server administration tasks.

# Set up YeePilot with Anthropic
yeepilot setup --provider anthropic

Switching Providers

You can switch your AI provider at any time using the setup wizard or by editing your configuration directly.

Using the Setup Wizard

yeepilot setup --provider

This walks you through selecting a provider and entering your API key.

Editing Configuration

Open your config file at ~/.yeepilot/config.yaml and update the ai.provider field:

ai:
  provider: openai       # openrouter, openai, or anthropic
  api_key: sk-...        # Your API key for the selected provider

After changing the configuration, your next YeePilot session will use the new provider automatically.

Automatic Failover

YeePilot includes built-in failover support. If your primary provider experiences an outage or returns errors, YeePilot automatically switches to a backup provider to keep your session running.

Failover behavior includes:

• Automatic switching -- if the primary provider fails, YeePilot tries the next configured provider
• Cooldown periods -- failed providers are temporarily taken out of rotation to avoid repeated errors
• Seamless recovery -- once a failed provider comes back online, it re-enters the rotation

To take full advantage of failover, configure API keys for multiple providers:

ai:
  provider: anthropic
  api_key: sk-ant-...
  failover:
    - provider: openai
      api_key: sk-...
    - provider: openrouter
      api_key: sk-or-...

With this configuration, if Anthropic goes down, YeePilot falls back to OpenAI, and then to OpenRouter if OpenAI also fails.

Choosing the Right Provider

No matter which provider you choose, YeePilot's command safety system, sandbox isolation, and confirmation prompts work identically. The provider only affects the AI reasoning -- all security layers remain fully active.