elizaos--eliza/packages/examples/code/MODEL_PROVIDERS.md

eliza-code model providers

eliza-code (the elizaos coding sub-agent the orchestrator spawns over ACP) runs the eliza runtime, so its coding model is whatever model provider the runtime resolves at boot (src/lib/model-provider.ts → resolveModelProvider). You select the provider with env vars — no code change. Any OpenAI-Chat-Completions-compatible endpoint works out of the box.

How provider resolution works

resolveModelProvider(env):

1. Explicit override: ELIZA_CODE_PROVIDER (or its alias ELIZA_CODE_MODEL_PROVIDER) — anthropic/claude or openai/codex.
2. Else auto-detect: OPENAI_API_KEY → openai; ELIZA_OPENCODE_API_KEY → openai; ANTHROPIC_API_KEY → anthropic.

applyOpencodeProviderEnv(env) maps the ELIZA_OPENCODE_* knobs onto the OPENAI_* ones the provider plugin reads (and pins ELIZA_CODE_PROVIDER=openai when it inherits the opencode key), so the orchestrator only has to forward ELIZA_OPENCODE_* to the spawned sub-agent (the ELIZA_ prefix is on the forward allow-list). Explicit OPENAI_* values always win — the mapping only fills unset vars.

ELIZA_OPENCODE_*	maps to	meaning
ELIZA_OPENCODE_BASE_URL	OPENAI_BASE_URL	the API endpoint
ELIZA_OPENCODE_API_KEY	OPENAI_API_KEY	bearer token
ELIZA_OPENCODE_MODEL_POWERFUL	OPENAI_LARGE_MODEL	the "large" model id
ELIZA_OPENCODE_MODEL_FAST	OPENAI_SMALL_MODEL / OPENAI_MEDIUM_MODEL	the "fast" model id

Examples

Cerebras (fast, OpenAI-compatible)

ELIZA_OPENCODE_BASE_URL=https://api.cerebras.ai/v1
ELIZA_OPENCODE_API_KEY=${CEREBRAS_API_KEY}
ELIZA_OPENCODE_MODEL_POWERFUL=zai-glm-4.7
ELIZA_OPENCODE_MODEL_FAST=zai-glm-4.7

Surplus Intelligence (Claude / GPT / others via one OpenAI-compatible endpoint)

Surplus proxies many models (Claude Opus, GPT-5.x, Gemini, GLM, DeepSeek, …) behind one OpenAI-Chat-Completions endpoint, billed per-request via x402 micropayments. Because it speaks the OpenAI shape, eliza-code uses it with zero code change — just point the ELIZA_OPENCODE_* knobs at it:

ELIZA_OPENCODE_BASE_URL=https://api.surplusintelligence.ai/v1
ELIZA_OPENCODE_API_KEY=${SURPLUS_API_KEY}        # an inf_... key
ELIZA_OPENCODE_MODEL_POWERFUL=claude-opus-4.8     # e.g. claude-opus-4.8, gpt-5.5, …
ELIZA_OPENCODE_MODEL_FAST=claude-opus-4.8

List available models: GET https://api.surplusintelligence.ai/v1/models.

Billing note: Surplus uses the x402 payment protocol. A model call returns insufficient_balance until the account is funded and insufficient_allowance until the spending allowance is approved — both must be set in the Surplus dashboard before requests succeed. Rate limit and auth are separate (a valid inf_ key still rate-limits independently of payment).

Direct Anthropic API

ELIZA_CODE_PROVIDER=anthropic
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=${ANTHROPIC_API_KEY}            # a real sk-ant-api... key
# (optional) ANTHROPIC_LARGE_MODEL / ANTHROPIC_SMALL_MODEL

Direct OpenAI API

OPENAI_API_KEY=${OPENAI_API_KEY}
OPENAI_LARGE_MODEL=gpt-5.5
OPENAI_SMALL_MODEL=gpt-5.5-mini

Choosing the coding backend at the orchestrator level

Which sub-agent the orchestrator spawns (and therefore whether eliza-code is used at all) is the agent type, set by ELIZA_ACP_DEFAULT_AGENT (elizaos = eliza-code, or pi-agent / opencode / codex / claude), or per-task via the resolver in @elizaos/plugin-agent-orchestrator (src/services/task-agent-routing.ts). The provider config above only applies when the elizaos (eliza-code) agent type is selected.